Prudential Ride London 2015
Discussion
Not as fast as you guys but managed to go around at the pace I was hoping to do. A little too much traffic to push any harder - [comment on Leith Hill removed]
My ride on garmin
My ride on garmin
Edited by Pachydermus on Monday 3rd August 08:52
I did 4 HR 45 today, target was sub 5 HR. Being sensible lasted all of 5 mins after starting. First Hour saw 38km come and go and 75 at the second hour marker.
Only saw one crash but some of the riding was borderline by others. Great day and respect for those who did the faster runs, I saw one chap with a PH top, shouted come on PH although he looked like he was suffering a bit.
Plenty of distractions out there today which were easy on the eye
Only saw one crash but some of the riding was borderline by others. Great day and respect for those who did the faster runs, I saw one chap with a PH top, shouted come on PH although he looked like he was suffering a bit.
Plenty of distractions out there today which were easy on the eye
Yes it did feel fast. The first 8 miles or so from the start we furious, it was a classic case of lets push on as much as we dare but try and hold something in reserve for later etc. I had said I wasn't going to go mad until the last 30 miles, and although I didn't go nuts up any of the climbs, there were a fair few full on sprints throughout the first half to bridge gaps, get past groups and later to catch up PH's very own master descender 
I agree there was some very iffy riding and as I said to Gruffy a bit of a learning curve for me. I didn't really feel confident in any corner until the end and felt very defensive.
Saw Rolls on his Parlee - nice bike.
I agree there was some very iffy riding and as I said to Gruffy a bit of a learning curve for me. I didn't really feel confident in any corner until the end and felt very defensive.
Saw Rolls on his Parlee - nice bike.
Dizeee said:
Yes it did feel fast. The first 8 miles or so from the start we furious, it was a classic case of lets push on as much as we dare but try and hold something in reserve for later etc. I had said I wasn't going to go mad until the last 30 miles, and although I didn't go nuts up any of the climbs, there were a fair few full on sprints throughout the first half to bridge gaps, get past groups and later to catch up PH's very own master descender
I agree there was some very iffy riding and as I said to Gruffy a bit of a learning curve for me. I didn't really feel confident in any corner until the end and felt very defensive.
Saw Rolls on his Parlee - nice bike.
That bridging move at the start was funny, looking back. Made the decision to go and then, like idiots, one went left and the other right and we both soloed past the long line of riders. It felt like it was quite a bit faster too. You may have had reserves but that was 175bpm for me I agree there was some very iffy riding and as I said to Gruffy a bit of a learning curve for me. I didn't really feel confident in any corner until the end and felt very defensive.
Saw Rolls on his Parlee - nice bike.
In our bunch of 200 or so there was a broad mix of abilities and discipline. It was only among the 20 or so that rotated around the front that I felt confident in the standards. If you dropped back behind that it was dicey and then all the more risky trying to move back through them to get forwards again. Aside from that select group I found people slowed way too much for the corners so everything concertina'd up, giving lots of opportunities for things to go wrong but also making for a lot of unnecessary work to speed up again and recover the ground to the front 20 who took the corner properly.
Dizeee, you didn't go nuts up the climbs because I was sand-bagging you. It was clear you had plenty more. I appreciate the sacrifice but I'm fairly sure we were faster for it in the end. It was nice to ride with somebody of a very similar ability rather than too much faster/slower. Added another dimension to the ride.
I do love the buzz of close racing, especially the longer stuff, and I will get around to proper racing more regularly. I'm not sure when though. With hopes of riding the TCR next year I'll have different training goals. Then kids are likely the following year which will probably put racing on hold for a time.
4.06hr .... Can't say it was fun up the pointy end .. Top 20 in Richmond park , A Chopper riding up the back of me bending my hanger meant climbing Leith in the 19 sprocket . Then to have my Garmin launch itself off the bars with a broken peg on Leith decent . Going back for it and 5-7miles on my todd between there and box put a sub 4 front group finish out of reach .
Massive 20-30 rider pile up on the Westway and another 2-3 incidents with road furniture doesn't make a relaxing loop !!
Massive 20-30 rider pile up on the Westway and another 2-3 incidents with road furniture doesn't make a relaxing loop !!
That does sound a bit of a nightmare. I had an 8am start so was in numpty central for the most part. The amount of crashes I saw the aftermath of on totally straight bits of road was a concern, as was the speed differential between the plodders and the very few people who wanted to push on (which wasnt many, so I had to do a ton of work just by myself).
I did enjoy the day though, and was happy enough to get round in 4.40s even with having to stop 3 times on the course and go slowly up the hills as there was just no room - I even had people stopping to walk in front of me at Richmond Park. I didnt even count that as a hill!
I really want to do it again, with an earlier start time so fingers crossed for next year. Itd also give me time to get home and back out to watch the race too.
I did enjoy the day though, and was happy enough to get round in 4.40s even with having to stop 3 times on the course and go slowly up the hills as there was just no room - I even had people stopping to walk in front of me at Richmond Park. I didnt even count that as a hill!
I really want to do it again, with an earlier start time so fingers crossed for next year. Itd also give me time to get home and back out to watch the race too.
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed that but having a start time of 07:30 was defo a big disadvantage in terms of traffic, by the time I got to Surrey Hills all of the climbs were very congested so I spent most of my time in the right hand gutter shouting 'on your right' - most of the descents were just as bad! The last 8 miles or so back into London were also a total ball-ache, there just seemed to be a huge mass of riders all moving at more or less the same speed from one kerb to the other, trying to weave through them was a bit of a challenge!
I rode the entire bloody thing solo, I didn't manage to tag onto a single group which was a total pita, although I did provide a draft to numerous people for seemingly miles on end, I tried elbow out, pulling to one side, slowing a little but nothing worked - they just stuck behind me!
Really enjoyed it but it would have been nice to have shared the work with a group - hamstrings were cramping by the time I was heading down Whitehall. Overall time of 4:36, fairly confident I could have shaved quite a bit off that if I had been in an early wave and been able to share the load.
Some of the etiquette on show was abysmal and downright dangerous - but I guess it is to be expected when that many people descend on an event like that. I was also shocked at how many serious looking accidents happened, felt like one every 5 miles or so, some of them on wide open roads with no obstacles or obvious reason!
Overall a great day, but I would say the Velothon Wales had the edge.
I rode the entire bloody thing solo, I didn't manage to tag onto a single group which was a total pita, although I did provide a draft to numerous people for seemingly miles on end, I tried elbow out, pulling to one side, slowing a little but nothing worked - they just stuck behind me!
Really enjoyed it but it would have been nice to have shared the work with a group - hamstrings were cramping by the time I was heading down Whitehall. Overall time of 4:36, fairly confident I could have shaved quite a bit off that if I had been in an early wave and been able to share the load.
Some of the etiquette on show was abysmal and downright dangerous - but I guess it is to be expected when that many people descend on an event like that. I was also shocked at how many serious looking accidents happened, felt like one every 5 miles or so, some of them on wide open roads with no obstacles or obvious reason!
Overall a great day, but I would say the Velothon Wales had the edge.
Set off at 06:27, good ride with some solid groups. Very fast over the first 100k (2.5hrs) but left me a bit too knackered for the hills, so a 4:40 with which I'm pretty happy. Got very lucky I think with riding standards and congestion - nothing much to report except for an early crash on the Strand which looked like a ped had taken someone down hard, and another one on the way into, I think, Merton with a chap lying in the road looking badly off - had a couple of chaps with him one of whom was holding his head down, which didn't bode well. I wonder if LFGSS rider down or some similar thread will have updates; I'd hate to think anyone was badly hurt.
Respect to any of you sub 5 hour boys, that is epic.
I enjoyed the day, but the last wave start was arse. Must have had 6 or 8 times at complete standstill due to crashes, and at the tail end the shortcutters passed us and we had to get past them again. The leith hill bit was also gutting,killing both the bit of course I was most looking forward to, and my overall time - not that either are significant compared to the poor bugger on the deck.
Overall, experience of closed road was ace but don't think I'd bother again.
I enjoyed the day, but the last wave start was arse. Must have had 6 or 8 times at complete standstill due to crashes, and at the tail end the shortcutters passed us and we had to get past them again. The leith hill bit was also gutting,killing both the bit of course I was most looking forward to, and my overall time - not that either are significant compared to the poor bugger on the deck.
Overall, experience of closed road was ace but don't think I'd bother again.
GaryGlitter said:
okgo said:
GaryGlitter said:
The word 'clusterf
k' is bouncing round my head after reading some of these horror stories and seeing a photo of a back-to-front Kask posted on Facebook.
k' is bouncing round my head after reading some of these horror stories and seeing a photo of a back-to-front Kask posted on Facebook.
please post that
Got off at 6:03 on the orange start; flew through london, rode newlands well, soid, well controlled groups out to leith. Fairly happy with leith, then made some serious space on the descent. No mans land for a fair while, bit sluggish over box, found another group around leatherhead, only to cramp up a bit later, get spat out, solo, find another then cramp and get dropped again on combe lane. Got something going again down putney hill and hung out for a pretty solid sprint down the mall - 287th all time on strava. 4:25 overall, which I'll take happily under the circumstances.
Love the big group, closed road dynamic. Would definitely go racing if I could get more of that.
Love the big group, closed road dynamic. Would definitely go racing if I could get more of that.
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