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Mitie London Revolution

Is anybody riding the Mitie London Revolution this weekend? (18th/19th May)

Or did anyone ride it last year? - I would be interested to hear any advice or your experience.

should be a cracking ride - 185miles around London.
Would be good if the weather held out though

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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Oh, yeah, and you may have spotted me standing at the bottom of boxhill which is where my rear gear wiring failed. I was debating doing it in my 39-11, but I just thought I'm going to need it being seen to whether I do or not, so I stopped and got a 'Team Boardman' to ride on (I was not particularly enamoured with it as a bike if anyone was asking - but thankful to be able to use it).

There were SOOOOO many people going up that climb (or past it) that had never ridden Box Hill before and it was amusing listening to them talk in tones of awe and fear. It reminded me of my first time, though actually it's not a tough climb at all. The later climb over the North Downs was far more testing in that respect.

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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I did this with my GF. It was her first back-to-back ride. First time doing over 73 miles plus. She struggled with it, as did many others. I had to feel sorry for them going over the North Downs. I'm not sure that was the easiest and nicest way for them to curl into London.

I rode the RAB last year with the organisers and they usually do a bang up job of getting the organisation right, and this year was no different. I agree about the starting location, though a car park made up of broken glass is not ideal.

I had so many mechanicals, though it seemed half of these were caused by the Halfords team. After sorting out my gear cable they forgot to retighten my front brake. It was a bit of surprise to find this out as I came to the junction at the foot of the first hill after the food stop!

I enjoyed the Herne Hill experience so much I did it twice.

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CraigS | 10 years ago
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I did and enjoyed it a lot. Very fast route with lots of stretches where you can get a real rhythm going and get some decent speed, especially as there were lots of people willing to work together as groups - I was very happy to get into some quick pace lines on a number of occasions.

I wasn't so keen on the London stretches of the route though, a group of us trying to weave through the traffic up Crystal Palace wasn't too much fun. The finish is a bit of an anti-climax and included roads I'd normally avoid on my bike but I guess there are only so many places in London with enough space for cars etc.

All the staff were really friendly, feed stations well stocked (no energy drinks but I carry electrolyte tabs), signposting was excellent and it just generally had a really nice vibe.

Not convinced I'd do it again necessarily but I'd definitely recommend it and it's given me the bug for multi-day sportives in future.

Here's my Strava from the 2 days as the route was longer/hilly than stated (was at 180 miles when I left Herne Hill):
http://app.strava.com/activities/55082855

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jamesha100 replied to CraigS | 10 years ago
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Hi,

Nice to find someone discussing the ride!

I did it and, on the whole, enjoyed it especially Box Hill (first time for me) and the velodrome although I was pretty tired by the time I got there.

The organisation was great and the staff all seemed genuinely enthusiastic and friendly. The route signing was very good although I was a bit concerned on some of the busier multi-carriageway bits - I am not used to riding on those type of roads coming from the South West.

The two day format was a challenge and I found some of the later hills on day two unrideable - need to drop a few pounds.

I was using my Garmin Edge 200 going round and it registered 5100 feet on the first day - never realised it was so inaccurate at measuring height gain.

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cidermart | 10 years ago
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I didn’t ride the event but bumped into it whilst out and there were more than just a few first timers from what I saw, good luck to them. I had a chat with a couple of them, to find out what it was, then wished them well and carried on my merry way.

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I_like_bikes | 10 years ago
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Guessing no one on the forum did do the London Revolution...

Just thought I’d add a little more to anyone thinking of doing it next year.

The event starts off at Peruvian Wharf, east London and follows an anti-clockwise route on the outskirts of London ending in Windsor on the first day.

The second day comes again back around the southern half of the M25 taking in more climbs including Box Hill and North Downs before coming back up through Crystal Palace, a lap around Herne Hill Velodrome and finishing up at Peruvian Wharf.

It was my first Sportive but I must say that it was incredibly well put together with fully stocked food stops, mechanics, medics and the Windsor Racecourse camping arrangements were superb.

Met some fantastic people and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I would say it was mostly experienced cyclists so the pace was high but there was definitely people taking cycling on for the first time.

For more info see http://www.london-revolution.com/

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