RideLondon-Essex 100 (2023) Anyone?

[dickyknees]

Well, against my better judgement I'm in.

One of the four of us who have done the last three has always said he would do it in his seventieth year.

So by gambling on the start being on the Embankment we have booked Premier Inn in West Ealing. Cheaper hotel rate, no ULEZ or congestion charges but a 38 min tube journey in on the District Line which takes bikes and a Sunday service starting at 06:14 through to St James's Park (not sure about Bank Holiday service yet)

Roughly costed, staying out in West Ealing is £170 less but still expensive. I'm sure it will be my last one.

 

[mustang1]

Yeah I'm in.

Edit: I done it without thinking otherwise.my stupid brain starts telling me "hey are you really sure you wanna do that? Who the heck wants to ride a bike? What if it's raining?" Etc etc.

Sometimes, when you're on the fence, make the leap of faith.

 

[lazybloke]

... I'd like to ride again but only because I want to try for a sub 5 hour century. ...

Would live to do the same but will wait until 2024 as I'm so busy with DIY projects currently.

So I'm out.
£99 is steep.

 

[EltonFrog]

I started to fill out the form, £99 to ride round Essex on closed roads seemed like a great idea....until I realised that they wanted me to pay them. Feck that.

I did the proper one four times.

 

[Juan Kog]

Pedant here

tube journey in on the District Line

The District line is not a tube line it’s a sub surface line .

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just got my info letter reminding me to stick to my training plan. My what? Oh yeah, that ... sure, I'm sticking to it honest.

I was pleased to see that the cut off is a generous 9 hours (from the last wave starting). Even I should manage that.

 

[mjr]

Just got my info letter reminding me to stick to my training plan. My what? Oh yeah, that ... sure, I'm sticking to it honest.

Those pork pies aren't gonna eat themselves, you know!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Found myself on the Ride London route after Saffron Walden today. Shame the roads are so busy when not closed. 🤔 I’m sure many chasing times will miss Audley End on their right, coming out of Saffron.

Have fun if you’ve entered, and remember how empty the roads on this section are normally.

 

[mjr]

View attachment 690213

It's a bit difficult to read, but does that say the road is only closed for an hour? 😱

Hang on. And on the Friday? What's going on???

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It's a bit difficult to read, but does that say the road is only closed for an hour? 😱

Hang on. And on the Friday? What's going on???

Looks like those are for the Women’s UCI Tour Classique. The mass ride is further south now I’ve looked at the maps on the site.

https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/community-info/community-info/essex-friday

 

[Dogtrousers]

Had a lot of fun today. Most of my rides are all the same solo trundles, so it's great to do something different once in a while.

Started in wave G ,the last to start. From a quick jersey count it was in the majority charity riders, including two fairies in sparkly tutus on Bromptons. I positively whizzed around the route. Rider behaviour was pretty much fine - unless it was me who was doing all the Bad Things.

Prize for the best kit was a full black and white 2015 Tinkoff-Saxo La Datcha kit, as modelled by Alberto here: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tinkoff-saxo-reveals-new-training-colours/

Not many exciting bikes. An old yellow Raleigh with very high gearing, ridden by a lady who I would pass on the uphills (there were a few) and who would pass me on the flat. A tandem, didn't get a good look at it. Couple of handcycles. The two Bromptons as mentioned. A GoCycle e-bike (yes, they are allowed0

Weather was perfect: Sunny but not particularly hot, not windy. Organisation all very smooth. Plentiful portaloos. There were a couple of holdups, I don't know why - just marshals with stop signs. Accidents maybe, or emergency services needing the roads for other reasons.

Quite why it is that I can ride so much faster on an event like this I'm not sure. I don't go around riding on wheels but I guess that there's an overall draft from the body of riders. Plus of course the closedness of the roads. Normally it's surprisingly fast if I average 20km/h over 100 miles. Today was a smidge under 24. And normally I'm utterly wiped out after a century. Sore feet today, and fairly tired but not wiped out.

 

[PaulSB]

@Dogtrousers the 4km increase is what I would expect from closed roads. It makes a huge difference.

Glad you enjoyed it. We had a great time last year.

 

[lazybloke]

Did the route still have the 180° turns in East London? A couple of them were a little hazardous last year.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Did the route still have the 180° turns in East London? A couple of them were a little hazardous last year.

Yes. We chilled out wave G riders had no problem with them. I expect if you tried to whizz round them you could make them hazardous

 

[Dogtrousers]

@Dogtrousers the 4km increase is what I would expect from closed roads. It makes a huge difference.

Glad you enjoyed it. We had a great time last year.

Cheers.. It was more than that actually. I wasn't sure about my fitness so I decided to keep my effort levels down in the first half and see how I felt half way. I felt good so I pressed on and had a moving average of in excess of 25 kmh coming back. That's unheard of for me.