[andycoventry]

Last year it was possible to find out whether you got a place in the ballot by logging in to your account and seeing if your application had been cancelled or not.

The same link for this year still takes you to the 2013 page…….so……. does anyone have the equivalent link to manage your account for this year? Or know of another way to circumvent waiting for the postman?.

Topic

[qwerky]

2nd rejection for me too
On
2nd rejection for me too 🙁

On the subject of it being a public road, I’m pretty sure there’s a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the event. This is what allows the roads to be closed. If you contravene a TRO you can get a Penalty Charge Notice and a fine. Although I think the law around this is mainly aimed at motor vehicles the wording mentions ‘vehicles’ and in the eyes of the law bicycles are vehicles. A TRO cannot block pedestrian access.

The thing that annoys me the most is that last year there were allegedly 20,000 places but the number of people actually taking part were much, much lower (15,833 according to http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/News/Newsroom/2013_Remembered__s1_p18357.htm). That means 1 in 5 places was not filled, which is scandalous considering how over subscribed the ballot was. When you understand how the places are allocated it seems a bit unfair. First of all only about half the places are actually available through the ballot. The other half are reservered for charities, sponsors, VIPs and corporate partners.

[oozaveared]

about riding along with the
about riding along with the Ride.

My son and I wanted to watch the proper race at the top of Leith Hill as well as cheer on the Ride London charity event. We cycled out to Forest Green. We asked a cop about going on the road. He said fine. So we joined in for a couple of miles to get to to the top of Leith.

A couple of points.

1 I would not have even dreamed of taking advantage of any water or refreshments provided for the competitors.

2 We were fairly fresh we’d only done 20 or so miles that day and we are experienced cyclists. Zipping up Leith Hill is no big deal for us. My son was 17 and he was tempted to blast it but, bearing in mind we were interlopers, I said we’d just ride it nice and calmly and not get in anyone’s way or make any one feel demoralized by having us just shoot by up the hill.

These were not rules imposed on us. We imposed them on ourselves out of respect. Then we stood at the top and cheered them all up and over. Older ladies on shoppingb style bikes and all. All kinds of bikes and all kinds of people.

If you can’t respect that then start asking yourself a few questions.

[oozaveared]

Just reading this makes me
Just reading this makes me laugh.

Anyone who deals with public complaints (and that used to be my job) knows that satisfied customers rarely comment. 99%+ of comments are from people that didn’t get what they wanted.

The fundamental issue is that there are way more people wanting to ride than they can deal with. They’ll be full up whatever happens. So why on earth would they want to create a headache for themselves by creating a labyrinthine selection process to pick certain people out for special treatment.

What’s in it for them?

[Wookie]

I know of 11 men and 7 women
I know of 11 men and 7 women entered from my club. 4 Men got in and only 1 woman. So I’d say it was a random ballot.

[farrell]

bikeboy76 wrote:Its not a

bikeboy76 wrote:

Its not a ‘public’ road

Unless Prudential paid for the building, maintenance and upkeep of the roads then used surely they are still public roads, paid for by all of us proles regardless of a temporary restriction on motor vehicles?

bikeboy76 wrote:

an entry fee to provide marshaling, mechanical support, timing, food and water stations and baggage transfers………Will said ‘knobs’ be stopping for free water and gels?

I’ve no idea what other people are doing, I don’t really care, but I’d imagine if you turn up unregistered you probably wont be using the timing chips, baggage transfers or mechanical support. I’d also wager that stopping for water and gels would probably cause you more mither than they were worth.

spin sugar wrote:

I had intended to leave it as the witty one-liner it is

Really? Calling someone a knob is now considered a witty one liner? What a wibbly wobbly world we live in nowadays.

spin sugar wrote:

respect the ride

spin sugar wrote:

Don’t disrespect the ride!

Indeed. How will those delicate flowers at Prudential be able to focus on making money out of investing in Earth raping oil and chemical companies and arms dealers if we don’t all bow down and respect their ride.

[andycoventry]

spin sugar wrote:andycoventry

spin sugar wrote:

andycoventry wrote:

Quick poll undertaken at the weekend, 5 male entries and 3 female entries, all around the same age group (25-35) and time (5 hours ish)…..

All three women got a ballot place, all 5 male entries didn’t.

Does not sound like a random and unbiased ballot to me…..

Think they were open last year about being selective to the extent they are trying to get as much of a balance as they can across genders, age groups and target times. There were probably a lot more men entering the ballot putting that sort of time down on paper than women. That won’t make you feel any better about losing out but my point is I don’t think they ever have said it’s a completely random ballot.

I understand the theory but the balance doesn’t seem to represent the demographic of road cycling from what I have seen local to me. Its seems apparent that women and slightly more mature cyclists seem to have got a priority this time round which I think is wrong – I asked RideLondon that question directly and they refused to answer.

All this does is invite people to lie in the hope it gives them more of a chance in getting a place, which negates the point of a ballot.

[spin sugar]

It requires explanation? I
It requires explanation? I had intended to leave it as the witty one-liner it is and move on, but ok I’ll bite…(briefly) IMHO people should respect the ride, the effort that goes into organising events like this and that fellow cyclists have paid hard earned cash to pay the fee to get in. I saw plenty of people who joined the course without bar numbers last year – left them to it because I am not generally a spoilsport but I reserve the right to believe they are knobs. Don’t disrespect the ride! *Dismounts soapbox*

[Leviathan]

farrell wrote:spin sugar

farrell wrote:

spin sugar wrote:

farrell wrote:

If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

I doubt there is much they could or would do about it when you’re on wheels but you might generally be considered a knob.

Interesting.

And whats your thinking behind deciding that someone who wants to join in a group ride on public roads is a knob?

Its not a ‘public’ road, it is a closed road event with an entry fee to provide marshaling, mechanical support, timing, food and water stations and baggage transfers. If you want to ride 100 miles on an open road with traffic you can do that any time. Will said ‘knobs’ be stopping for free water and gels?

[Leviathan]

johndonnelly wrote:Everyone I

johndonnelly wrote:

Everyone I know who said they could send the money to charity if they didn’t get in, didn’t get in. 2 years running. This could still happen randomly, and I don’t doubt there’s a random component. I looks bad though, and it does seem increasingly likely, to me, that donating money from missed ballot places excludes you from getting in.

I think that’s pretty cheeky, and I’m really glad I didn’t apply this year.

I was unemployed for a while until April 13, so couldn’t donate to charity when I signed up. I won a place in the ballot and landed a job in time to confirm my slot. Having heard all the comments about donations and charity slots (and the jerseys received for an event you don’t get to ride) I didn’t donate again this year, and I have got another slot. I’ve paid now so the money ends up in the right place, but it does see a bit odd you can keep paying and loosing out. Third time lucky.

[farrell]

spin sugar wrote:farrell

spin sugar wrote:

farrell wrote:

If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

I doubt there is much they could or would do about it when you’re on wheels but you might generally be considered a knob.

Interesting.

And whats your thinking behind deciding that someone who wants to join in a group ride on public roads is a knob?

[Flying Scot]

spin sugar wrote:farrell

spin sugar wrote:

farrell wrote:

If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

I doubt there is much they could or would do about it when you’re on wheels but you might generally be considered a knob.

Laminate a wee card up saying PRESS and stick that on your handlebars, that’s bound to make the 1 day stewards think twice about questioning you.

I’ve done a few of these things that were full up with friends who couldn’t get in joining the course a few miles in, and peeling away before the end.

[spin sugar]

farrell wrote:If you just

farrell wrote:

If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

I doubt there is much they could or would do about it when you’re on wheels but you might generally be considered a knob.

[spin sugar]

andycoventry wrote:Quick poll

andycoventry wrote:

Quick poll undertaken at the weekend, 5 male entries and 3 female entries, all around the same age group (25-35) and time (5 hours ish)…..

All three women got a ballot place, all 5 male entries didn’t.

Does not sound like a random and unbiased ballot to me…..

Think they were open last year about being selective to the extent they are trying to get as much of a balance as they can across genders, age groups and target times. There were probably a lot more men entering the ballot putting that sort of time down on paper than women. That won’t make you feel any better about losing out but my point is I don’t think they ever have said it’s a completely random ballot.

[northstar]

farrell wrote:If you just

farrell wrote:

If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

Quite a lot i suspect, not that i’d be really bothered but I suspect a lot would… ; )

[farrell]

If you just turned up and
If you just turned up and rode the route, what could they do?

[Author]

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