Ride London 100: Strava Secret Challenges

I think something that might
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.

I know what you mean qwerky!
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
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
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 :O less than 4 hours, gulp!

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

arfa wrote:
I can’t help but

arfa wrote:

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.

What would that entail though? Only club members allowed? Have to have ridden a sportive before? That’s going to exclude a hell of a lot of people that the event is aimed at. I don’t really have any group skills (couple of 500 people sportives) and expected there to be carnage and was pleasantly surprised by how people dealt with the crowds, but then perhaps my expectations were way lower than yours and I guess people may have been looking at me thinking it was a knob!

Was definitely a bit frustrating on the climbs, I was surprised at how difficult people found them as I found them pretty easy (I didn’t get to do Leith). As you say people were dismounting about 100 meters into the first gentle climb.

Anyway I really enjoyed the day, the closed roads aspect was unexpectedly enjoyable mostly just for the speeds I could maintain. From about Kingston (2nd time) to the finish I averaged 35kmph whereas I usually average about 25 on a normal 2 hour ride and would probably have been dying on my arse by the end of previous sportives and doing sub 20 at the end.

Before the event I said I was just going to do it the once due to the high cost of both entry and travel compared to doing a smaller local sportive, but I’m definitely going to try and get a place for next year. Will probably do it for charity next year.

Fortunately I was not held up
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.

For some reason I was given a
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.

Leith Hill was crammed so
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.