SWSteve
Guru
- Location
- Bristol...ish
Congratulations to all that made it round. Hope you were all safe and enjoyed the day.
RideLondon-Surrey 100 (2016) Anyone?
- Thread starter Nomadski
- Start date
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rb58
Enigma
- Location
- Bexley, Kent
Cross posted from my Facebook post:
RideLondon was fun. Despite best intentions, I covered the first 35-40 miles at around 20mph. Then after Sandra (my riding partner) and I got split up, I decided to revert to plan A and took it easier to take in the atmosphere and sights. Had a cappuccino and sandwich on a wall outside the petrol station Dorking chatting to an old guy, who was watching the riders go by whilst supping from a bottle of beer. He'd marshalled the Milk Race back in the 1960s and was delighted to see the resurgence in cycling in the UK. Scaled Box Hill whilst chatting to a Bommie rider, then stopped in Leatherhead for a cup of tea and delicious home made flapjack at the home of @swansonj a fellow Fridays rider. Thanks John! Rode alongside the chap on the Boris Bike for a while - he reckoned the ride would cost him about £40 in hire charges. He was shifting too. Chapeau! Stopped at Wimbledon to fill up my water bottles and got chatting to a chap on a high end Trek bike who's rear derailleur had bent. Unbelievably, had a spare gear hanger in his pocket. I mean,
Who carries a spare hear hanger on a ride? Onwards to the finish and I came across a young lady at around mile 97 who was barely able to turn the pedals, so I chatted to her to take her mind off the effort and coached her back to Parliament Square, before I left her and headed for an emotional sprint down The Mall.
I passed three obviously serious accidents, two of which looked particularly nasty with all sorts of medical equipment being deployed. But I think I was lucky as although we were slowed momentarily, I must have got through before the roads were closed and the diversions put in place. Hope the guys hurt are okay!
The upside was that the road closures significantly reduced the numbers of riders around me, which made for a much more comfortable ride into London.
Terrific day for my 150th century. 130 miles all told. Helmet put away for another year ;-)
RideLondon was fun. Despite best intentions, I covered the first 35-40 miles at around 20mph. Then after Sandra (my riding partner) and I got split up, I decided to revert to plan A and took it easier to take in the atmosphere and sights. Had a cappuccino and sandwich on a wall outside the petrol station Dorking chatting to an old guy, who was watching the riders go by whilst supping from a bottle of beer. He'd marshalled the Milk Race back in the 1960s and was delighted to see the resurgence in cycling in the UK. Scaled Box Hill whilst chatting to a Bommie rider, then stopped in Leatherhead for a cup of tea and delicious home made flapjack at the home of @swansonj a fellow Fridays rider. Thanks John! Rode alongside the chap on the Boris Bike for a while - he reckoned the ride would cost him about £40 in hire charges. He was shifting too. Chapeau! Stopped at Wimbledon to fill up my water bottles and got chatting to a chap on a high end Trek bike who's rear derailleur had bent. Unbelievably, had a spare gear hanger in his pocket. I mean,
Who carries a spare hear hanger on a ride? Onwards to the finish and I came across a young lady at around mile 97 who was barely able to turn the pedals, so I chatted to her to take her mind off the effort and coached her back to Parliament Square, before I left her and headed for an emotional sprint down The Mall.
I passed three obviously serious accidents, two of which looked particularly nasty with all sorts of medical equipment being deployed. But I think I was lucky as although we were slowed momentarily, I must have got through before the roads were closed and the diversions put in place. Hope the guys hurt are okay!
The upside was that the road closures significantly reduced the numbers of riders around me, which made for a much more comfortable ride into London.
Terrific day for my 150th century. 130 miles all told. Helmet put away for another year ;-)
Justinslow
Lovely jubbly
- Location
- Suffolk
We got held up there for 45 mins just after it happened, I'm not sure if there weren't two air ambulances about. When we went past there was medical equipment strewn everywhere, looked nasty, hope the rider is ok.
Luckily for us though we had clear open road when we got going again, others were not so lucky with lots of walking occurring due to just too many riders on the road from there on in. Leith hill was bypassed for some due to congestion and people walking.
Great day though, brilliant event, Leith hill is indeed a bar steward, Box hill was lovely. Thougherly recommend doing Ride London just don't take stupid risks especially with people in close proximity.
JoeyB
Go on, tilt your head!
- Location
- Fareham, Hampshire
On the train home. Lots of hold ups for apparently nasty crashes, hope everyone is ok. I saw a couple of people wiped out on the deck and it wasn't pretty. Started strong and finished strong so I'm happy.
OP
OP
Nomadski
I Like Bikes
- Location
- LBS, Usually
Well done to everyone who did it today, took some pictures on the Wimbledon climb which I will post later tomorrow.
derrick
The Glue that binds us together.
- Location
- On the edge of London
Nice ride this time, Got there early and was finished at 12 O'clock, Met the rest of the club in Green Park, Had a beer then rode home. We only got held up for a short while at about 70 miles. My garmin will not upload at the moment it is saying it's queued. Must be overloaded.
Same.
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
Ditto...very annoying
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
did the Brompton rider who you went up box hill, suddenly put a spurt on at the summit and zoom off like he was on an elec assist bike.
if so, I was riding right next to you!
jonny jeez
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chislehurst, Kent, UK
I went past the 38 mile fallen rider, just after the incident. I hope they are ok and mending well.
Sod the delays, just glad I wasn't involved.
Sod the delays, just glad I wasn't involved.
I did the 46 as no luck getting into the 100, first ride at three pru, but absolutely loved it torn between riding as fast as I could or look at a all the scenery on route. The people lining the streets were brilliant and provided a huge boost really pushes you on, definitely plan to enter again next year, hope all those riders I passed getting medical attention are OK.
So, a noisy night in Shoreditch and too many beers. In hindsight a hotel opposite an open air club is not a good plan. I had a nice easy start through London, then picked up the pace nicely. I saw someone hit a raised curb dividing the road and flip onto his face in Walton. I spent some time slowing the riders down and moving them over. It looked quite nasty and the guy was in shock. I got well and truly stuck at the 38 mile mark. Huge hugs to the lovely family bringing out jugs of water for riders. They must have made 50 trips.
After that it was easy to crack on, Leith was very tame although I was pulled to a standstill by weight of traffic and people not sticking to the left. Box was nice and smooth, which is better than can be said about the rest of Surrey's roads. The last 20 miles I were a real blast, nice and fast with plenty of good humour.
A massive thanks to all the volunteers like @vickster , you really made the day so enjoyable and easy.
Just waiting to see if Strava gives me the reported 18mph average that the Garmin reported.
Oh, the ride back to the car at Shoreditch without much of an idea where I was going was challenging.
After that it was easy to crack on, Leith was very tame although I was pulled to a standstill by weight of traffic and people not sticking to the left. Box was nice and smooth, which is better than can be said about the rest of Surrey's roads. The last 20 miles I were a real blast, nice and fast with plenty of good humour.
A massive thanks to all the volunteers like @vickster , you really made the day so enjoyable and easy.
Just waiting to see if Strava gives me the reported 18mph average that the Garmin reported.
Oh, the ride back to the car at Shoreditch without much of an idea where I was going was challenging.
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
Here is my ride report. I rode my Pearson single speed bike because i knew the late start would make fast riding tricky.
Start time was 8.34, everything ran like clockwork and we were off at 8.34 dead.
The first few miles were great fun, bashing through London. i was doing so well until just before mile 38 when we stopped for 90 minutes, and then got caught in a second stoppege at a narrow bridge in Ripley for about 15 minutes. By now all the riders had bunched up and progress was slow. I must have missed the diversion and was stuck in the middle.
I rode up Newlands Corner with out any problem, being on a SS makes you keep a much higher pace than the granny gear crew. We got to the bottom of Leith Hill at 1.10, but by they the mandatory diversion had been enforced, even though it wasnt due until 1.15, which is a big let down, but maybe they felt the bunched up pack was a hazard.
Got to box hill, which should be easy on SS but the pace was so slow that it made it a propper grind, but
I made it to the top.
Headley annoyed me, with riders incapable of selecting the correct gear on the sharp uphill and eveyone had to stop for another 10 minutes. Just too many riders in a too small space.
After that it was all fun, and I made a rush for home. My legs are much stronger since riding SS so i could power home at a high cadence without much bother whilst others were flagging a bit. My average speed was over 30kph from Kingston into the finish. The Wimbledon hill was my last final grind, but the road is nice and wide so you can pick your route.
My overall time says 7.14, but i think almost 2 hours of that was stoppages. The tracker says it took me 2 hours 54 minutes to get from Hampton court to Newlands Corner , which is where it all went wrong.
Start time was 8.34, everything ran like clockwork and we were off at 8.34 dead.
The first few miles were great fun, bashing through London. i was doing so well until just before mile 38 when we stopped for 90 minutes, and then got caught in a second stoppege at a narrow bridge in Ripley for about 15 minutes. By now all the riders had bunched up and progress was slow. I must have missed the diversion and was stuck in the middle.
I rode up Newlands Corner with out any problem, being on a SS makes you keep a much higher pace than the granny gear crew. We got to the bottom of Leith Hill at 1.10, but by they the mandatory diversion had been enforced, even though it wasnt due until 1.15, which is a big let down, but maybe they felt the bunched up pack was a hazard.
Got to box hill, which should be easy on SS but the pace was so slow that it made it a propper grind, but
I made it to the top.
Headley annoyed me, with riders incapable of selecting the correct gear on the sharp uphill and eveyone had to stop for another 10 minutes. Just too many riders in a too small space.
After that it was all fun, and I made a rush for home. My legs are much stronger since riding SS so i could power home at a high cadence without much bother whilst others were flagging a bit. My average speed was over 30kph from Kingston into the finish. The Wimbledon hill was my last final grind, but the road is nice and wide so you can pick your route.
My overall time says 7.14, but i think almost 2 hours of that was stoppages. The tracker says it took me 2 hours 54 minutes to get from Hampton court to Newlands Corner , which is where it all went wrong.
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
Yes he did, scalped me the bastid, near the top. Oh the shame.
