The RideLondon100

WorcsPhil · Post by **WorcsPhil** » 09 Feb 2013 17:07

Months and months ago, I entered the ballot for the inaugural RideLondon100 sportive, and heard yesterday that I am one of the 20,000 successful entries for the event on Aug 4th, same day as the pro race over the same course, and pleased to get in. It starts at the Olympic Park and on through London, out to Surrey hills and back, finishing on the Mall, so although a big, commerical offering, it does sound like an 'event' for later in the summer.

Any other beaconerers entered and were successful in the ballot?

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 09 Feb 2013 17:14

Well done. Enjoy Box Hill if you've not ridden it before. It's the smoothest road I've ever ridden a bike on, since its resurfacing for the Olympics.

I got home yesterday to find a magazine had arrived in the post from the organisers. I presumed that they would only send a magazine to successful entrants, but alas, no - it was a magazine specifically for people who didn't get a place.

Philip Whiteman · Post by **Philip Whiteman** » 09 Feb 2013 17:16

Same day that the LEL riders arrive back in London

WorcsPhil · Post by **WorcsPhil** » 04 Aug 2013 18:42

Just got back home from a fast day on the bike in London...read about the rain and crashes on the Beacon run today so don't hate me when I say it was perfect conditions in London, dry and 20c. The closed roads, excellent organisation (which meant there was little or no bike congestion on the course), heaps of other cyclists and a flat fast course meant it was a perfect storm for PB's...in fact all of the above turned it into a picturesque and memorable 100 mile time trial. I went hoping for 5:45 and dipped under 5 hours and suspect many other people smashed their own expectations.

How did the Beacon team do? Hopefully they will report...

Finally, my recommendation is enter the ballot for next year when it opens later this month, it's not that often you can blast through London, and everyone stops for you. Wonderful hokum.

Andy_Craddock · Post by **Andy_Craddock** » 04 Aug 2013 19:46

Sounds a great ride, will definitely be entering the ballot when its available.

Great time aswell

Grogz · Post by **Grogz** » 04 Aug 2013 20:00

Good to hear your report, Phil. Glad you enjoyed it.

Pedlo Mudguardo · Post by **Pedlo Mudguardo** » 05 Aug 2013 21:41

Well that was quite an experience, like a parallel universe where EVERYONE is a cyclist. For various reasons we were given one of the last start times which meant carving a path through 20,000 riders as we attempted to put in a decent time.

Around the halfway point Lee began to really badly cramp up and it became clear that he'd have to get back under his own steam as best he could whilst suffering big time.

Doug and Mike motored on and I eventually rejoined them for the final 20 miles or so at at a spanking pace.

Loads of highlights from a great day but the best has to be looking behind to see about 15 guys behind us catching a lift as we headed back into central London.

My official time for the 100 miles including various stops was 5.22 with an actual riding time of 4.56 at an average of 22.3 mph.

It was a really nice feeling to be able to represent the club and the final sprint along The Mall will be a great memory.

Big, big thanks to Doug, Mike and Lee for an absolute brilliant laugh...

Cheers.

http://instagram.com/p/cpKTHbp7y5/

A nice pic from the day.

IanT · Post by **IanT** » 05 Aug 2013 22:35

Outstanding work gentlemen, great to hear it was a first class day and quite something to see the Beacon colours on The Mall. Congratulations on the times, impressive stuff !

WorcsPhil · Post by **WorcsPhil** » 05 Aug 2013 22:40

Although I was not in the Beacon official group, I still wore our new kit and proud to do so...many highlights, but the glass-like surface on Box Hill was an experience after the Worcestershire re-surfacing of the last few weeks, and hurtling through Putney high street at 36mph through a red light (legally I may add), with people in my slipstream.

I did a similar run time to Nic - 4:54 on the official 160kms distance which included one stop of 5 mins only.

ok..(from a troglodyte)how on earth do you load images? The above is clearly not right.

chalkie · Post by **chalkie** » 05 Aug 2013 23:05

i rode round at a steady pace, taking film and pics, and soaking up the atmosphere. Rode it in 7:08:47. Saddle time 6:28:09. Stopped 4 times at feed stations and got off half way boxhill to film the switchbacks. BRILL day, and raised good monies for MS CHARITY. Many thansk to all those who sponsored me.

Also rode with Boris Johnson up Newlands (he was suffering even then) got it on video...

laurence_cooley · Post by **laurence_cooley** » 05 Aug 2013 23:18

WorcsPhil wrote:ok..(from a troglodyte)how on earth do you load images? The above is clearly not right.

The link needs to be to the file directly, not the webpage it's on, so should end in .jpg.

paul.farrell · Post by **paul.farrell** » 06 Aug 2013 06:34

chalkie wrote: Also rode with Boris Johnson up Newlands (he was suffering even then) got it on video...

When I saw him on TV, I was wondering if he paid his 48 quid. Well done to all of you, the closed roads are so nice aren't they.

mike mac · Post by **mike mac** » 06 Aug 2013 17:08

what a great ride through some lovely surrey countryside. Bombing through the city of London past all the famous landmarks without worrying about traffic was a real experience. Thought the start was a bit over organised. We were told to get there an hour before our start time. This only meant we would be standing around for an hour waiting to go. It was starting to get a bit chilly, not an ideal warm up. Apart from that, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Highlight of the day was being told our kit looks amazing by another cyclist at the bottle stop. That alone has made the whole new kit experience worth while.

Defo do it next year if I can but would try to get in the 1st starting wave if poss. I'm certain we would have done a sub 4:30 if we didn't have to wade through the masses at the back and wait for Lee to uncramp his legs a couple of times.

Andy_Craddock · Post by **Andy_Craddock** » 06 Aug 2013 18:43

Phil, love the matching gloves. But then is that a surprise given my bike!

If you ever want to get rid of your bike im having first dibs

Grogz · Post by **Grogz** » 06 Aug 2013 20:49

Nice one, chaps!

chalkie · Post by **chalkie** » 10 Aug 2013 22:22

my fun day is here:

http://youtu.be/N6zAfXTS8ds

paul.farrell · Post by **paul.farrell** » 11 Aug 2013 06:57

Well done Charles, quite envious. I'm glad we got all the rain

I would imagine it was quite a buzz on the mall.