preferred-google-button
log in
register

London to Brighton

  • Creator
    Topic
  • January 15, 2014 at 9:52 pm #20477
    parksey

    Ok, so I’m toying with the idea of doing London to Brighton this year as part of a small work team.

    I’ve never done this sort of distance, or this kind of mass participation riding before, so just looking for people’s opinions, good or bad, on what it’s like?

    I’m particularly keen to know how challenging the route is, and whether the sheer number of participants cause any problems.

    I guess it’s ultimately a case of whether it’s actually worth doing? The cause itself is of course worthy enough, if not particularly close to my heart personally (no pun intended!).

  • Creator
    Topic
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 29 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Replies
  • March 25, 2014 at 10:58 pm #768427
    0
    gr3g0ree

    Glad to be 1st one to comment
    Glad to be 1st one to comment here 🙂

    Me and sis did both the London to Cambridge and to Brighton Night ride last year with moonriders.

    If the weather is ok, the nightride is amazing. Quite an experience through London, and the quiet roads and stillness and getting lost and needing bike repair in the middle of nowhere …. 🙂
    Food stops were of a higher standard with free food/sweets/cakes/some energy drinks and fruits and a hot meal in the middle of the night. All 3 stops were inside heated buildings (1st one too soon after 25Km) with mechanics if you need them. Good signage (getting lost was my fault) and overall good organization.

    Not too crowded and people of all abilities and speeds. Can recommend. Will be doing it in the future.

    January 22, 2014 at 4:23 pm #768425
    0
    arfa

    I like the look of that
    I like the look of that ditchling devil and might have a crack at it – thank you for that and it’s very convenient for me.

    January 22, 2014 at 3:43 pm #768423
    0
    Benway

    There’s always the Ditchling
    There’s always the Ditchling Devil for a smaller experience although further http://events.paudax.com/ditchlingdevil

    You can give the cash savings straight to BHF or whoever.

    January 22, 2014 at 3:34 pm #768421
    0
    Miles253

    Dizzy wrote:
    There are also

    Dizzy wrote:

    There are also other L2B rides, not just the BHF one.
    I have done the Midnight ride once & Capital to Coast ride for the last 3yrs , slightly different route, but nowhere near as manic, It aslo has the advantage of multiple starting points, 1 in London, 1 in Esher, a halfway start near Haywrads Heath, or a Hove loop, still covering 60 miles but start & finish on the seafront…
    Plenty of choices out there – Good Luck with whatever you decide to do

    Ive considered doing the night event as i find riding at night with little traffic to be amazing. How are they in comparison to the BHF ride? As well organised?

    January 21, 2014 at 12:46 pm #768419
    0
    thecyclingdad

    Good for you.
    Just be alert,
    Good for you. 🙂
    Just be alert, look out for each other and enjoy it as much as you can.

    January 20, 2014 at 9:32 am #768417
    0
    parksey

    The volume of cyclists, or at
    The volume of cyclists, or at least non-regular cyclists, does concern me a little, but I’ve encouraged a couple of new entrants to the team over the weekend such that there is perhaps scope for 2 or 3 of us to set off earlier than the rest to try and keep ahead of the masses.

    This is really just a first attempt for me at a proper, organised distance event. The aim is to get more competent at that sort of riding, so hopefully it will be a springboard to other, less busy events in the future.

    January 19, 2014 at 8:07 pm #768415
    0
    Dizzy

    Always wanted to do this ride
    Always wanted to do this ride & on moving to Brighton (well, the outskirts) many years ago, I finally signed up, and went on to do it several times.
    It’s a great ride, for a great cause, but the sheer popularity just put me off. I’m all for getting folks on bikes & raising money for charity, but every year it has got busier & busier, with more & more silly accidents, the only way to describe my last experience was to liken it to a cattle market.
    People pushing & shoving. Far too many with absolute zero spacial awareness or any idea of how to ride in a group. People stopping with no warning to answer phones.
    I was knocked off while stationary at traffic lights not far from the start, by a woman wearing toe straps, she’d done them up so tight she couldn’t get her foot out, so used me to stop herself, Twice by people clipping my back wheel, once by a man who just veered into me. I never managed to cycle up the Beacon on any of the rides.
    I decided that for my own self preservation that I might not make it out alive next time.
    I had friends do it last year & were lucky enough to get in the first bunch of starters…and had no problems at all. So if you are going for it then get an early slot.

    There are also other L2B rides, not just the BHF one.
    I have done the Midnight ride once & Capital to Coast ride for the last 3yrs , slightly different route, but nowhere near as manic, It aslo has the advantage of multiple starting points, 1 in London, 1 in Esher, a halfway start near Haywrads Heath, or a Hove loop, still covering 60 miles but start & finish on the seafront…
    Plenty of choices out there – Good Luck with whatever you decide to do

    January 18, 2014 at 10:52 pm #768413
    0
    thecyclingdad

    I’m glad to hear that you
    I’m glad to hear that you took the plunge. I have no doubt that you’ll manage the ride with only a little work beforehand. If you can ride 30 miles in training, you can complete L2B.

    If you want the cycling itself to be the highlight, I hope you seriously considered taking the advice about starting early (close to 6am) – Once out of London, a lot of the roads are too narrow to accommodate the volume of riders and EVERY small incline will bottleneck. Mostly this means just getting off and pushing or standing still for long periods.

    Most importantly, I cannot emphasise enough how much you will need to keep your wits about you at all times. The majority of those taking part will not have much experience riding at all, let alone in a group or on crowded roads. No signals. No road awareness. Expect people to swerve radnomly into your path, stop suddenly in front of you without warning (particularly as the road starts to go up) or come off the bike completely on a fast corner. Be safe.

    Ultimately, though, you’ll not regret taking part. The camaraderie of so many people for a good cause, the challenge of climbing Ditchling, the fun of descending Ditchling(!), and being cheered to the finish line. Embrace it and enjoy it!

    Very best of Luck to you.

    January 18, 2014 at 5:12 pm #768411
    0
    parksey

    So, that’s the registration
    So, that’s the registration in, roll on 15 June.

    Better get some training in!

    January 17, 2014 at 11:18 pm #768409
    0
    parksey

    Neil Smith 48 wrote:
    Upside:

    Neil Smith 48 wrote:

    Upside: riding down Madeira Drive to the applause of a large crowd. That felt great. Raising the money. Being able to say ‘I’ve done it’.

    I think this is what ultimately sways my decision to do it, regardless of how enthusiastically we’re able to actually ride it on the day.

    I unfortunately live too far from the route to realistically do it other than on the organised event, but I’ve got decent enough riding round my way anyway.

    January 17, 2014 at 10:10 pm #768407
    0
    allez neg

    The bastard steep offroad bit
    The bastard steep offroad bit of the last hill made me very happy at my oh so astute fitting of a road cassette on my mountain bike. Honest.

    January 17, 2014 at 10:02 pm #768405
    0
    arfa

    agree on the off road – doing
    agree on the off road – doing it tomorrow just for the sake of it !

    January 17, 2014 at 9:44 pm #768403
    0
    allez neg

    I’ve done it once, last year.
    I’ve done it once, last year.

    Not again. Too many people, many of whom get off and walk at the first hill. It became very frustrating – I’m just a standard 38yr old slightly chubby chappy on an ally road bike and nowt special but I don’t remember getting overtaken much, and I absolutely sailed past hundreds up hill and down dale. My main concern was that I was sharing road space with some pretty inattentive bike riders and gave them as wide a berth as possible.

    That said, I saw my highest ever speed reading on the way down the big hill near the end when the crowd had dispersed – dangerous but fun and a cherished memory.

    The offroad one ROCKS though.

    January 17, 2014 at 9:01 pm #768401
    0
    Neil Smith 48

    I did it last year with
    I did it last year with friends, raising £500 or so for the BHF – that fulfilled an old promise.

    Downside: too many cyclists for a serious cyclist to enjoy the ride! I’d trained hard for it and was prepared to do every hill, but I had to walk most of them due to the volume of riders blocking the road. Bi did ride Ditchling Beacon by shouting people to move over, but on other hills that was not possible.

    Also, the ‘traffic control’. At one point we were kept waiting 45 minutes, en masse, until a near rebellion broke out and they had to let us out! Mad.

    Upside: riding down Madeira Drive to the applause of a large crowd. That felt great. Raising the money. Being able to say ‘I’ve done it’.

    I would recommend cycling the route another time if you want to enjoy what ought to be a great route, and then do the charity thing but don’t expect a smooth ride. Other charity rides will be calmer.

    Good luck!

    January 17, 2014 at 8:35 pm #768399
    0
    parksey

    My situation sounds similar
    My situation sounds similar to yours, small work team of mixed cycling ability, but seems wrong to do anything other than just go with the flow and ride as a group, with frequent stops for refreshment.

    Besides, a colleague showed me a couple of few-minute helmet-cam clips from last year and I was quite surprised by the congestion, so doesn’t seem like it’s actually possible to put the hammer down without starting at stupid o’clock anyway.

    Liking the idea of a “support” van, that way we can bung all the bikes in in it to get there, then it can be driven to the finish to pick them up again once we’re done. We’ve got a couple at work we should be able to use.

    Nightrider sounds interesting though. Will give L2B a go first and take it from there.

  • Author
    Replies
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 29 total)
1 2
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.