RideLondon-Essex 100 (2022) Anyone?

[Dogtrousers]

Safety Car to limit speed to 22mph

Yes, that's in the Event Guide.

Seeing that I will be starting 3 hours behind the safety car, I think that's unlikely to affect me
Edit: If I go at 64.7 mph I will just be able to catch the safety car as it finishes.

Those whinging about it being "ludicrous" need to get a grip.

Edit - I've read the article and I see what they mean. They were initially led to believe that they could do it in 4hr. They are now told that they must take at least 4.5hr and they feel misled. Yeah, I can see how that would grate a bit.

That kind of thing happened to me at Velo Wales but the other way round. Late in the day they reduced the cut-off time. I complained to them about this and they let me start in the very first wave to give me the max time available.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Check it twice!
I got a "Low battery" warning soon after Newlands Corner in 2016 - presumably because I'd left the backlight on after my last night ride.

Check it Twice.Sorry not sure what you mean?

 

[lazybloke]

Check it Twice.Sorry not sure what you mean?

I'm not trying to be cryptic - just a reminder to check again before the event rather than make the mistake that I made.

Safety Car to limit speed to 22mph

So the biggest dilemma for a small minority of riders is when to start in order to maximise average speed.
Mine is how much cow to eat at the Mile 75 BBQ.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The burning question is, do I take the rack off my bike, in a feeble attempt to look sporty and reduce weight? And if I did that, should I go the whole hog and remove my mudguards? (The answer to this latter question is NO! I hate faffing around with mudguards)

I'll probably leave the rack - if I took it off then some important bolts and stuff would inevitably have disappeared when I came to refit it - but I'll swap out my rack pack for a wedge bag and take less in the way of tools and emergency stuff. As it's mainly flat, a bit of extra weight isn't going to make any difference.

I'll take some food, as the advertised "energy gels, bars and hydration tabs" don't grab me and the BBQ doesn't come until late in the ride. But not my usual huge stash of sandwiches, pork pies and malt loaf.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The burning question is, do I take the rack off my bike, in a feeble attempt to look sporty and reduce weight? And if I did that, should I go the whole hog and remove my mudguards? (The answer to this latter question is NO! I hate faffing around with mudguards)

I'll probably leave the rack - if I took it off then some important bolts and stuff would inevitably have disappeared when I came to refit it - but I'll swap out my rack pack for a wedge bag and take less in the way of tools and emergency stuff. As it's mainly flat, a bit of extra weight isn't going to make any difference.

I'll take some food, as the advertised "energy gels, bars and hydration tabs" don't grab me and the BBQ doesn't come until late in the ride. But not my usual huge stash of sandwiches, pork pies and malt loaf.

Decisions, decisions.

Fit a jet pack to the rack to hit that 64.7mph average

 

[BRADW]

Does anyone know the best train station for the start line? Coming from Epping on Central line

 

[T4tomo]

Yes, that's in the Event Guide.

Seeing that I will be starting 3 hours behind the safety car, I think that's unlikely to affect me
Edit: If I go at 64.7 mph I will just be able to catch the safety car as it finishes.

Those whinging about it being "ludicrous" need to get a grip.

Edit - I've read the article and I see what they mean. They were initially led to believe that they could do it in 4hr. They are now told that they must take at least 4.5hr and they feel misled. Yeah, I can see how that would grate a bit.

That kind of thing happened to me at Velo Wales but the other way round. Late in the day they reduced the cut-off time. I complained to them about this and they let me start in the very first wave to give me the max time available.

The 22 mph thing does seem odd, but maybe they are worried about a non-race becoming a race - which of course it always will for a minority. i think it could do more harm than good,as the safest thing is to get the riders spread out a bit.

The "mega sportives" for want of a better term don't appeal to me.

Yes you get a good atmosphere, but the route is nearly always compromised. The Surrey route had narrow roads and hence huge delays if someone crashed and at the very least a slow concertina on hills. this Essex route appears to be a trip around the A roads from @Dogtrousers write up reccy the other day, which is much better for safety but less scenic.

The logistics of to and from the start /finish are always a bit of a pain.

give me low key local one with an interesting route, or a ride with mates via a couple of cafes or whatever any day.

 

[cougie uk]

The 22 mph thing does seem odd, but maybe they are worried about a non-race becoming a race - which of course it always will for a minority. i think it could do more harm than good,as the safest thing is to get the riders spread out a bit.

The "mega sportives" for want of a better term don't appeal to me.

Yes you get a good atmosphere, but the route is nearly always compromised. The Surrey route had narrow roads and hence huge delays if someone crashed and at the very least a slow concertina on hills. this Essex route appears to be a trip around the A roads from @Dogtrousers write up reccy the other day, which is much better for safety but less scenic.

The logistics of to and from the start /finish are always a bit of a pain.

give me low key local one with an interesting route, or a ride with mates via a couple of cafes or whatever any day.

For a ride like this there's a few thousand riders who can average more than 22mph.

It's either going to be the world's longest motor paced ride or the biggest crash ever.

I'm glad I didn't get in anyway.

 

[lazybloke]

If you pay to do a "not a race" without even knowing the route or rules, then there's a risk of disappointment.

But I reckon most will be happy- especially the riders who are in it for a personal goal, or are charity-fundraising, or who just fancy the idea of a ride without cars.

 

[T4tomo]

For a ride like this there's a few thousand riders who can average more than 22mph.

It's either going to be the world's longest motor paced ride or the biggest crash ever.

I'm glad I didn't get in anyway.

At least it will give those fast club riders the full pro-race experience of....

...the neutral start zone. If they crash they are in good company, looking at you Geraint Thomas.

 

[lazybloke]

Fit a jet pack to the rack to hit that 64.7mph average

Gets rid of wheelsuckers too

 

[Dogtrousers]

give me low key local one with an interesting route, or a ride with mates via a couple of cafes or whatever any day.

I see what you mean. My favourite type of ride is a solo ride on a route I've devised myself. But I can (and do) do those anyway, any time.

But it's nice to have a change. The occasional Sportive, Audax, FNRttC and so on.

And I've never done RL, having been rejected at the ballot every single time when it was run as RL-Surrey so I want to tick it off.

 

[Dogtrousers]

If you pay to do a "not a race" without even knowing the route or rules, then there's a risk of disappointment.

But I reckon most will be happy- especially the riders who are in it for a personal goal, or are charity-fundraising, or who just fancy the idea of a ride without cars.

I think the point that some of the moaners make is that they were led to believe that a 4hr finish would be possible, because that was an option to tick for 4hrs when you entered your estimated time. So they think the goalposts have been moved, which is a fair enough complaint.

I'd say the organisers could have made this clear at the outset. There has been a bit of a failure of messaging. Not good, but I can appreciate that organising something like this isn't easy.

There's a lot of whinging going on on Twitter about it. But I'm willing to bet that a load of people who claim it has put them out because they want to do the route in 4hrs will be blowing out of their arses at 40km after struggling on the mighty ascent of Epping New Road.

 

[mjr]

At least it will give those fast club riders the full pro-race experience of....

...the neutral start zone. If they crash they are in good company, looking at you Geraint Thomas.

I hope they switch the pace car's collision-detection off, else this could get very silly!

Anyway, if you get up to 88.8mph, you can finish both before and after the pace car

 

[Dogtrousers]

RL Clarification. The safety car won't go at 22mph but at "a pace determined by the conditions and what is happening on the road"

How dull. Have to find something else to bitch about.