# Anyone else register for the BWC this year?



## Kell (6 Feb 2018)

https://www.brompton.com/Events/Brompton-World-Championship


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## chriscross1966 (6 Feb 2018)

Yes, within minutes of it opening.....


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## Kell (6 Feb 2018)




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## Kell (12 Feb 2018)

Dear Bromptoneer,

You are currently on the reserve list for the 13th Brompton World Championship final. Unfortunately you have been unsuccessful in the initial draw however you will hear from us by Monday 5 March to confirm if any places have become available.

We had an incredible response to this year's race with riders from over 35 countries entering the ballot. Whilst we would love to include everyone in the race, we are limited in the number of people who can safely ride on the track. The reserve list is a way of ensuring we can include as many people as possible in the race.

Thank you for your patience, we will be in touch shortly to confirm.

The Brompton Team
Prudential RideLondon


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## chriscross1966 (12 Feb 2018)

Kell said:


> Dear Bromptoneer,
> 
> You are currently on the reserve list for the 13th Brompton World Championship final. Unfortunately you have been unsuccessful in the initial draw however you will hear from us by Monday 5 March to confirm if any places have become available.
> 
> ...


Same here... Fingers crossed


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## Kell (6 Mar 2018)

I'm in...

"Dear Bromptoneer,

Congratulations! You've now been allocated a place to ride in the 13th Brompton World Championship final.

The Brompton World Championship final will take place on Saturday 28 July (time TBC) as part of the Prudential RideLondon festival of cycling races in St James's Park, London.

Please follow the link below to complete your entry and pay the £50 race entry fee to confirm your race place. This must be completed by 17:00 on Monday 19 March.

<Link>

We look forward to seeing you in July!

Best regards.

The Brompton Team
Prudential RideLondon"


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## chriscross1966 (10 Mar 2018)

See you there, I got my upgrade from the reserve list too :-).... Now I've got to finish off the racing special, get fitter and lose a couple of stone... Got no hope in the real race but would like to do OK amongst the older riders and I definitely plan on having the prettiest bike


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## Kell (10 Mar 2018)

Well done. 

I certainly won’t be winning any awards for pretty bikes, or posting fastest times. 

But I might be the fastest bloke there called Kell.


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## mitchibob (23 Mar 2018)

I got in, 2nd time lucky, or maybe an apology for me paying to replace the BB that went in a few months, then recalling it months later. Then again, still have to pay for my place, so just lucky I guess. Except that I've also got to ride the Ride London-Surrey 100 for the Stroke Association the next day, on same Brompton, so that'll be my excuse for not making a massive effort on the Saturday, honest. I think I best book some holiday for a day or two after.


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## Kell (27 Mar 2018)

I may or may not be able to make it now.

I'm having an operation on my shoulder on April 19th, and will be spending a month in a sling, with the surgeon telling me that it will take up to 4 months t ofeel back to normal.

I'll have to play it by ear.


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## mitchibob (27 Mar 2018)

Kell said:


> I may or may not be able to make it now.
> 
> I'm having an operation on my shoulder on April 19th, and will be spending a month in a sling, with the surgeon telling me that it will take up to 4 months t ofeel back to normal.
> 
> I'll have to play it by ear.



Sounds like me last year. I hope the surgery goes well, but being religious about the physio exercises afterwards helps a lot. Although, my hands still don't feel the same. I wish you all the best for speedy recovery!


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## Kell (13 Jun 2018)

Well, I'm back on my bike after the op, but have some catching up to do. 

As a test I went out last night and did the 8 lap course as it's just down the road from work.

Not difficult (other than the traffic lights and pedestrians randomly wandering across the road). I imagine the biggest problem on the day will be weaving in and out of people.


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## cisamcgu (13 Jun 2018)

Kell said:


> I imagine the biggest problem on the day will be weaving in and out of people.



When I did it a few years ago, the biggest problem was remembering it was supposed to be a race - I was continually distracted watching other the participants


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## mitchibob (23 Jun 2018)

My biggest worry is that I'm doing the Ride London-Surrey 100 the next day, so won't want to waste my legs too much


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## gizmo1994 (23 Jun 2018)

mitchibob said:


> My biggest worry is that I'm doing the Ride London-Surrey 100 the next day, so won't want to waste my legs too much



Same here. Are you doing the 100 on your Brompton too?


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## mitchibob (24 Jun 2018)

Yup, getting up Leith hill in one go is worrying me a little.


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## gizmo1994 (24 Jun 2018)

To be honest, not many get up Leith Hill in one go. Usually because of traffic and everyone has to get off and walk up. Otherwise I have found the Brommie to be more than a match for many road bikes. Keep a good cadence and just reel them in as you near the top.


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## mitchibob (24 Jun 2018)

I'm sticking with the Joseph Kousac Super-Firm Suspension block. Really helps keep a higher cadence. Parts of my body will hate me for that, but my legs love me ;-)

Doing in support of the Stroke Association and would ideally like to finish in under 7 hours on my M6L (although might go back to an E if it's good weather). Although, while I might discard the mudguards for a day (just to see if that's where the rattling was coming from), I'm thinking the mini O-bag might be useful depending on weather conditions. My body isn't aero enough to worry about the extra, plus I'm really hoping to spend as much time as possible on other people's back wheels, so aero doesn't come into it, right?


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## Kell (10 Jul 2018)

Has anyone got any more details yet?

I thought I'd been sent an email telling me what time to be there etc, but I can't find it.

I did get a generic Brompton email the other day which mentioned there'd be more details being sent soon.


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## chriscross1966 (11 Jul 2018)

They said in the next week or so when I emailed them on Monday


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## Kell (11 Jul 2018)

chriscross1966 said:


> They said in the next week or so when I emailed them on Monday



Thanks.


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## chriscross1966 (13 Jul 2018)

Is anyone else doing the Freecycle stuff or are you just heading down to the Brompton Superiority Zone on the Mall?


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## Kell (29 Jul 2018)

Before and after. 

Well it’s all over. 

Got a lung full of dust and couldn’t have given it any more. 

But Jesus, that lead group was fast. They flew past me on lap 5. At the time I was doing 21-22mph and I felt like I was going backwards. 

As I was lapped, I didn’t get to do the full 8 laps. Completed 7 laps in 29:16 which I think averages out at 19.3mph.


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## Kell (30 Jul 2018)

Just done some quick calculations. 

The winner completed all 8 laps in 27:19. The first lap was a nightmare because they'd left some barriers in place at the end of the mall which slowed everyone down, so I've take off his first lap and looked at his others. 

3:28
3:13
3:24
3:23
3:23
3:17
3:08

The average of which is 3:19. 

According to Strava, people registering a 3:19 on that course averaged 24.6 mph.


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## chriscross1966 (1 Aug 2018)

I was last male to not DNF.. lapped four times... :-)... Francesca shed her chain half a dozen times and i ran a lot of the race with an unnoticed rear flat.... can only go upwards from there....


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## Kell (1 Aug 2018)

I was looking out for highly modified Brommies to see if I could spot you. There was a guy stood right next to me that I thought might be a contender - blue Brompton, massive chainring, no discernible rear internal hub, but still a shifter on the bars.


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## Kell (1 Aug 2018)

Actually, I've just seen a picture of Francesca on another thread. 

Did spot that bike as it goes.


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## cougie uk (1 Aug 2018)

My first time taking part in the BWC after spectating last year. What a blast ! Loved it. Just couldnt hang onto the front group so was in a splinter of the second group. Very entertaining finding the barriers across the road at the start. 

I did see the Bianchi Brompton - do the bars get in the way of the fold ? 

Some very tricked out bikes there but I think it's the legs more than anything. I had a gopro on mine but unfortunately the SD Card has gone corrupt but I've found someone elses footage - you might spot yourselves here : 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHAOmx3ZtvQ


How was the 100 ? Looked bloody nasty from the TV Coverage. I'll put in for the ballot again next year though. Bound to be nicer weather eh ?


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## Kell (1 Aug 2018)

I think that was me at about 25:50 in that vid just as it makes it back around to the mall. Hard to tell as the footage is poor (viewing on my phone) but it would be around the right time as I remember the woman in the red skirt coming past me on birdcage walk. 

I had a cheapo camera on mine but I’ve not yet had the chance to put the footage together yet.


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## Kell (1 Aug 2018)

Here's a clip I put together of the moment the leading group went past.

I know I was doing 21mph at this point, so your guess is as good as mine as to how fast some of these people were going.


View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10155447673221021/


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## cougie uk (1 Aug 2018)

Well they were led there by Emma Pooley - so she's a silver medallist in the Olympics at Time Trialling and former World Champion - so it's fair to say she's got a good turn of speed on her !


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## Kell (1 Aug 2018)

Yeah I didnt spot her when they went past, but on looking at the video I realised it was her.


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## mitchibob (3 Aug 2018)

cougie uk said:


> How was the 100 ? Looked bloody nasty from the TV Coverage. I'll put in for the ballot again next year though. Bound to be nicer weather eh ?



Bloody nasty! I really wish I'd put on a merino base layer. The wind and rain and hale I think was nearly worse than any of my winter training rides. Just wasn't quite as cold, but still bloody cold. Had to stop to put on an additional layer that I had in my Mini O-bag expecting to put on at the end. None of the roadies put on mudguards, so getting a tow was a face-full of water and grit, if anyone was going fast enough to be worth getting a tow off, at least where I started. Plus, Leith and Box Hill were closed due to 'casualties', so going to have to do again next year to ensure I get to cover the proper distance and at least be with people that don't descend through their gears when the gradient goes up 1 or 2 percent and dismount when it goes over 4%.

Also don't know how so many people survived just wearing their charity shirt, with no waterproof or other visible layers. For me it was only a couple degrees away from overshoes and full-on gloves. I even had to employ my thin neck warmer/bandana thing halfway that I use to stop shoot rattling around in my saddle bag. I was riding for the Stroke Association, but once the extra layer went on, nobody would've known that.

Brompton is definitely the bike to do this ride on though. Definitely adds to the fun.







And although the weather was horrible, it was still a great fun ride. The experience of riding through London at that speed is amazing. Just annoyed I didn't get to do Leith and Box Hill seeing as I was absolutely ready for them. Doing on a Brompton also means you get that many more cheers from the side of the road too!


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## cougie uk (3 Aug 2018)

I doff my cap to you. I was waiting for relatives to finish - they had a late start and the hills were closed due to the incidents - but I think it was for the best in those conditions. It was OK in the city on the Sunday - bit of drizzle but nothing major. It was only on the TV prog that you could see quite how nasty it was outside. 

I'll try the ballot next year but CBA with my road bikes - I'll Brompton it now that I know brave trailblazers like you have got round OK !


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## mitchibob (3 Aug 2018)

cougie uk said:


> I doff my cap to you. I was waiting for relatives to finish - they had a late start and the hills were closed due to the incidents - but I think it was for the best in those conditions. It was OK in the city on the Sunday - bit of drizzle but nothing major. It was only on the TV prog that you could see quite how nasty it was outside.
> 
> I'll try the ballot next year but CBA with my road bikes - I'll Brompton it now that I know brave trailblazers like you have got round OK !



Thank you! But I wasn't the only one. Another guy got around the whole course on a Brommie ahead of me. He said there were a few, although thought a couple might just be doing the shorter routes. Saw one other at the start, but none afterwards. Think I might've passed someone on a Boris Bike, and Emma Pooley was riding a bike that looked like it weighed more than she did.


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## Kell (23 Aug 2018)

@chriscross1966 - I've just noticed that you're in the clip I posted (I think) right at the end of birdcage walk (about 1:08)


View: https://www.facebook.com/Kell.LC/videos/10155447673221021/


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## cougie uk (4 Sep 2018)

Don't suppose you have video of the second group coming past ? I didn't have the legs to make it to the first . Next time though...


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## Kell (5 Sep 2018)

I will have somewhere. 

I was going to put the whole race online, but I've had no free weekends since the event.


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## Kell (5 Sep 2018)

mitchibob said:


> ...Emma Pooley was riding a bike that looked like it weighed more than she did.



Considering her Wiki page says she weighs 48kg, that's not that hard to imagine.


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