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I have a very small rucksack that is easier to carry from my car park to the start, which I’ll put the rider bag into, and then at the start swap them over so the rucksack’s in the rider bag. I don’t know if they’ll take your rucksack directly.
They won't. I do similar to you. I ride with a rucksack to the start. Usually change my top at the start, put the rucksack inside the RL bag,do the ride then pick up the RL bag, put that inside the rucksack, ride home.
First timer here. Rode 87 miles (very slowly) so should get round but definitely will be close to cut-offs.
Training went well, got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that leaves me at risk of bleeding/bruising, however got hit by a car and didn't bleed to death so shouldn't moan. Oh and had labyrinthitis.
RSC here too, albeit on the 46 (clubmates all requested the 100, I wasn't too bothered so ended up on the 46). I haven't RSC'd before so it'll be an interesting day.
I'm in a 9am start wave, so I expect I'll spend a lot of the day either fixing punctures or encouraging people to just keep pedalling so they don't get swept off the course.
I'll be on my bright orange Rusby, give me a wave if you're passing. 🙂
@0wen - bloody hell, you've had a hell of a year! I hope tomorrow goes smoothly for you!
They won’t. I do similar to you. I ride with a rucksack to the start. Usually change my top at the start, put the rucksack inside the RL bag,do the ride then pick up the RL bag, put that inside the rucksack, ride home.
The bag is usually translucent - put something extremely bright in there because then it'll stand out in the sea of identical bags at the finish (although the collection process is usually fairly smooth anyway, anything that helps identify the bag at a glance is useful).
Cheers Pierre! Considered deferring but worried what else might happen if I wait....
The bag is transparent and you stick a number on it. Then when you hand it in they store it in numerical order. Simples. Very slick. They used to give white bags, which were over the shoulder as per marathon. Problem - they were almost impossible to cycle with! The duffel bag style was an improvement.
Have my time, a nice late Black F 7:40 off and I have stocked up on inner tubes and caffeine gels for the riders who might need them. Wave if you see me, I’ll be on my Black and green Defy SL taking it easy and teaching riders through and off. Just going to tootle around and accept that I’ll never break 4 hours.
Top tip, long valves for deep section wheels. Check yours. I bet there will be more than one rider who doesn’t remember.
I’ve got my bags packed and bike serviced, MrsMomo is taking the kids to the in-laws at lunch time tomorrow. Just need to work out if I’m going to head down in the afternoon and try to find somewhere to kip in the car or get up at midnight and drive straight down
In all seriousness to the aged, inform, unfit, etc. It is 100 miles so takes your time, don't get swept away by it as the first bit is mainly flat (newlands isn't till 40 miles, Leith is 60 and Box 75ish) but with no junctions, lights, slowing down and speeding up all the time, as long as you don't waste time at stops too much it's 'easy' to make the cutoffs, and it's about as easy a century as you'll get.
Enjoy it, don't be a dick and thank the marshalls and public for their time and their roads. And don't drop litter!
Super long shot, but if anyone has a spare entry I would love to buy it from you!
Mail.adrianwong@gmail.com
Thank you 🙂
-Adrian
Ride time has changed since when I registered and logged on on 15th July- by an hour.
My mate who was in my block is now 2 hours later. Am I going mad? Has this happened to anybody else?
Just collected my kit and how have the cricket on and a pint at the hotel later. My time honoured tradition of 4 pints the night before a big event will once again be in operation. Cheers.
Long process to start isn’t it? If you’re in wave B and bored please come and talk to the tall fella in red and blue towards the front!
4.5 hours, weather dependant.
Rolled in at 4hrs 27 mins.
Felt that.
As someone who has hardly ever done group rides, seeing someone I know finish in just over 4.5 hours sounds mental, the aero savings from riding in a group and/or wind assistance gave him approx 4mph+ over a good average speed for a local solo ~2 hour ride with ~50 feet of climbing per mile.
Similar for me (4:36, but I had a long wait at a crossing).
Yes group riding gives you an aero boost but the atmosphere/cheering/sense of occasion also helps.
Group riding and closed roads. The extra speed you get from not constantly slowing for a junction, changing down, getting going again, back up to speed is phenomenal.
It's road race speeds doing that event. Looked like a pretty fast year as well - dry weather, light winds.
Also you can descend not worrying about cars or traffic coming the other way. Makes it fairly nippy down back of leith hill.
4:48 for me, target was sub5 so happy with that.
4:53, didn't expect to be sub-5 in a million years so am absolutely chuffed. Also got told a "f'ing massive engine" which is always nice to hear!
The mtb trails round Peaslake were beautifully quiet today as no one could get in by car. We parked at Ranmore and rode in. Crossing the roads around Leith was hair raising but the trails were sublime.
Was aiming for 5:30 or below, got 5:40 but that included a long stop on Leith Hill, due to rider numbers, and also some RSC duties trying unsuccessfully to fix a broken cable on a frame routed cables bike. Actual riding 5:22 which will do me.
Got in a train early on and averaged some daft speed for the first 40m, then suffered up the hills, then a fast run back into London. Great fun, and I hope the riders being tended to by SJA and marshalls at the bottom of Newlands and Purford are ok.
Another tech support Evans E-Team year for me. Fun. Rode among the 6-7 hour finish riders which was more relaxing than with the faster riders in the wet last year. A few blockages and crashes, as far as I'm aware nothing serious though. Slow going in places with bottlenecks but got 80ish miles done, pretty good for a work day! Less than half the flats fixed this year compared to last, smooth going for most.
Was hoping to go Sub six, so with 6:09:47 official, 5:47:24 moving, I’m happy. Quite a few “crossing” stops on the run back from Surrey, so if I split the stops between my choice and not my choice I’m under six hours. 😀
Rider behaviour generally seemed better this year compared to previous, 2016 esp.
Great ride and can I say a thanks to the mechanics and safety riders, particularly the one who got the the girl who crashed on the fast downhill towards Leigh hill very quickly.
Can i suggest the rider card has an organiser number to ring to report a bad crash?
A 5:16 moving at a steady 156 watts for solid Zone 2 training. But as a RSC I:
Replaced a crank after about seven miles - “my boyfriend stripped the bike to clean it yesterday!” She was sobbing when I stopped. Caught her again in Richmond Park and all going well. Think the crank was held on by the plastic preload nut which had sheared!
Fitted an inner tube at Chiswick bridge after the rider had destroyed his spares with tyre levers - new tight tyres. And they were tight!
Wrapped a 700c inner tube into a Brompton Kojac rear tyre to get a rider the last 10 miles - He had three punctures and crashed (proud of that one) was waiting for the sag wagon having cashed and suffered road rash, until I got his tyre up, then he couldn’t wait to finish!
And finally... singlespeeded a bike on Wimbledon common after the mechanic had removed the RD and cables and left the rider to be picked up. I looked down and said “errr do you have the chain?” To which he pulls it out of his rear pocket. Cut with the ever trusty Hexus 2 and set on a nice low gear to get him to the Mall. Jameson did the Evans team not carry chaintools?
I didn’t have to give away my free Continental tyre which I happily carried for the worst!
So 156 watts of Zone 2, lots of singing up the hills and a fun time. Not my usual chase the sub 4 hour thrash’s myself to death fest of past years (PB still 4:06). But everything I expected Ride Safety Captains to be when I first came up with the idea. Nice complements at the end of the ride too. And no I don’t have an electric motor in my bike - but I do still have a second cat race license 🙂
AND REMEMBER TO FASTEN THE CRANK BOLTS NEXT TIME!
Edit: Wally every RSC has the direct line to the control centre. I could have called them from my watch with a simple “hey Siri call Ride London”. All the RSCs know the course too, so can give precise location, e.g., second bend into Ripley - where there was a serious off handled by two RSCs. One to warn traffic and one to handle the communication.
how did you do 5:16 at 156 watts in Zone 2? I don't have a power meter but my strava estimated average was 270 watts (just over 3W/kg) so not unrealistic for 5:22.
And yes, when called on the RSC's do a great job, I had very little to do today (makes up for 6 punctures, none of my own last year) but saw a few earning their whistle today.
Moving time not total time and average not NP. My NP was 187 watts My sub 4:30s are normally 270 watts.
Not my hardest day on a bike.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2590290608
Jameson did the Evans team not carry chaintools?
Yes of course, though may have run out of quick links. There's also a limit where a fix becomes a bodge that Evans is liable for, just have to make a call on the fix and the rider. Some will be very cautious there. ie to SS a bike and re-use a pin that fails later, we get threats of being sued. Or chain's bumped, climbs the block and snaps, whips round and damages carbon bike, we get the call for a replacement. Hypothetically etc but similar has happened.
One thing I didn't mention before as I was still in a positive frame of mind yesterday - gel / snack litter. Disgusting amounts of it. 5 or 6 gel packets in as many yards a common sight. There were a few litter pickers in the city but lanes out in Surrey were a trail of gel tossers. I was embarrassed by it, when the 'roadie litter' complaints come up I'd have to agree and that's a shame, puts me off future event support even. Riders in the event need to police it and PRL need to provide more dump bins.
@jameso - Absolutely agree about the litter. I am also embarrassed by it and wish I'd said something to offenders. Even banana skins take a long time to decompose.
Chain had a 11 speed quick link which they’d used to remove it. I was carrying 9/10 speed too. I guess it was just liability concern. But he only had to coast down Putney hill and bimble along the Embankment. If he had any more climbing I’d have agreed, but so near!
As for litter, I didn’t see anyone deliberate drop, but it is always possible to have an old wrapper fall out of a back pocket when reaching for a new gel. I have always put used ones under a leg gripper. Makes for an interesting look on very long rides!
I was in a 6:16 start and went round in a little under 5 hours.
Didn’t see that much litter to be honest. I was actually surprised.
But there were a lot of riders behind us.
Absolutely agree about the litter.
Was watching the classic on the telly Sunday evening and even some of the pros were stashing their used wrappers in a jersey pocket.
They were chucking bidons left and right though, but those are a bit easier to pick up!
As for litter, I didn’t see anyone deliberate drop, but it is always possible to have an old wrapper fall out of a back pocket when reaching for a new gel. I have always put used ones under a leg gripper. Makes for an interesting look on very long rides!
I saw a couple. If you rode 5hrs or so maybe you'd not see as much as I did riding with the middle-rear waves of riders, it looked to be a cumulative thing but one thing I don't think we can accuse the slower or more novice riders of is being the most prominent gel users. Not sure how effective a litter pick on a 100 mile route can be when it has to be re-opened to cars so soon after either.
Suggested via Evans contacts there that Evans, SIS and PRL could team up to supply a mini bag like an Alpkit stem cell for litter holding. Make it from that cheap paper-based fabric and the tape used for wristbands, chuck the whole thing at the end and get a reward for it, some free snack bars etc.
Or maybe like some of the pro races have sections where you drop your litter and it's all gets picked up easily in the same place.
^ yes, that also - the pro wannabes would love it : ) those 'aim game' cone bins could really help to get more of it into a small area.
Need an on-bike solution to the sticky mess gel wrapper that gets used as the rider needs it though, and I'm starting to feel strongly that this needs to come from the gel makers as well as anyone profiting from the event - and the riders need to take all responsibility for the litter they generate.
Gels don’t have to be messy.
Role the packet content rather than squeeze- like you do with a toothbrush- them stick the sachet up you short leg until you did a bin.
Easy.
I was out and about yesterday evening and crossed the route in a couple of places. The trail of litter was a ****ing disgrace.
Would quite happily see gels banned from sportives, they are not a necessary part of riding a bike outside of proper racing.
What else can you do except equip the Ride Captains or whatever with cameras and on-the-spot fine people for littering (like in some town centres now) or eject them from the event?
yes it is easy, and obvious to you and me, the lazy/selfish ****s who are the problem still won't do it though!Role the packet content rather than squeeze- like you do with a toothbrush- them stick the sachet up you short leg until you did a bin.
Roll the packet content rather than squeeze
And never pull the tab right off the gel. Always put them under my leg grippers. Leave nothing behind. Road races have feed and litter zones where you can drop the litter and it will be easily picked up. Bidons are exempt.
Road races have feed and litter zones where you can drop the litter and it will be easily picked up. Bidons are exempt.
The fines now in pro racing for littering are extortionate - precisely to stop that sort of behaviour. It used to a be a bit of a "turn a blind eye" but the UCI have come down hard on it now. Environmental concerns plus it just sets a really bad example.
You're still allowed to dispose of bidons to the crowds bit chucking them into hedges earns you a fine too.
I was working on the Women's Tour earlier this year and during a race stoppage following an accident, the girls started emptying their pockets into a roadside bin. Gel & bar wrappers everywhere. All neatly folded, placed back into their pockets while racing.
Despite the earlyish start (6:40 am) was ther in plenty of time. Overdid the first 40 miles and felt it later. Leith Hill just felt like a nightmare!. Still safely inside 6 hours which was the goal. Would have been quicker, but seemed to be stopped at every possible time in the last 10 miles.
Agree that something needs to be done about the litter - I do like the idea of 'litter zones'. Accept it is going to happen and sort it out.
A few of the RSC seemed to be more interested in a fast time rather then helping out.
That's a shame... I can't speak for other clubs and how they allocate RSC but my club has a range from very fast through to, er, 'enthusiastic?' and while the aim is to support riders, by having some faster pairings, they can ride with some of the speedier participants and dispense advice accordingly. Sadly most of the outright bad riding I have seen in 2 years of doing it has been from fast riders passing both sides, weaving across etc, and you can't talk to people doing that if you can't ride with them for long enough to have that talk.
I don't know anyone in my club that would not help a rider in need in favour of a fast time. If they want a fast time we usually also get a couple of team entries where they can fill their boots
Jameso not sure who's ear you might have at work, might suggest litter zones to somebody and see if they can shunt it up the food chain.
I've never felt the need to throw litter onto the road during a ride. Just gets put in a pocket and emptied at the end.
But then I didn't see any intentional littering yesterday either.
I do think that people carry way too much stuff on sportives. For yesterday's 100 I had a pack of bloks and 2 bottles of water. That saw me through to the end. Looking at some of the riders coming through later on, you could be forgiven for thinking they were crossing the Sahara.