Prudential Ride London - start times
Discussion
scubadude said:
I just thought the use of TT bikes was funny given the conditions, I have nothing against Carbon but alot of people here and elsewhere reporting crashes and the odd terrorist chaingangs so not me making stuff up. If it was safe to do that speed in the rain why where they all falling off and crashing? Just because the road is closed doesn't mean you have to ride like you stole it!
TT Bikes??? WTF?! It was entirely clear in the entry that TT bikes were not permitted, nor should they be. No place for them in group rides - didn't realise you were talking about TT's (yeah I have deep-ish carbon wheels on my roadie too)As for falling off, that's generally down to not knowing how fast you can go where, or being crap at taking corners, rather than just plain going too fast. Just like cars
scubadude said:
upsidedownmark said:
Far from being a bad day for a fast time, there were solid groups to draft out into the wind, very few technical sections where the water really cost any time, and a stonking tailwind home -
If you started with the right people, it was a right mishmash and I couldn't find anyone doing my speed... not sure how the 10" deep flooding didn't slow you boys down though?! I also thought that drafting with the limited braking was abit foolish- alright if you know the people but drafting randoms in the wet is Russian Roulette.
Personally I reckon the vast majority of wet punctures are down to tightness and poor upkeep - yes gravel washes onto the roads, but if your tyres aren't worn to the point of being see-through, that doesn't really matter.. and if they're pumped up properly, pinch flats are unlikely.
scubadude said:
Sorry if you felt my comments targeted you, clearly some good quick riders as well as the odd moron- I was just disappointed that riders who clearly have experience and IMO should know better didn't consider the noise (carbon ;-) and speed they came up behind nervous nelly's during the really heavy rain was abit "poor form".
Not at all.. I'm sure there were idiots out there, just not everyone who wanted to put the hammer down. I'm also kind to animals AND I went back out after I got home to cheer folks up wimbledon hill / fixed a couple of punctures for some of the nodders 
As to the 'other' debate about 'peletons', there's a certain london club who have quite a reputation - nuff said? Almost everyone I ride with would consider 8 as the upper end of a viable group size on open roads.
Anyways, enough grown up sensible stuff.. where's the 'what time did you do thread'?? (Faster than Boardman, slower than Voss!)
upsidedownmark said:
TT Bikes??? WTF?! It was entirely clear in the entry that TT bikes were not permitted, nor should they be. No place for them in group rides - didn't realise you were talking about TT's (yeah I have deep-ish carbon wheels on my roadie too)
I saw 2 proper TT's and another roadie with clip on's and using them! To be fair I didn't check if they had numbers on, may have been "joiners"On the point of joining- no one checked me as I rode in, pretty sure I could have joined the start without paying, more likely to get sh*t from other riders than the organizers! :-)
upsidedownmark said:
As for falling off, that's generally down to not knowing how fast you can go where, or being crap at taking corners, rather than just plain going too fast. Just like cars
True but if you're going to go fast you need to have faith in stopping, from what I saw alot of people couldn't stop effectively on Sunday hence the multiple- "Argh" skid, thump, clatter "groan" :-)upsidedownmark said:
Anyways, enough grown up sensible stuff.. where's the 'what time did you do thread'?? (Faster than Boardman, slower than Voss!)
Good point!Officially- 5:44:28
(I'm claiming about 40min at stops, because I spent an age at the Pyrford waiting for the loo)
Wow- as a first timer to any kind of sportive (usually just ride out alone as have family commitments etc). I thought it was awesome even if I did get a puncture at mile 60 (on a brand new Vittoria tub. Tufo extreme sealant was a life-saver so I was only stopped for 3-4 mins) and didn't bloody realise that the "start" was the start (I was told by someone it would be after about mile 2) and only started going for it when I asked a bloke at about mile 5 where the start was? His look of incredulity was priceless. Dooh!!
I was lucky to be in blue wave C and early doors, were with some really fast guys. Ive never ridden in a peloton/chain gang before and loved the sense of shared suffering, of taking turns on the front, the close proximity of experienced good cyclists around me and the constant high sped train type "whooosh" that the mini-peloton made. How big must the Kingston Wheelers Club be?! I must have had one of them within sight for the whole race. Didn't see anyy crashes but one muppet glanced his cleats on the barriers in Richmond Park in front of me when he went for a gap that wasn't there. He was a lucky boy
Very pleased with my time: did 3.43 but have given myself 3.35 what with the puncture and the first 5 mile mistaken semi-bimble. Looking to do more now and would love to start doing some CAT 4 races as Ive really got the bug.
I was lucky to be in blue wave C and early doors, were with some really fast guys. Ive never ridden in a peloton/chain gang before and loved the sense of shared suffering, of taking turns on the front, the close proximity of experienced good cyclists around me and the constant high sped train type "whooosh" that the mini-peloton made. How big must the Kingston Wheelers Club be?! I must have had one of them within sight for the whole race. Didn't see anyy crashes but one muppet glanced his cleats on the barriers in Richmond Park in front of me when he went for a gap that wasn't there. He was a lucky boy
Very pleased with my time: did 3.43 but have given myself 3.35 what with the puncture and the first 5 mile mistaken semi-bimble. Looking to do more now and would love to start doing some CAT 4 races as Ive really got the bug.
mattb46 said:
Very pleased with my time: did 3.43 but have given myself 3.35 what with the puncture and the first 5 mile mistaken semi-bimble. Looking to do more now and would love to start doing some CAT 4 races as Ive really got the bug.
Did you accidentally ride a Motorbike?Well done :-)
Now go and ride a "proper" sportive with some hills!
mattb46 said:
Wow- as a first timer to any kind of sportive (usually just ride out alone as have family commitments etc). I thought it was awesome even if I did get a puncture at mile 60 (on a brand new Vittoria tub. Tufo extreme sealant was a life-saver so I was only stopped for 3-4 mins) and didn't bloody realise that the "start" was the start (I was told by someone it would be after about mile 2) and only started going for it when I asked a bloke at about mile 5 where the start was? His look of incredulity was priceless. Dooh!!
I was lucky to be in blue wave C and early doors, were with some really fast guys. Ive never ridden in a peloton/chain gang before and loved the sense of shared suffering, of taking turns on the front, the close proximity of experienced good cyclists around me and the constant high sped train type "whooosh" that the mini-peloton made. How big must the Kingston Wheelers Club be?! I must have had one of them within sight for the whole race. Didn't see anyy crashes but one muppet glanced his cleats on the barriers in Richmond Park in front of me when he went for a gap that wasn't there. He was a lucky boy
Very pleased with my time: did 3.43 but have given myself 3.35 what with the puncture and the first 5 mile mistaken semi-bimble. Looking to do more now and would love to start doing some CAT 4 races as Ive really got the bug.
Holy Moly! Vos did it in 3:31!I was lucky to be in blue wave C and early doors, were with some really fast guys. Ive never ridden in a peloton/chain gang before and loved the sense of shared suffering, of taking turns on the front, the close proximity of experienced good cyclists around me and the constant high sped train type "whooosh" that the mini-peloton made. How big must the Kingston Wheelers Club be?! I must have had one of them within sight for the whole race. Didn't see anyy crashes but one muppet glanced his cleats on the barriers in Richmond Park in front of me when he went for a gap that wasn't there. He was a lucky boy
Very pleased with my time: did 3.43 but have given myself 3.35 what with the puncture and the first 5 mile mistaken semi-bimble. Looking to do more now and would love to start doing some CAT 4 races as Ive really got the bug.
http://roadcyclinguk.com/sportive/prudential-ridel...
Celtic Dragon said:
That means she beat me by 33 minutes. However, I beat Chris Boardman by 10 minutes. And Laura Trott by 19 minutes.What I am hinting at here is that I am better than some of our best known Olympians.
Celtic Dragon said:
As I said above, some pretty average racers were in the top 20 @ 3.23 or so. Vos was miles back, otherwise she would be more than capable of going as quick and faster than the best people in the event.
My best memory which will stay with me for some time, was when I was on the front, thought it was bloody stupid to stay left as it was quite congested ahead and so swung out and stayed in the right hand lane. I looked back to see if the chain were happy with this and there was a line of rain soaked faces directly behind. I honestly expected to see no one and for them all to have stayed left, so that was so cool (apologies if that sounds pathetic but I'm normally on a cycling "desert island" where I live and love a sense of camaraderie)
Mr Gear said:
That means she beat me by 33 minutes. However, I beat Chris Boardman by 10 minutes. And Laura Trott by 19 minutes.
What I am hinting at here is that I am better than some of our best known Olympians.
To be fair to Laura, I think she was riding round with her family, she and her sister might be quick, but her parents aren't anywhere as quick as her.What I am hinting at here is that I am better than some of our best known Olympians.
okgo said:
As I said above, some pretty average racers were in the top 20 @ 3.23 or so.
Vos was miles back, otherwise she would be more than capable of going as quick and faster than the best people in the event.
Would be interested to find out the mentality between Vos and the 3:23 riders and if the latter were going for it. I know the girls from Specialized Lululemon were treating the Sunday as a training ride, if Vos did too, then she wouldn't have been anywhere near capacity.Vos was miles back, otherwise she would be more than capable of going as quick and faster than the best people in the event.
Not knocking the 3:23 efforts though, in those conditions that's still impressive in my books.
World class women are on par with probably the upper end of amateur male racers in terms of power. The women would likely have slightly better power/weight in some cases (some of the pro women are pretty big), but on a flat course Vos wouldn't have been in another league to the guys at the front I doubt.
Mr Gear said:
That means she beat me by 33 minutes. However, I beat Chris Boardman by 10 minutes. And Laura Trott by 19 minutes.
Wasn't Laura Trott riding with her Father? If so you are slightly quicker than a hot girls Dad...Turns out I was 1min quicker than the guy on the BMX, not sure how I feel about that.
I'll take solace in the fact I was deliberately very slow through the worst of the rain and claim I could knock 40+min off my time had it been dry ;-)
FWIW I agree with okgo about time/speed. A friend of mine who rode as a first time-charity type did it in a shade under 8hrs and thought my time was amazing, when I pointed out some people where and hour or TWO faster than me his jaw hit the floor. My first sportive took 8hrs to do 60miles, a couple of years later and I was hoping to easily sub-6 a century before Bertha turned up and spoilt the party.
Bit of practice and all that guff...
okgo said:
Just adding some context, because people see 3.23 and 25mph average and think its beyond them, it's absolutely not beyond most people with training
Hmm, as a rider that rode sub 4 hours, I don't disagree however I would add that (for a 'normal' person) it would take several years of sustained training to achieve a 25mph average.I'm sure you'd agree - it's a case of diminishing returns when pushing upwards of 20mph. It's taken me 3 years to be able to dabble with a 20mph average over any meaningful distance!
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