Prudential Ride London 2015

Prudential Ride London 2015

Author
Discussion

ALawson

7,815 posts

251 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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scubadude said:
MadDad said:
Ah crap, 07:30 start time - that should ensure bags of congestion everytime the road points upwards.......
Firstly 7:30 start means you won't start at 7:30 because last year by 6:30 they where totally out of sequence and just sending each group once it had moved up, the starter on the mic had no idea what order the groups where. Plus there are 100 people stopped 200yards from the start waiting for the mates clogging up the road :-)

Secondly, this is 20K people spread over 100miles not 50K spread over 60 like the L2B, there was loads of space- riding through London on 4 lane dual carriageway with 500 others feels like you are on your own :-)

Just give the noobs on shoppers and boris bikes space, this is Not (imo) a sportive, the skill level is much wider, treat it like a fun run- full gas when you can but super careful the rest of the time (esp Richmond)
Wise words indeed.

MadDad

3,835 posts

261 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
scubadude said:
MadDad said:
Ah crap, 07:30 start time - that should ensure bags of congestion everytime the road points upwards.......
Firstly 7:30 start means you won't start at 7:30 because last year by 6:30 they where totally out of sequence and just sending each group once it had moved up, the starter on the mic had no idea what order the groups where. Plus there are 100 people stopped 200yards from the start waiting for the mates clogging up the road :-)

Secondly, this is 20K people spread over 100miles not 50K spread over 60 like the L2B, there was loads of space- riding through London on 4 lane dual carriageway with 500 others feels like you are on your own :-)

Just give the noobs on shoppers and boris bikes space, this is Not (imo) a sportive, the skill level is much wider, treat it like a fun run- full gas when you can but super careful the rest of the time (esp Richmond)
Thanks for the info and tips! I did the Velothon a couple of weeks ago and went out in the first wave at 07:45, apart from the first 5 or 6 miles the roads were clear, in fact there were times when I had nobody in front or behind me for what seemed like miles. I saw photo's of the later waves walking up some of the narrower hills due to congestion so was assuming the Ride-100 would be the same! My plan is to seek out a fast group with some 'trusted' jerseys and sit near the front (taking my turn), I found that the faster groups tend to contain the more experienced riders as the noobs don't like the speed or contact between the riders.

Looking forward to it, but not looking forward to leaving home at circa 04:30.....

Benmac

1,468 posts

216 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
From having done it the last two years one piece of safety advice is to avoid anyone wearing the official kit!

MadDad

3,835 posts

261 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
smile

Sage advice! I spent quite a bit of the time in the Velothon on the front of a group with a couple of guys from Kingston Wheelers and a couple of guys from Ajax - between the 5 of us we were doing 3 min turns on the front which worked well - I think at one point there was about 30-40 riders in the group behind us!

richardxjr

7,561 posts

210 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Watch out for more emails, just got mine.

Good job I'm staying nearby overnight!

Start Area: Orange
Wave: C
Wave Load opening time: 12/30/1899 5:15:00 AM
Wave Load closing time: 12/30/1899 5:45:00 AM
Start Time: 12/30/1899 6:27:00 AM

scubadude

2,618 posts

197 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Benmac said:
From having done it the last two years one piece of safety advice is to avoid anyone wearing the official kit!
:-) +1

Save something in your legs for the last 30miles, there was alot of weary people plodding the last 1/3rd before- great satisfaction to be gained from passing all and sundry at full speed :-)

Its a great event- enjoy. Jealous I didn't get in again.

Rolls

1,502 posts

177 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Start Area: Orange
Wave: B
Wave Load opening time: 12/30/1899 5:15:00 AM
Wave Load closing time: 12/30/1899 5:45:00 AM
Start Time: 12/30/1899 6:09:00 AM

Yay!

better than my 7:30 start time 2 years back!

okgo

38,037 posts

198 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Benmac said:
From having done it the last two years one piece of safety advice is to avoid anyone wearing the official kit!
Avoid anyone without a power meter.

Some Gump

12,690 posts

186 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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I'd avoid anyone with a power meter. Anyone taking asporive that seriously is unlikely to be good chat.

okgo

38,037 posts

198 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Some Gump said:
I'd avoid anyone with a power meter. Anyone taking asporive that seriously is unlikely to be good chat.
There will be plenty of them, and you can bet your bottom dollar a LOT of people will be taking it seriously biggrin

Dizeee

18,302 posts

206 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
They tried to manipulate me to pre pay for a NCP car park. I plan to drive and park at Kennington, then cycle to the start for around 5am. Please tell me they are wrong when they repeatedly say:

"By choosing not to use one of the recommended Car Parks or Drop-offs you are at risk that you will get caught out by the extensive road closures, miss your start time and not be able to take part in the ride. Please tick the box to confirm you understand this risk."

Benmac

1,468 posts

216 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Dizeee said:
They tried to manipulate me to pre pay for a NCP car park. I plan to drive and park at Kennington, then cycle to the start for around 5am. Please tell me they are wrong when they repeatedly say:

"By choosing not to use one of the recommended Car Parks or Drop-offs you are at risk that you will get caught out by the extensive road closures, miss your start time and not be able to take part in the ride. Please tick the box to confirm you understand this risk."
Just have a look at where the road closures are and if you can get from where you want to park to the start without them causing an issue - happy days.

They do hype up the difficulties a bit I think to avoid everyone driving to the start etc. same goes for the start times and waves. Both previous years there were loads of people in the wrong ones in order to be with friends. Marshals didn't give a monkeys

ALawson

7,815 posts

251 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Last year I spent 30mins trying to get into a pre booked NCP round the corner from our very own Gruffy. In the end we ditched the car in a side street (free parking) and we rode in with loads of people.

Full refund from PRL for parking.

I will probably ride in from Putney this year.

Dizeee

18,302 posts

206 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
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Im heading in from Kennington so come past and maybe we can hook up for the ride in together - anyone for that matter!

Gruffy

Original Poster:

7,212 posts

259 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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I'll join you as you pass Bermondsey.

Dizeee

18,302 posts

206 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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thumbup

Tower Bridge sort of way?

Gruffy

Original Poster:

7,212 posts

259 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Yeah, or via Rotherhithe Tunnel if Tower Bridge/Highway is closed for the route.

Dizeee

18,302 posts

206 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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Do we know what time closures go in?

My plan is to leave Kennington at 415am - cycle to Newington Causeway via Elephant and Castle in the direction of Tower Bridge and go from there. I am sure to see a load of other cyclists so plan to go from there really.

Jonnny

29,397 posts

189 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
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I got a space at Surrey Quays, £12 from 04:00-21:00.. Not bad imo. Sign posted from Quays > QEP through Rotherhide tunnel.

Mate has a 05:19 pen time, mine is 06:03. 1hr 15m to car park, 7 miles to start, pretty early start time.

Dizeee

18,302 posts

206 months

Saturday 4th July 2015
quotequote all
That's only a 20 min ride. Easy.