London to Brighton BHF run.

[Mortiroloboy]

Totally agree. I did it about twelve years back. I didn't enjoy it . IMHO there are too many people who only cycle once or twice a year on events like this. They get to the smallest of hills and then stop in the middle of the road and get off and push causing congestion behind them. I got stuck in a sea of bikes just off of the common for 40 mins and again in a village in Surrey and again fo nearly an hour in Turners Hill. Ditchling Beacon was just a mass of people pushing their bikes all over the road. It was impossible to cycle up. Thats why I suggest an early start to beat the crowds. I started that year at 7.00. It was too late by then. There are many better rides, see the bike events website.

This was my experience too, 4 miles into the ride, barely out of London, you get thousands of cyclists squeezed into narrow lanes, a slight incline going up to a Rugby club the name of which escapes me ( though it should be forever etched in my memory) people who are not riding clipless, get off for no reason with out giving any warning, of course I'm clipped in, the person on my left puts out his arm to stop himself falling in the melee pushing me into the verge, I had no time to unclip, as I went over my right clip disengaged, my calf went down my chainring (loads of claret)and pain, as I fell I snapped my left cleat, and had to ride the remaining 50 miles with only one foot clipped in and blood oozing down my leg.

For me it's the sea of rank-amateurs who've dusted down the old bike in the shed to give it a go that keeps me doing it again year after year. There's nothing like it anywhere else! There are plenty of bike rides where you can ride around with a few thousand others, but there's nothing quite like the L2B.
If you want a free-ish passage, start early, otherwise, enjoy the carnival, give encouragement to others and make a day of it.

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Never again.

Ditto

New collective name; "A nightmare of numpties". No experience and handling skills.
Trying to get past two characters in front and they suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and started to walk to the edge, nearly flooring me. My protest in the form of "Dick head" was answered with, "You proper cylists want to get a life".

And therein lies the one real problem, sadly the L2B has become a victim of its own success, loads of people wanting to do good for others, but lacking in the skills to be able to do it safely, IMO they would be better off just donating money, or atleast getting some road skills etiquette, call it what you will , in before taking to the road with huge numbers of cyclists, like the L2B attracts.

well I wasn't exaclty expecting a properly organised pellaton all the way to Brighton. I'm taking my brother, and I would imagine there are lots of other people like my brother there. keen, but not very practiced.

As far as I'm aware it's not a race. so who really cares if you get held up a bit at the bottom of the hills? gives you an excuse not to try so hard...

Best bit i reckon is that of the 30,000 or so entrants, surely 100 of them will catch the cycling bug and start doing it on a more regular basis.

This will be my first ever organised run as I've only been cycling properly now for 18 months and all my riding/traing has been done on my own in the back-lanes of suffolk. so to some of you, i would be the dick head i guess.

Looking forward to it, and then looking forward to london - paris next year.

cheers all, and if you're going, enjoy!

We all started off somewhere, but my advice is find a local club, join it and, get some experience of riding with a group, you will benefit enormously from it, On the day, if possible try and join a group of riders with a similar fitness level to yours and stay with them.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

By one of those weird cases of syncronicity, the postman has just delivered my priority entry form. I won't be needing it, so before it goes in the bin, would anyone like it? on the front of the glossy it says ' A day for super heroes' no mention of dickheads Funny really I never thought of myself as a superhero, most of the clubbies on here do that sort of mileage on an average Sunday club run, and I don't suppose that they consider themselves to be superheroes either, whereas a large number of those people proposing to do this years ride will view them selves as such because cycling fifty four miles is like cycling to the other end of the world!!!

Oh, BTW this year it's £30 to ride.

 

[Fab Foodie]

By one of those weird cases of syncronicity, the postman has just delivered my priority entry form. I won't be needing it, so before it goes in the bin, would anyone like it? on the front of the glossy it says ' A day for super heroes' no mention of dickheads Funny really I never thought of myself as a superhero, most of the clubbies on here do that sort of mileage on an average Sunday club run, and I don't suppose that they consider themselves to be superheroes either, whereas a large number of those people proposing to do this years ride will view them selves as such because cycling fifty four miles is like cycling to the other end of the world!!!

Oh, BTW this year it's £30 to ride.

A huge number of people who do the L2B aren't club riders and, barely POBs and for many out on the road that I've seen, their efforts are pretty heroic, why belittle them? As a CHD patient I'm supremely happy that many people who've never cycled further than the pub or to their workplace are prepared to have a crack at this. When 5 miles is your furthest ever ride, 56 and a few hills is a great achievement...maybe they'll become converts. Those guys are the heros of the day, far better than the blinged-up club runners trying to race their way down, yelling at all and sundry as they go.
Far better to enjoy the spirit of the day and give encouragement than moan about slow progress.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

A huge number of people who do the L2B aren't club riders and, barely POBs and for many out on the road that I've seen, their efforts are pretty heroic, why belittle them? As a CHD patient I'm supremely happy that many people who've never cycled further than the pub or to their workplace are prepared to have a crack at this. When 5 miles is your furthest ever ride, 56 and a few hills is a great achievement...maybe they'll become converts. Those guys are the heros of the day, far better than the blinged-up club runners trying to race their way down, yelling at all and sundry as they go.
Far better to enjoy the spirit of the day and give encouragement than moan about slow progress.

Fab, that wasn't my intention, p'raps my post was badly put together, I think you and I sparred over this on C+, even then I recall saying that I admired anyone who was prepared to ride that distance when usually they only rode to their local shop for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread and, all in aid of a very worthwhile cause.

So yes they are heroes and, as you rightly point out not everyone riding in the L2B is a club rider, in fact I expect the ratio is pretty low. Personally found my own experience to be less than happy, due I suggest in the most part to the crash at the start and the resultant problems associated with cycling 50 miles with only one pedal clipped in

 

[SamNichols]

Are there even 30,000 regular club riders in the UK?

 

[Mortiroloboy]

Good question...Well presented...Dunno

 

[Fab Foodie]

Fab, that wasn't my intention, p'raps my post was badly put together, I think you and I sparred over this on C+, even then I recall saying that I admired anyone who was prepared to ride that distance when usually they only rode to their local shop for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread and, all in aid of a very worthwhile cause.

So yes they are heroes and, as you rightly point out not everyone riding in the L2B is a club rider, in fact I expect the ratio is pretty low. Personally found my own experience to be less than happy, due I suggest in the most part to the crash at the start and the resultant problems associated with cycling 50 miles with only one pedal clipped in

Fairy nuff...
Have to say that I crashed on my 2nd or 3rd when a kid ran out from bushes across the road at full tilt and before I saw him we collided. Last year almost came to grief at the top of Turners hill...somebody had a clipless moment and same again twice on Ditchling where I was unceremoniously up-ended right by the entrance to the car-park ... so I have my share of incidents and hold-ups, but for some inane reason, most probably the gallant newbies I keep joining the same old pals and doing it again!

There must be a masochistic streak in me somewhere.

 

[simon l& and a half]

it does raise a huge amount of money for a worthy cause, and criticism is surely misplaced. As a day out it's pretty awful, unless, that is, the idea of riding sixty miles is a thrill in itself.

I did it first in 1973. There were about twenty people on it. Bike Events hijacked it in about 1980, and, from then on, it became the mega event we all know, and some of us avoid.

 

[Fab Foodie]

it does raise a huge amount of money for a worthy cause, and criticism is surely misplaced. As a day out it's pretty awful, unless, that is, the idea of riding sixty miles is a thrill in itself.

I did it first in 1973. There were about twenty people on it. Bike Events hijacked it in about 1980, and, from then on, it became the mega event we all know, and some of us avoid.

As a bonus it does have more cake-stops in 60 miles than any other ride!


Now a night-time run, that would be unlikely...but true!