London to Brighton advice

[Black Lightning]

Well i'm a complete novice been cycling all of 3 months 2 of which wereduring the bad weather so little done. currently riding approx 40 miles a week at weekends and for some strange reason I signed up to the above cycle ride.
Now i'm fast approaching 50 done no excercise since football training many years ago. i brought a carrera TDF as a first road bike and love it. ok i know its no rolls royce or even a saab but we all start somewhere.
Appart for the numurous questions on how the hell am i going to do the ride the main queston is can i change my rear cassette to aid these tired old legs when on the hills.
Your challange here is to help the aged if you can

 

[musa]

To be fair wih you its quite flat im sure others will agree. The only major hill is the ditchling which ive failed on. So try it and have it. If you want to do a trial run of it let us know more than happy to accompany

 

[Black Lightning]

Ok thanks I might just take you up on that

 

[vickster]

I did it with a couple of CCers in October - we avoided Ditchling, although there were some more hills...girls don't do hills (although we started from Epsom, so the first 5 miles or more were pretty much up hill!)

We took it nice and slow, had nice weather - no ill effects the following day

 

[jdtate101]

One piece of advice I would offer is to really concentrate ALL the time you are riding in the big bunch. There will be a lot of people who are close to novices out for a fun jolly and they can weave and do dangerous, unpredictable things right in front of you, causing you to crash. I'm sure it will be great fun, but keep your wits about you.

 

[Havoc6]

I too have done exactly the same as you got a Triban 3 for my 51st birthday and have only ridden 3 times since I got it last month . But a challenge is my thing so yep I signed up on Saturday morning for the London to Brighton , this website may help in your quest young Jedi of the road https://sites.google.com/site/cyclingroutes/London-to-Brighton-bike-ride/tactics

 

[Fab Foodie]

Welcome. from a just become 50 year old!
If it's the BHF L2B, chances are unless you're out of bed very very early that you'll have to walk most of the hills due to the sheer number of people. It's a day for taking it easy anyway, there's no rush, enjoy the world's biggest bike ride, chat to people, eat cake, enjoy the views.

 

[ianrauk]

If you are doing the BHF London to Brighton. I wouldn't worry about Ditchling anyway. there are so many cyclists all over the road that it's damn near impossible to ride up anyway.

Apart from Ditchling the only other hill of note is Turners Hill, it's not very long and once again, full of walkers.

Apart from that it's pretty much a flat route and you will get sucked along with the thousand's of other cyclist camaraderie anyway.

 

[Black Lightning]

I did it with a couple of CCers in October - we avoided Ditchling, although there were some more hills...girls don't do hills (although we started from Epsom, so the first 5 miles or more were pretty much up hill!)

We took it nice and slow, had nice weather - no ill effects the following day

 

[Black Lightning]

ok sound like I stand a chance without making any changes, Ive heard that at times it gets a bit frantic with so many but for me this is a start. i will take all advice as im doing this on my own. thanks all for your comments so far

 

[Fab Foodie]

One piece of advice I would offer is to really concentrate ALL the time you are riding in the big bunch. There will be a lot of people who are close to novices out for a fun jolly and they can weave and do dangerous, unpredictable things right in front of you, causing you to crash. I'm sure it will be great fun, but keep your wits about you.

This is excellent advice.

 

[Black Lightning]

i guess i will learn more over the next few weeks, one other question is what should i be looking at doing in a session to achieve the ride, i mean should i be looking at doing 40 miles in a session to be able to complete it without killing myself?

 

[Sittingduck]

If you can ride 40 miles ok, you can ride Lon-Bri, no probs

 

[StuAff]

Come on an FNRttC some time.....

 

[billy92]

I am a new cyclist also considering this but due to weather and a broken hand recently I have hardly been out at all. Still might sign up and see how I get on I guess. No harm in trying