RideLondon2020

[icowden]

I'd be sorry to see Ride London go, but as much for the Freecycle as anything else, because I never did the 100 or 46 because of British daffodil-ing's headgear and health rules and a general dislike of the fakey-racey atmosphere of it. It's pretty good seeing streets closed and taken over by bikes but I'm not surprised that the Surrey Hills didn't get enough commercially from it for businesses to help persuade/pressure the residents, as I don't think it was easy enough to get from Surrey hotels over to the 6am start in East London.

Yes, the support was only in favour of it by significantly more than favoured Brexit, so obviously ignoring the result was the way to go...

 

[PaulSB]

I'm based in Lancashire and entered the Ride London ballot every year. I only got in once and had an absolutely brilliant weekend. I'll miss having the possibility of riding again as I'd really like to.

The safety criticism of the event surprises me. The spots I thought dangerous were the Newlands Corner descent and both the ascent and descent of Leith Hill. Some folk descended those two at ridiculous speeds. The Leith ascent was a problem because so many riders found it necessary to dismount. The rest of the course was easy to navigate safely though crowded in places.

For many who visit from outside London and general south-east area the attraction is closed roads, a decent route and a weekend away. I don't think the "Surrey Hills" are a particular draw - mainly because we ride far harder hills every week. Fundamentally it's just a very good ride.

If the organisers came up with a similar event I'd be happy to enter. I think though without the Olympic angle it would be difficult to sell to many people.

 

[PaulSB]

Yes, I think Box Hill might have some cachet from the Olympic connection so it's a climb people like to tick off, even if it's actually not much of a climb itself. The rest of the Surrey Hills are a draw if you happen to be in SW London, but apart from that ... meh. I think the main draw of the route itself is probably the London tourist things like Buckingham Palace etc.

I think that's correct about Boxhill though in reality it isn't much of a climb. I suspect Leith is harder but it was so crowded the challenge was to stay on the bike. I managed to push through at around 2-3mph.

Still Leith Hill and Boxhill are in the top 💯 so I have them ticked off.

 

[mjr]

I think that's correct about Boxhill though in reality it isn't much of a climb. I suspect Leith is harder but it was so crowded the challenge was to stay on the bike. I managed to push through at around 2-3mph.

Still Leith Hill and Boxhill are in the top 💯 so I have them ticked off.

The attraction of Box Hill is the hairpins... but not a lot of folk know that there is a hairpin-filled climb (and descent with maybe two) on NCN 1 north of London near Nazeing. It's tiny! But such a giggle with a group of you spread out up it!

Based on talking to participants, I would agree that the main draw is the Chelsea Embankment - Parliament - Whitehall - Trafalgar Square - Admiralty Arch - Mall run-in. I think there was one year (maybe the first?) where the Freecycle took the same route, but most years it has been reversed so that it isn't a spoiler for the paying riders

 

[Dogtrousers]

The Surrey report is here. It's a bit irritating, but I guess it's to be expected.
https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s71733/Cabinet Report PRLS - 27 Oct 20 - FINAL.pdf

The council ran a survey in which there was a 53% majority of Surrey residents in favour of continuation of the event.

This is rather inconvenient to their conclusions, so the report finds it necessary to downplay the survey with the caveat that the respondents were self selecting and not a representative sample. The subtext being that had it been a proper representative sample - a local survey for local people - then the results would have been quite different.

However, 41% of respondents strongly disagreed with continuation. These are "strong concerns from many Surrey residents" including "concerns over anti social behaviour of a small number of sports cyclists".

You can see where this is going ...

Many respondents also noted the long-term impacts of an increased number of cyclists using the route for practice or leisure all year round.

So it seems that a minority of respondents have raised concerns that they don't like cyclists on the road at any time. And those are the ones they chose to give most credence to. The ones in favour of continuing were all self-selecting nobbers and therefore of less importance. Although they don't explain how they know that cancelling the event will necessarily bring about a reduction of year-round leisure cyclists.

I suppose it's not really surprising, given that we're only a stone's throw from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead who brought the failed, legally flawed attempt to shut down the Velolife cafe, including threats of legal action against cycling clubs if they visited the cafe, threats which had to be hurriedly withdrawn before the whole thing fell to bits.

Personally I'm not that sad at the event's demise, but this report, with its logical inconsistencies, irrelevant points and general anti-cycling tone is rather irritating.

 

[icowden]

The Surrey report is here. It's a bit irritating, but I guess it's to be expected.
https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/documents/s71733/Cabinet Report PRLS - 27 Oct 20 - FINAL.pdf

Found it:-

Finally, although the event may help to inspire people to cycle more, the nature of the event tends to attract sports cycling enthusiasts, rather than inspiring people who do not yet cycle, or cycle only occasionally, to cycle more frequently for everyday journeys.

Bl**dy sports cycling enthusiasts with their enthusiasm for sports. That's the problem. If only it attracted people like me who signed up to do it to raise money for Type 1 Diabetes research, rather then those ENTHUSIASTS with their ENTHUSIASAM.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I missed this bit of news: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/p...2022-as-tfl-confirms-new-ten-year-partnership

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that the world's greatest mass participation cycling festival, RideLondon, is to return from spring 2022 under a new partnership with London Marathon Events Limited (LME).  [...] Next year, the festival will take place over one day in the spring with an exciting consolidated format allowing even more families to take part. [...] The women's professional race - the RideLondon Classique - will be showcased in 2022.

Looking at what they don't say, it seems that the pompously named Ride London "Classic" mens pro event and the closed road sportive events will not be included, and there will be more concentration on the festival / family oriented stuff than the lycra / sporty challenge oriented stuff. Which I think is not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm surprised they've included the women's pro event as that will mean road closures and the inevitable nimby battles that this will entail.

 

[mjr]

the pompously named Ride London "Classic" mens pro event

"Classic" in a race name probably doesn't mean what you think it means. RideLondon had a fair claim to it, as the highest level one-day race in England.

I'm surprised they've included the women's pro event as that will mean road closures and the inevitable nimby battles that this will entail.

The Classique has been yet another La-Course-by-CBA-style dull circuit race won by a sprinter most years, using roads closed for the family event anyway, so no extra nimby battles.

And it's fairer to call that pompous naming, as I think there's almost no tradition of the "Classic" name in the Women's Tours and it's a right bit of Del Boy Franglais.

Looks like they're canning the Brompton race, too, as that's not mentioned either.

Moving what will be mainly the FreeCycle to spring seems risky, weather-wise.

 

[mjr]

But it's been previously announced that RLCq would become a 3-day race in 2022: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...as-a-three-day-womens-worldtour-event-in-2022

That article also confirms that the Men's World Tour race is dead.

And it's the late May bank holiday, which isn't "spring" to most people and a slightly better bet for weather.

 

[StuAff]

I just miss the annual ballot and associated festival of bellyaching when I don't get a place.

I'd like them to finally pull my name out of their heavily rigged hat so I can then whine about the price, the false bonhomie, the pointless 'freebies', and rid myself of the inclination to ever do the thing a second time.

 

[T4tomo]

Never been interested , even when someone offered me a place, logistically a right old ball ache for the privilege of closed roads. whilst closed roads are fine, there are too many muppet cyclists riding around with you, some of them more dangerous that car drivers.

 

[mjr]

Never been interested , even when someone offered me a place, logistically a right old ball ache for the privilege of closed roads. whilst closed roads are fine, there are too many muppet cyclists riding around with you, some of them more dangerous that car drivers.

What's the logistical ballache? It is designed to make you spend a night in a London hotel, so do you mean if you try to avoid that?

Based on my vast experience of standing at various points of the roadside shouting nonsense at a long succession of RideLondon 100ers and 46ers over a few years, I suggest that the muppet percentage varies wildly through the waves, peaking just before the middle. The early starters (and especially the early finishers among them) seem to be seriously fast and fairly low-muppet after the second few (who often seemed to be trying to go faster than they really can, trying to catch the very front, and shouting abuse at anyone in their way), then you get peak muppet with riders who aren't as fast or skilled as they think they are (slipstreaming in some really odd places, not signalling much... this is the group most likely to crash on road furniture), then it decreases until you get minimum muppet % IMO with the strivers and strugglers at the end but they do make more genuine mistakes from inexperience.

So, in other words, if you find yourself riding among too many muppets, relax a bit until you find the sweet spot.

 

[steverob]

That explains why I never had the "huge amount of muppets" experience that everyone complained about on here - I was just too slow / started too far back to see it!

In my three rides (two 100's, one 46) I did see a few post-crash aftermaths - e.g. the victims of incidents that had clearly happened a long while before I'd got there, by which time they were already being well attended to; and once did get a tiny bit annoyed by two people walking side by side up a hill with their bikes, which meant they were taking up almost one whole lane, causing an overtaking bottleneck.

But on the whole I thought the standard of riding was no better or worse than my local sportive (the only other time I really ride with lots of other people), so never really recognised the issues others raised. But then if you saw a lot of riders nearer the sharp end of the field trying to take silly risks just to shave a quarter of a second off their four hour time, I'm sure your opinion might be very different!

 

[Dogtrousers]

It will be returning Sun May 29th, partnering with Essex county council

The RideLondon-Essex 100 is a unique opportunity to ride 100 miles on traffic-free roads through the heart of London and neighbouring Essex. It will start and finish in the centre of the capital, with 60 miles of rolling roads through some of Essex’s most beautiful countryside and villages in between. The full route will be announced in early 2022.​

​

Entries will open on Wednesday 10 November when the first 10,000 places in this brand new 100-mile challenge ride will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Entry is £89.​

Once the first 10,000 RideLondon-Essex 100 entries are sold out, the remainder of general entries will be available via a ballot, which will close at 17:00 on Thursday 20 January 2022. The ballot is a random draw, just like the National Lottery. Entry is £89.​

​

https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/

What's that rumbling sound? It's the sound of outraged Essex Nimbys taking to the streets.

 

[BrumJim]

" The world’s greatest festival of cycling ..."

Not short of hyperbole, are they!