[Closed] Ride London/ Essex 100.... howditgo?

Yeah, I did it also - in a near-identical time (though the official time is a bit faster, as passing the welfare stations is neutralised). Seemed well-organised - from what I saw at least.

I’m not a group rider, so spent half the time being a bit scared in a bunch, and the other half upset I had been dropped and needed to get into a new group asap.

Route seemed fine, though I do prefer the Surrey route as I like to climb.

How was the route? I just looked at a mate's Strava and it shows 1240m of climbing, my RL 2019 shows 1250m.

That to me says lots of little ups and downs rather than a few decent climbs, sometimes that can be harder because you don't get the recovery downhills.

Yes..felt very u dilating, rather than hilly.
The numerous overpass in Central London at the end felt a bit mean 😃😃

And it felt like a headwind the whole way!

DrP

Hmm, I kept wondering about the route and whether it would prove faster than the already fast PRL. is the jury still out on this?

Dry? Maybe you were an early starter as I got caught in 2 showers out Essex way.
I found it fairly hard, especially km 100-140 which was cold and rainy and a fairly dull road.
After the final stop the weather cheered up and I got an extra bit of energy so raced into London which was fun.
6h15 which was a little slower than I'd hoped but it was my first ride over 100km.
Sore now but pork pies, Irn-Bru, Radox and Estrella Damm have all helped. I didn't drink the Radox.

Are the medals wood?

Yeah! Laser cut mdf.

DrP

Yep, wooden medals.
Got round in 5:36 which is better than the 6 hours I was aiming for.
Agree on the route, no big climbs (my Garmin only flagged one "climb" in the climbing feature and that was 3%) but it was pretty much all undulating the whole was round.
And yes @ekinspain, i got soaked after the 53 mile stop which would have been about 11:45 to 12ish, rained pretty hard for ages. Think the rain was localised though as speaking to someone else on the train home then only mentioned a bit of light rain - fairly sure my shoes are still wet!

My GF did it, got round in 5hr32, she was aiming for around 6hrs so she's pretty pleased, though never did the old Surrey route for contrast...

Did the Surrey route myself back in 2016 and 2017, last time I did it managed 4hr37 and absolutely cooked my goose, spent the rest of that day drinking and eating to recover! I've not done a century since mind, and probably only ridden over 50 miles twice since too. I'd struggle to do 100 miles at all now, let alone at a decent pace! 😂

Westminster @ 7am

Suffle to the start

Like Zwift but IRL!

Where’s the flapjack?

Tower Bridge finish

Seen a few friends and clubmates have done it on Strava.

One acquaintance was travelling in on a train with some other riders and the train was stopped after a suicide further up the line. Missed the cutoff to start and sounds like RideLondon are refusing to defer his place to next year.

Think the rain was localised though

Must have been, next door we did 115k in Sunny Herts, very quiet and not a drop of rain.

was my first ride over 100km.

Kudos to you!

Rain was very localised. I passed over a long very wet section at 50 to 60 miles, but no rain. Highlight was coffee and burger at a super cafe on route in Chipping Ongor, Fratelli.

I was in the first wave - 6am. Started pretty fast and was maintaining a 24mph average up until the half way point. Kind of knew I was pushing it a little, but counted on the tailwind on the return leg to help me along.

That proved to be a mistake as the return leg also seemed to be a headwind and full of false flats and undulating climbs. Was fine in the groups on the flats and downhills but by mile 70 I found it more and more difficult to maintain any speed on the "climbs". 5 miles later I was just dropping out of the back of the groups.

Ended up doing the last 15 miles completely solo - legs had gone and didn't even attempt to jump into some of the groups that passed me. Finished in 4:35 in the end (which was only 8 minutes slower than my best Surrey time), so maybe I shouldn't have been beating myself up too much.

Didn't really enjoy the route - felt Surrey is a lot better - much better scenery and a much better approach into London at the end.

And as for the hairpins on the route? WTF?

And as for the hairpins on the route? WTF?

I actually liked those!!! I know it wasn't a race, but.... a good corner technique (not just the hairpins, but the 90degree corners too) was both FUN, and a great way of maintatining speed...

DrP

Seen a few friends and clubmates have done it on Strava.

Yep, some blistering times, the faster riders were averaging nearly 40 kph - I assume massive groups of fast riders. Even the slower riders in my club averaged over 30 kph - which is pretty mind blowing.

Did it. Good dealer slower than expected as with a mate on a hybrid who doesn't cycle a great deal, but I'm not exactly a quick road rider anyway.
Thought the route was a bit meh, especially once out of London.
Lot easier a ride than Surrey, so not surprised there was a lot of quick times.
Fun, but not sure I'd bother again.