Prudential ride London 2018..advice needed.

[wyre forest blues]

Hi,
Last year I did LEJOG and my only regret was that I didn't do it for charity. So I am considering doing the Prudential ride London in July in aide of Cancer research. However i live in the midlands and have very little knowledge of London. Before applying for a pack can anyone advise me on the logistics of getting to the event such as places to stay (2 nights ), travel on london transport with bike and start time etc etc.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Tin Pot]

London’s a big place, with plenty of accommodation.

You can stay as near or far as your budget allows.

Your start time is decided for you based on how fast you tell them you think you’ll be.

You’ll be sent a plan with routes how to get to the start based on where you are coming from.

 

[mjr]

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/cycling-in-london/bikes-on-public-transport describes where you can take bikes when on London Transport, but Excel for pack pickup is on NCR 13, which connects to Cycle Superhighway 3 to/from central London. It's a bit under an hour relaxed riding from near Blackfriars.

 

[wyre forest blues]

Thank you both...I was thinking of accomodation outside London to reduce cost, possibly travelodge or similar, then get transport in to start / return after event. Didn't want to cycle too far before and after as 100 miles is enough for me.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

You can take bikes on train out to Waltham Cross. Travel Lodge or Premier Inn out that way.

 

[mjr]

You can take bikes on train out to Waltham Cross. Travel Lodge or Premier Inn out that way.

What time is the first train to Stratford on a Sunday? I keep getting error messages.

 

[Tin Pot]

You will have to go some way by foot or bike as they close off the whole area to traffic.

I cycled about 25km and used the cable car across from Greenwich to get close.

Annoyingly it was the last 25km that I suffered.

If you want it easy, pay the extra bucks for a nearby hotel.

 

[mjr]

Thank you both...I was thinking of accomodation outside London to reduce cost, possibly travelodge or similar, then get transport in to start / return after event. Didn't want to cycle too far before and after as 100 miles is enough for me.

I think you won't get to the 100's start by train in time unless you've a very late start. I don't know how early the DLR starts up. This is a London-sponsored event so I guess they want you to stay and spend in London.

After the event, there's optional organised transfers back to Stratford. I know little about them.

Travelodge in Bethnal Green (under 2 miles from the start IIRC) was only twice the usual price last year

 

[mjr]

You will have to go some way by foot or bike as they close off the whole area to traffic.

Mile End Road and whatever it becomes (the road CS2 is along) was still open, but it was unsurprisingly farked with motorists avoiding the road closures.

 

[bikingdad90]

I stayed in the travelodge in Woolwich, 10-15 mins from the excel using the tunnel under the river than another 15mins to the Olympic Park from the Excel. Very easy route into London via the M1 and ring road not in the congestion zone area either. It is a flat route and lots of lovely people to chat to enroute.

Coming home, you can get a prebooked ferry £20.00 to the docklands.

 

[wyre forest blues]

Thank you all for your replies and advice. A lot to consider. Living in 'the sticks' London prices somewhat put me off taking part. Would rather give the hotel and travel money to charity and cycle 100 miles in the lovely countryside of Worcestershire. Pity the Birmingham velo is cancelled this year. But again thanks for your advice.

 

[mjr]

Pity the Birmingham velo is cancelled this year.

Yes, but don't tell us - tell your community and your local councillors. It might give the councils more interest in supporting the event instead of looking like they're messing it around into oblivion - although I have the impression it was more Warks than Worcs that was trouble.

Edit: my memory is wrong, says https://www.cyclechat.net/posts/5163721

 

[wyre forest blues]

↑
""""Pity the Birmingham velo is cancelled this year.
Yes, but don't tell us - tell your community and your local councillors. It might give the councils more interest in supporting the event instead of looking like they're messing it around into oblivion - although I have the impression it was more Warks than Worcs that was trouble.""""

The Birmingham velo 2017 was IMO poorly organised. Stewards who didn't know diverted routes, poor signage, led to angry residents in many villages. 'Birmingham' velo was mainly in Worcestershire. The trouble with diverting routes in the countryside unlike urban areas is that motorists have to travel quite a long distance to get back en route, and of course the car is king on roads! ! Not sure if that us the case with London, but as it was a first for Birmingham, sadly they got it horribly wrong.

 

[mjr]

The Birmingham velo 2017 was IMO poorly organised. Stewards who didn't know diverted routes, poor signage, led to angry residents in many villages. 'Birmingham' velo was mainly in Worcestershire. The trouble with diverting routes in the countryside unlike urban areas is that motorists have to travel quite a long distance to get back en route, and of course the car is king on roads! ! Not sure if that us the case with London, but as it was a first for Birmingham, sadly they got it horribly wrong.

Tour of Cambridgeshire seems to work despite being mainly rural. Maybe Birmingham and Worcs could go take a look.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

The reality of doing the Ride 100 is:

• If you are staying in London, you will need to ride to the start. There is NO public transport to get you to the start.
• Your best option to do this (ride to the start) is to find accommodation near one of the designated drop offs or car parks. - because they have nice friendly sign posts all the way to the start.
• If you decide to stay just outside of London and drive in, beware - the roads get closed at 6am (check the booklet for actual times) The roads closing is a frikkin nightmare. You think that because you are doing the ride you can actually get to the ride, but you can't.
• The designated car parks get booked up quick!
• The hotels get booked up quick!

I have done it twice, I live in Reading so I drove into London, parked in a designated spot and rode to the start. I think I had to leave my house at 4AM!!!! to make it work.

It's a lot of hassle.