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Ballot registration now open for 2019 RideLondon-Surrey 100Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 - riders passing a mill.jpg

Ballot registration now open for 2019 RideLondon-Surrey 100

Next year's event will take place on Sunday 4 August as hugely popular sportive enters seventh year...
by Simon_MacMichael
Mon, Aug 06, 2018 15:05
8

Online registration has opened for next year’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 sportive.

The seventh edition of the event, which made its debut in 2013, will take place on Sunday 4 August 2019.

Organisers say that the exact route will be confirmed after a review of this year’s event.

The timing of the event next year means that it will not clash with the final day of the Tour de France, which took place a week later than usual this year to minimise overlap with the FIFA World Cup.

Registration will be open until 80,000 registrations have been received or until 4 January 2019, whichever happens first, and can be done online here.

The entry fee for the RideLondon-Surrey 100 will remain unchanged from this year at £69.

Event director Hugh Brasher said: "The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 is now the most popular sportive in the world with more people applying to ride this event than any other ride on the international calendar.

“More than 125,000 riders have crossed the famous finish line on The Mall since the event began in 2013, raising tens of millions of pounds for charity on the way."

Details of separate ballots for the shorter 46- and 19-mile sportives that each take in part of the route will be announced in 2019.

Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 2019
Prudential RideLondon 2019
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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jollygoodvelo | 6 years ago
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I've done the actual maths on this before here, but it really isn't hard to work out your approximate chances of getting in through the ballot.  Rough numbers:

Say there are 25000 places on the 100, 5000 go to charities, VIPs, clubs, deferred places from last year etc and 20,000 go in the hat.  Except that RL have a stated intention of making the ride more inclusive and getting more women cycling, so let's say there are 5000 places for women and 15,000 for men.  Great.  Of the 80,000 (maximum) applicants, maybe 1 in 8 are female (10,000), so if you're female you're already on a 50% chance of getting in.  If you're male you're one of 70,000 trying to get one of 15,000 places, so about 21% chance of riding - plus or minus, as above, that they want a spread of abilities between ~4 and ~8 hours target time, so probably a bit less chance at an average 6-7 hours than faster.

Now, over multiple years that adds up - each year you have an 80% chance of failure and while statistically the *average* entrant would therefore get a place once every five years, I've entered the 100 four times and got a place twice (target time - 6 hours the first time, 5 hours the second).  That actually confirms that it's random (within set parameters) or you'd expect the 'system' to reject entries from people who've succeeded before!

 

 

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HurdyGurdy | 6 years ago
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will be my 8th time in the ballot and expect nothing different from last 7 times, i.e. not successful.

Funny then that my other half  wins a spot every year, so guess the random ballot is not that random! 

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pruaga replied to HurdyGurdy | 6 years ago
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HurdyGurdy wrote:

will be my 8th time in the ballot and expect nothing different from last 7 times, i.e. not successful.

Funny then that my other half  wins a spot every year, so guess the random ballot is not that random! 

 

Try changing your target time. 

The ballot isn't entirely random, it's weighted to adjust for a spread of times to make the logistic easier.  If you are targeting a 'popular' time it'll be less likely you'll get in than if you are very fast/slow.  Similarly it's easier if you are female as they try to correct a bit for a large bias towards men cycling. 

There used to a bit of information about this in the FAQ on their site but I can't find it anymore.  They probably don't want people to try and game the system too much, even though everyone does!

Avatar
zanf replied to pruaga | 6 years ago
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pruaga wrote:
HurdyGurdy wrote:

will be my 8th time in the ballot and expect nothing different from last 7 times, i.e. not successful.

Funny then that my other half  wins a spot every year, so guess the random ballot is not that random!

Try changing your target time. 

The ballot isn't entirely random, it's weighted to adjust for a spread of times to make the logistic easier.  If you are targeting a 'popular' time it'll be less likely you'll get in than if you are very fast/slow.  Similarly it's easier if you are female as they try to correct a bit for a large bias towards men cycling. 

There used to a bit of information about this in the FAQ on their site but I can't find it anymore.  They probably don't want people to try and game the system too much, even though everyone does!

I've applied every year and have always changed my expected finishing time yet have never been selected.

A friend has applied every year (bar one as she deferred) and has got in each time.

Might be cynical but its all down to if you pony up the £70 and donate it to charity

Avatar
nowasps | 6 years ago
6 likes

This doesn't give me anywhere near enough time to organise parking my car away from where I live. I'll be imprisoned in my own home.

It's this kind of thing that gives charity a bad name.

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jasecd replied to nowasps | 6 years ago
4 likes

nowasps wrote:

This doesn't give me anywhere near enough time to organise parking my car away from where I live. I'll be imprisoned in my own home.

It's this kind of thing that gives charity a bad name.

 

Best just push through the cones and potentially endanger the lives of many of the participants. It's your god given right as a motorist to do whatever is necessary to get to the newsagent for your Sunday Express.

Avatar
Beecho replied to nowasps | 6 years ago
1 like

nowasps wrote:

This doesn't give me anywhere near enough time to organise parking my car away from where I live. I'll be imprisoned in my own home.

It's this kind of thing that gives charity a bad name.

Riding this is anathema to me, but why the mega bad vibes?

edit: sorry, had a few and late on the sarcasm...

Avatar
Organon replied to nowasps | 6 years ago
1 like

nowasps wrote:

This doesn't give me anywhere near enough time to organise parking my car away from where I live. I'll be imprisoned in my own home.

It's this kind of thing that gives charity a bad name.

Well cyclists are know to be a selfish and arrogant bunch, but you can drive onto the course about 2:30pm as they thin out a bit by then. 

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