mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
That's stage one of the pro race, then?
RideLondon-Essex 100 (2024) Anyone?
- Thread starter dickyknees
- Start date
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Dag Hammar
Senior Member
- Location
- Essex
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Well that went rather well all told in the end. Strava has me setting PRs for everything from 20km to 100 miles and all distances inbetween. Chip time across the line was a smidge under 6 hours, although obviously that benefits from the neutral zones around the welfare stops - 5 minutes total passing through the first and third without stopping and almost 25 mins at the second where I did stop.
And the predicted rain very nearly held off. Yes the roads were soaked from overnight rain and so it was spray city for the first 40 or so miles until the sun burned it off, but even that was better than expected. Then we did get an intense downpour at 80 miles in for about 10 minutes which drenched the roads again but that was it.
Struggled towards the end with headwinds, (especially on the A12 return) but at the same time managed to find a good group between 60 and 75 miles that a lot of riders were clinging on to which helped a lot with pacing and shelter.
Would I do it again? Possibly, but probably would leave it a year or two - there’s not enough “special” about it to warrant an every year entry, but it was still fun to do.
And the predicted rain very nearly held off. Yes the roads were soaked from overnight rain and so it was spray city for the first 40 or so miles until the sun burned it off, but even that was better than expected. Then we did get an intense downpour at 80 miles in for about 10 minutes which drenched the roads again but that was it.
Struggled towards the end with headwinds, (especially on the A12 return) but at the same time managed to find a good group between 60 and 75 miles that a lot of riders were clinging on to which helped a lot with pacing and shelter.
Would I do it again? Possibly, but probably would leave it a year or two - there’s not enough “special” about it to warrant an every year entry, but it was still fun to do.
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
That was the Women’s race out of Saffron Walden. Easy to get good viewing spots to watch them zoom past if you wanted.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
That was a lot of fun. After an oversleeping panic and hurried exit I got to the start in plenty of time. My legs managed the distance ok, despite my having retired from riding monthly 100 milers.
It was my 101st century.
We got an email from the organisers warning us of the weather forecast. Apart from stuffing a lightweight jacket in my pocket I ignored it, and that proved to be right. One very heavy but mercifully brief downpour. This left huge puddles all over the roads near Ongar which sparkled in the post rain sunlight rather prettily.
We got held up for some unknown reason for 20-odd minutes but fortunately this was near (a) an accessible field so I could use it as a pee stop and (b) a bottle filling station. As a result it wasn't a wasted stop, and I didn't stop apart that other than a couple of jacket on/jacket off stops and a stretching stop when my neck and shoulders were giving me gyp.
Time wasn't my fastest. I did 2022 stupidly fast (for me) in under 7 hours. This time I actually crossed 100 miles (according to my Garmin) in a smidge under 7 hours and it took me another 12 minutes or so to do the last 5k.
But the main thing was the opportunity to ride quickly (by my standards) for a long period without traffic. A massive change from my normal riding. Great stuff
It was my 101st century.
We got an email from the organisers warning us of the weather forecast. Apart from stuffing a lightweight jacket in my pocket I ignored it, and that proved to be right. One very heavy but mercifully brief downpour. This left huge puddles all over the roads near Ongar which sparkled in the post rain sunlight rather prettily.
We got held up for some unknown reason for 20-odd minutes but fortunately this was near (a) an accessible field so I could use it as a pee stop and (b) a bottle filling station. As a result it wasn't a wasted stop, and I didn't stop apart that other than a couple of jacket on/jacket off stops and a stretching stop when my neck and shoulders were giving me gyp.
Time wasn't my fastest. I did 2022 stupidly fast (for me) in under 7 hours. This time I actually crossed 100 miles (according to my Garmin) in a smidge under 7 hours and it took me another 12 minutes or so to do the last 5k.
But the main thing was the opportunity to ride quickly (by my standards) for a long period without traffic. A massive change from my normal riding. Great stuff
Yeah, that's roughly how I feel. All the same, next year ... who knows.
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Anyone average 52 mph?
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Oh, what the heck. I've just signed up for next year. Give me something to aim for.
Bad Company
Very Old Person
- Location
- East Anglia
Mrs BC and I flew into London City airport yesterday afternoon. We had to wait an hour for our taxi as he’d been delayed by road closures due to this event. Not a huge problem for us but it would have been a very major issue for departing passengers who very likely missed flights. We actually saw people getting out of cars & taxis a mile or so from the airport and set off in real hurry on foot.
Maybe the routes & road closures weren’t ideal?
Maybe the routes & road closures weren’t ideal?
Rusty Nails
We remember
- Location
- Living in the slow lane
I prefer plain water in my bottles.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Same closures as for last year. Two major routes to city airport still open, plus the trains. Not sure why this year would be worse. Maybe some motorists crashed.
gavgav
Legendary Member
I completed my first ever century ride, by finishing the 103 miles in 7 hours 20 mins (Strava time, so ignoring stops) averaging 14.1mph.
It was an absolutely brilliant experience and my first ever closed roads mass cycling event, probably a once in a lifetime though.
We got to our pink wave entry point, on The Mall just before 7:30, as per the literature, fully expecting to then have to hang around until our advertised start time of 8:30…cycled on down to the Embankment, to find no queues and at 7:32 we were through the start and on our way, brilliant!! The only downside is that we’d layered up for hanging around in the cool and drizzle for a while, so stopped to de-robe the waterproof and light jacket, as way too warm and then about 12 miles in my chain came off!
Things improved after that and we enjoyed the tailwind, cracking on nicely until about 30 miles where we all came to a halt for nigh on 30 minutes due to a couple of serious accidents, ahead, parting to let 3 ambulances through.
That meant very busy roads as we got going again and stopped in Great Dunmow for lunch from the community stop, which was the best stop point of the day for me.
At that stage we were averaging 16.7mph, which is unheard of for us. We then turned back towards the west and encountered the one monsoon of the day, which added to some floods/large puddles on the roads, but only lasted about 10 minutes thankfully, thoroughly soaking us though, plus hail hurts!
Paul started to struggle at 65 miles and so there was some encouragement needed from me to keep him going and we stopped more regularly to get food in us and water, as things had warmed up nicely in the sunshine. Whilst stopped in one village, at a post office for some chocolate for Paul, we witnessed a car drive down the closed road towards the oncoming bikes, pull into a bus stop and the proceed to continue to drive half on the pavement and half on the road!! Utter knobber and the consequences could have been unthinkable.
Then came Buckhurst Hill, which really isn’t that bad compared to Shropshire hills, but on tired legs it was a pull.
And then we hit the strong headwind… which was relentless for the last 18 miles and those constant up and downs of flyovers and tunnels into London was a real battle, having to dig very deep at times. One chap remarked to me, as we struggled up yet another climb over a flyover that the event now resembled cycling amongst the living dead, as no one had anything left and it was hard to even talk to one another!!
But…eventually Tower Bridge appeared and what a welcome site that was. I was a bit emotional crossing the finish line, with thinking about all those suffering with Prostate Cancer (the charity I raised money for) including my dad and also a close friend who died from it last year.
You really have to have your wits about you, with 20000 bikes on the road, especially when the Tour de France wannabes come flying through in chains, but I kept myself safe in the left hand lane and hoped that no one would do anything daft around me, which in the main they didn’t or at least I was travelling at a speed I could avoid anything that did happen with the “wanderers”.
We did see a few small accidents, but luckily avoided seeing the more serious ones, including someone who hit a deer 😳! Sadly saw the cretins about at the end, who nicked a bike from under the nose of a woman who took her eyes off it for literally 2 seconds, but I believe a security guard caught them and managed to get it back. I’ve read about a number of other bikes that were stolen from the finish area, including some that were chained up by London Bridge. There are some real lowlifes.
A big sense of achievement and yes I’m quite stiff and saddle sore now 😆
It was an absolutely brilliant experience and my first ever closed roads mass cycling event, probably a once in a lifetime though.
We got to our pink wave entry point, on The Mall just before 7:30, as per the literature, fully expecting to then have to hang around until our advertised start time of 8:30…cycled on down to the Embankment, to find no queues and at 7:32 we were through the start and on our way, brilliant!! The only downside is that we’d layered up for hanging around in the cool and drizzle for a while, so stopped to de-robe the waterproof and light jacket, as way too warm and then about 12 miles in my chain came off!
Things improved after that and we enjoyed the tailwind, cracking on nicely until about 30 miles where we all came to a halt for nigh on 30 minutes due to a couple of serious accidents, ahead, parting to let 3 ambulances through.
That meant very busy roads as we got going again and stopped in Great Dunmow for lunch from the community stop, which was the best stop point of the day for me.
At that stage we were averaging 16.7mph, which is unheard of for us. We then turned back towards the west and encountered the one monsoon of the day, which added to some floods/large puddles on the roads, but only lasted about 10 minutes thankfully, thoroughly soaking us though, plus hail hurts!
Paul started to struggle at 65 miles and so there was some encouragement needed from me to keep him going and we stopped more regularly to get food in us and water, as things had warmed up nicely in the sunshine. Whilst stopped in one village, at a post office for some chocolate for Paul, we witnessed a car drive down the closed road towards the oncoming bikes, pull into a bus stop and the proceed to continue to drive half on the pavement and half on the road!! Utter knobber and the consequences could have been unthinkable.
Then came Buckhurst Hill, which really isn’t that bad compared to Shropshire hills, but on tired legs it was a pull.
And then we hit the strong headwind… which was relentless for the last 18 miles and those constant up and downs of flyovers and tunnels into London was a real battle, having to dig very deep at times. One chap remarked to me, as we struggled up yet another climb over a flyover that the event now resembled cycling amongst the living dead, as no one had anything left and it was hard to even talk to one another!!
But…eventually Tower Bridge appeared and what a welcome site that was. I was a bit emotional crossing the finish line, with thinking about all those suffering with Prostate Cancer (the charity I raised money for) including my dad and also a close friend who died from it last year.
You really have to have your wits about you, with 20000 bikes on the road, especially when the Tour de France wannabes come flying through in chains, but I kept myself safe in the left hand lane and hoped that no one would do anything daft around me, which in the main they didn’t or at least I was travelling at a speed I could avoid anything that did happen with the “wanderers”.
We did see a few small accidents, but luckily avoided seeing the more serious ones, including someone who hit a deer 😳! Sadly saw the cretins about at the end, who nicked a bike from under the nose of a woman who took her eyes off it for literally 2 seconds, but I believe a security guard caught them and managed to get it back. I’ve read about a number of other bikes that were stolen from the finish area, including some that were chained up by London Bridge. There are some real lowlifes.
A big sense of achievement and yes I’m quite stiff and saddle sore now 😆
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Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Glad you enjoyed it @gavgav sounds like you were in roughly the same bit of the ride as me, a bit ahead.
A couple of little memories have come back to me. I'd just pulled over to text my wife with an adjusted ETA when the rain came down heavily. I was putting on my jacket when a guy pulled up and started feeling his jersey pocket and said to me "oh fup I've dropped my jacket". I felt really sorry for him, but nothing to be done. I didn't tell him that I'd seen a nice looking jacket in the road a couple of hours earlier. I didn't think that would help.
I also saw a guy who'd stopped and gone back to fetch something he'd dropped in the road. As I approached he picked it up and held it up for his friend to see. It was his left crank
. Nothing I could do as I didn't have my trusty roll of duck tape with me so I just rode past. At least on an event like that you can wait for the broom wagon.
It occurs to me that if you fancy a haul of water bottles, sunglasses and the odd jacket (not to mention a lot of gel wrappers
) then you could do worse than ride the route the next day. I hope they send out clean-up squads.
A couple of little memories have come back to me. I'd just pulled over to text my wife with an adjusted ETA when the rain came down heavily. I was putting on my jacket when a guy pulled up and started feeling his jersey pocket and said to me "oh fup I've dropped my jacket". I felt really sorry for him, but nothing to be done. I didn't tell him that I'd seen a nice looking jacket in the road a couple of hours earlier. I didn't think that would help.
I also saw a guy who'd stopped and gone back to fetch something he'd dropped in the road. As I approached he picked it up and held it up for his friend to see. It was his left crank
. Nothing I could do as I didn't have my trusty roll of duck tape with me so I just rode past. At least on an event like that you can wait for the broom wagon.It occurs to me that if you fancy a haul of water bottles, sunglasses and the odd jacket (not to mention a lot of gel wrappers
) then you could do worse than ride the route the next day. I hope they send out clean-up squads.
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gavgav
Legendary Member
Glad you enjoyed it @gavgav sounds like you were in roughly the same bit of the ride as me, from your description of the start, the hold-up and the rain.
A couple of little memories have come back to me. I'd just pulled over to text my wife with an adjusted ETA when the rain came down heavily. I was putting on my jacket when a guy pulled up and started feeling his jersey pocket and said to me "oh fup I've dropped my jacket". I felt really sorry for him, but nothing to be done. I didn't tell him that I'd seen a nice looking jacket in the road a couple of hours earlier. I didn't think that would help.
I also saw a guy who'd stopped and gone back to fetch something he'd dropped in the road. As I approached he picked it up and held it up for his friend to see. It was his left crank
It occurs to me that if you fancy a haul of water bottles, sunglasses and the odd jacket (not to mention a lot of gel wrappers
Yes there were lots of things scattered around, saw water bottles, mudguards, inner tubes, a jacket (could have been the same one!) and a garmin that someone was retrieving near Buckhurst Hill….oh and a squashed loaf of bread 🤷♂️🤣
One of the funniest moments, on a hill in Epping Forest, was a group of really friendly lads riding together, one asking if their mate was doing it again next year and the reply “no we’re taking up darts” 🤣
