Ride London 100: Strava Secret Challenges

I think something that might help, would be an alternative route that avoids at least Leith Hill, but still totals 100 miles.

The problem with some of the... erm, shall we say less prepared riders is that they're doing it for charity, and they've made a commitment to ride 100 miles. If they do the detour, they haven't done the distance.

Like arfa, I was surprised by how many people were walking up Newlands, but that's wide enough that it didn't cause much of a problem. Leith is steeper and narrower, there it's a real problem. Maybe they could also have marshals at the top of Newlands telling some people they mustn't attempt Leith Hill.

Some of the group riding skills and etiquette was certainly dubious. I was lucky in that i rode with 10 others from my club (after waiting around past the startline) so we had a ready made buffer around us.

I lost count of the number of riders that just crept up either side of our group to overtake without so much as a whisper advising they were there. Another major issue was people moving over the road without checking their shoulder. Combine those two and you have a potential crash on your hands.

With everyone having to depart through the large 'chutes' towards the start line there is a perfect chance to remind people of group riding etiquette on the morning. Several large banners with diagrams would probably suffice, people are there for 30+ minutes and would likely absorb the information out of boredom.

On the whole though its a great event. My third time of doing it and i'll put my name in the hat again for 2016. I'm lucky as my partner also cycles so we are not looking at other European closed road events to do in 2016 too.

I know what you mean qwerky! The point I am trying to make is that in riding in close proximity, you are necessarily reliant on those around you to ride as predictably as possible and assist with calls/indications. To be fair to the organisers, they make all of this abundantly clear in the "essential pre ride reading" (something which was clearly skipped by quite a few). My issue is not to make the ride elitist/exclusive but to try and make it as safe as possible for all involved and again I would reiterate my view that the ride 100 is not a good place to start out for your first long group ride !

Was very sorry to hear about the chap who died on Leith Hill - tragic for the family yet heartening to see so much money now raised for his charity as a legacy.

As for my experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it - though I don't think I quite put it that way when asked by the lady who presented me with my medal at the finish, I turned myself out on the Mall for a sprint finish!

Highlights for me were speeding through tunnels and along fast A roads outside London without a car in sight!

As with all sportives, this is a personal challenge rather than a race (some people need to be reminded of this!) but I was pretty pleased with my 5 hr official time (though my garmin recorded slightly more than this and I stopped for food as well? strange). I would never average 20mph on my own over 100 miles, just goes to show what closed roads and slipstreaming will do.

I made some use of the quick guys strung out in pacelines, then thought better of it after witnessing some near misses and one crash - they were taking it very seriously and arguably going too fast for the conditions at times. In fact a good point was raised over on BR forum, where the very serious racers seem to be commenting on their 4 hr times !! : why enter such a congested mass participation event, criticising all the 'numpties' you overtake, when really you should be entering more challenging events, or racing at cat 2/3 or whatever

Think I've got it out of my system now anyway and I think it was worth the challenging logistics in the end..

I was looking at my Pru ride last year, the wet one. I noticed loads of segments I had crossed, I was terrible

I came across this guy (I assume its a chap), so looked at his segments, he did it a little better than me and everyone one else less than 4 hours, gulp!

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/852619764

"What would that entail though? Only club members allowed? Have to have ridden a sportive before?"

I don't think starting off your first big ride with 25,000 others over a 100 mile course is necessarily the place to start. There are huge numbers of organised rides to get a feel for things over much shorter distances and fewer numbers to give first timers a way of transitioning to bigger groups/distances.

The application process does ask you about experience and it would be pretty easy to put in place a verification process. Having people put down unrealistic/false finishing times is making them a hazard to not just themselves when faster riders come through (that's the whole point of estimating your finish time).

For what it's worth, I am not a club member so accessibility is not the issue as much as preparation for the ride.

I enjoyed it, especially after the unpleasant weather conditions after last year.
A few things really surprised me though. I had an earlyish start at 6.48am having estimated my time at 5 hours but I was really surprised to see a large number of people ahead of me at Newlands corner who were walking all the way up and quite frankly looked like they hadn't put the hours in. I gather some entered unrealistically fast times to get an early start to avoid the broom wagon.....
Anyway, as usual there was some pretty dubious group riding skills, several contacts with people swerving off their line without checking behind and far too few riders seeing the need to point out hazards in a bunch. The worst of which cam when a rider ahead of me in Kingston dropped his bottle giving me just enough time to yell "bottle" as I swerved. He looked at me as if I had come from another planet...
I can't help but think given its popularity as an event there does need to be some form of pre-qualification to demonstrate ability/understanding of endurance riding/skills required.
Anyway, I managed to stay upright whilst seeing a few very unpleasant crashes (hope they were ok) and got around in 4 hours 37.
I hope those injured recover quickly and RIP to the bloke on Leith Hill, I am sure he was doing what he loved

Fortunately I was not held up at Leith Hill; I had a 6.48 start time. The ride up Leith was crowded so difficult/impossible to pace and we had a small crash ahead which cleared quickly, but overall the climb worked fine in spite of the numbers. Boxhill was magnificent and fun; legs felt good and I overtook people all the way up.

It is tragic that someone died and especially on Leith, but I have the same pragmatic view as above that in an event of 25k people there is a high statistical chance of a death (as we have seen in other mass participation events). I said to my wife that I'd rather die doing something I loved giving it my all rather than expiring in an armchair or similar.

Saw a fair few nasty accidents late on in the event, around 70 miles - made me feel quite nervous on the last 30m as the causes weren't clear - i.e. sole riders seemingly crashing off wide roads at speed...

I would agree that the Excel registration is pointless - no one even asked for my ID. The organisation of the rest of the event however was exemplary - personally I like the early start; riding through London on closed streets at that time is a surreal and rather mind-blowing experience.

I had no idea what to expect in terms of time, was hoping for 6hrs but did it in 5.18 and felt like I could have given it quite a bit more, so already planning for a sub 5 next year!

The finish through Admiralty Arch and onto the Mall was outstanding - hairs on the back of your neck stuff

Overall this is the best mass participation event I have ever been in and I'd recommend it highly.

This sort registration process is fairly standard for an event as big as this. And given that you are squeezing both a sportive and a pro race in on the same roads the organisers need to get things going early.

You also have to think about the 'benefit' to London for closing the roads i.e. The boom in trade for tourism/overnight stays has to compensate the economy for closing things down for residents (you may like to refer to DM for some of their more supportive tweets).

It is well organised, though a personal disappointment was that they line half of the starters up on a patch of gravel/flint. I'd be waiting for over an hour to get going and punctured straight out of the traps. I literally pulled up 15m up from the start to change my tyre. Apparently this is not uncommon. But otherwise I don't think I can thank the organisers and volunteers who make it happen. I tried to wave cheerfully and thankfully at people who came out to cheer us on and support us.

I scored a PB on a both Leith and Box, though it was a little difficult to ride you own race due to the volumes in places. Each time I got to the big hills it was as if someone had fired a gun and off people shot, you'd also hear people huffing and puffing past, only to run out of steam 5 seconds later....as a result I ended up overtaking those that shot past me. Pacing is everything. Sprint at the top, not at the bottom.

Hopefully a lot of people will have learned a thing or two about group riding. Probably you're best chance to try it with reduced consequences.

Leith Hill was crammed so times are pretty irrelevant. Everyone was going at a very slow pace. My time was 8.56 but I went through some time before the emergency and I guess a lot of people won't even have a time.

Box Hill was nice, as always; its one of my favorite climbs. Ironically this Sunday I decided to take it easy and enjoy it rather than blasting up. Time was 9.15 to complete.

Finishing time on the Mall was 4h 44m.

Have to agree about the marshaling and volunteers; they did a great job and deserve our thanks. All through the course they were there to help; there must have been thousands. Every one of them has a sunny disposition and a cheery smile.

I think something needs to be done about the registration/start setup; where you have to register the day before then start super early in the morning. Its a real pain for anyone who doesn't live in London and the stupid early start times mean its impossible to get a good breakfast.

I did not really have a time in mind. I think I estimated 6.40 when I entered. At the start, I was worried I may have been over optimistic but I finished in 5 hours 52minutes moving time but was stuck on Leith Hill for around 45 minutes as a result of the incident there. I was chuffed to finish in less than 6 hours with a 17mph average speed.

For some reason I was given a 6:06 start with the fast boys and they don't bother warming up so it was balls out from the start, I had a stitch after 20 miles trying to keep up with them so slowed down and it came back on Leith Hill which made it tough. Box Hill is pleasant though, not too steep at all. I am pleased with my overall time of 4hrs 40 but not my climbing. Starting early definitely makes you quicker.

I got caught up in the whole incident at Leith Hill, I was about 50m back and we were held there for a long time whilst the emergency vehicles arrived, followed by the air ambulance.

When the marshals eventually started moving people through, there was no opportunity for privacy on such a narrow lane and a lot of people were very upset. Many carried on walking up Leith Hill as they just didn't want to ride for a few minutes.

I'm pragmatic about life and death and know that for 25,000 the risk of heart disease has now gone down. It didn't ruin the day, but I was pretty subdued until I got to Box, and was checking the news as soon as i got home.

I found the climbs really bad - but mainly as I was suffering like a dog with cramps!! I had to spin up Box in 1st which I've never had to do. Note to self - don't go hard form the gun next time!

Good day out overall though and the weather so much better than last year! The paramedics looked to busy every time I saw them which was a bit worrying and it was very sad to hear about the person passing away during the ride.

I was one of the people diverted from leith hill, I was cursing the organizers and blaming congestion until I heard about the poor guy that died. It did get really busy round the surrey stretch and box hill was just a gentle crawl which made it easy as it was impossible to do anything else.

The start and finish in central London is the special bit, other than that the route is not spectacular but I really enjoyed it and great to have spectator support.

Also I raised 3k for a cancer charity in memory of my mum and sister even though I had a ballot space and am quite proud of that.

Enjoyed the ride. Very well organised.
I was on Leith Hill a bit before, and it was super busy. Someone had a touch of wheels and came off which blocked the road briefly, but even though it was shouted back there was a blockage people trying to keep their momentum up were trying to get past leading to more minor crashes. Not sure that road can take that weight of riders of different ability.

Shame about this chap, hopefully cycling was his passion.

There doesn't seem to be as many posts about how much they enjoyed the event as last year

Felt for a a lot of riders today. I was watching in Dorking, and at the entrance to the town the bottlenecks were such that hundreds had to get off and walk. I also heard that Leith Hill was avoided for many.

Edit: air ambulance was called out to Leith Hill, so riders were diverted back, and had to wait a while, hence large volumes arriving in Dorking en masse.

Did anyone see the London Dynamo rider being knocked off on the way to the Blue/Orange entry area at about 5.30am? There was a wing mirror on the ground, suggesting a hit and run, but nobody has come forward and the rider has memory loss.

Apart from suffering a flat at the bottom of Newlands Corner, the climbs weere easy. I could not understand the number of people who walked at the first sign of an incline.

It did, the Box hill challenge, and the Leith hill challenge. That surprised me somewhat, but not as much as getting up Leith 9 seconds quicker than Box, despite fucking a gear change up spectacularly, at the end of the KOM section.

My times are craptacular, but I don't do hills unless they are in the way, and It was a 9 speed Ally bike.