RideLondon Start Times

[ChrisMCoupe]

S1KRR said:

Don't know why people don't contribute to making a group work. At the sorts of time you did. Suggests more than just the odd ride. So surely they realise that if they share the worl they all get faster??

That's exactly why very average riders get good times. They find a wheel(s) that they can sit on at probably close to threshold, no hope of doing a turn on the front without being spat and get pulled round for a very flattering time.

As Akz said, as soon as there's a gradient, even a small one like Newlands, they get dropped and then find a group to scoop them up and they start again.

Not knocking the London 100 at all, but it doesn't give a true reflection of ability, with the exception of the weapons at the very sharp end.

[BMWBen]

ChrisMCoupe said:

S1KRR said:

Don't know why people don't contribute to making a group work. At the sorts of time you did. Suggests more than just the odd ride. So surely they realise that if they share the worl they all get faster??

That's exactly why very average riders get good times. They find a wheel(s) that they can sit on at probably close to threshold, no hope of doing a turn on the front without being spat and get pulled round for a very flattering time.

As Akz said, as soon as there's a gradient, even a small one like Newlands, they get dropped and then find a group to scoop them up and they start again.

Not knocking the London 100 at all, but it doesn't give a true reflection of ability, with the exception of the weapons at the very sharp end.

I think it depends how you define ability... A rider who can hold the wheels in a faster group is more or less able than one who can't?

I don't think there's anybody who did ride london that could solo the time they did, including the ex-pros like Yanto Barker.

[SR7492]

ChrisMCoupe said:

That's exactly why very average riders get good times. They find a wheel(s) that they can sit on at probably close to threshold, no hope of doing a turn on the front without being spat and get pulled round for a very flattering time.

As Akz said, as soon as there's a gradient, even a small one like Newlands, they get dropped and then find a group to scoop them up and they start again.

.

This!

Our 40 man group stuct together till Newlands where it split and became roughly around 15. We caught a bigger group towards Leith Hill, this is where the group totally dismantled. As we approached Box Hill, the group got large again (we caught a group and a group behind caught us) - then same thing on Box Hill, many couldn't hold a wheel and total group split. From there, we were in a group of 25 whom I think were more than strong enough to take a turn at the front!

[GOATever]

SR7492 said:

This!

Our 40 man group stuct together till Newlands where it split and became roughly around 15. We caught a bigger group towards Leith Hill, this is where the group totally dismantled. As we approached Box Hill, the group got large again (we caught a group and a group behind caught us) - then same thing on Box Hill, many couldn't hold a wheel and total group split. From there, we were in a group of 25 whom I think were more than strong enough to take a turn at the front!

I was riding with power meters this year, for the first time ( until they ran out of battery power at the top of Box Hill ). It was very interesting. I was averaging about 250 Watts, which was giving me a power to weight of about 3.5 W/Kg. I kept getting people latching on to my wheel, and when I flicked the elbow, they didn’t move forward and take a turn. So I sat up, and gave them no choice. When I was sat behind, I was seeing 120 Watts, and ended up moving so slowly, I had to get back in front. One guy who did it genuinely seemed to want to help, but couldn’t, some were obviously extracting the urine, and some seemed to genuinely not realise that I was towing them. Actually seeing the power in real time was very revealing.

[Marcellus]

GOATever said:

I was riding with power meters this year, for the first time ( until they ran out of battery power at the top of Box Hill ). It was very interesting. I was averaging about 250 Watts, which was giving me a power to weight of about 3.5 W/Kg. I kept getting people latching on to my wheel, and when I flicked the elbow, they didn’t move forward and take a turn. So I sat up, and gave them no choice. When I was sat behind, I was seeing 120 Watts, and ended up moving so slowly, I had to get back in front. One guy who did it genuinely seemed to want to help, but couldn’t, some were obviously extracting the urine, and some seemed to genuinely not realise that I was towing them. Actually seeing the power in real time was very revealing.

I had the same, only not at your power levels, I was tapping out at 200 on the front, wanted a breather, no one coming through, forcing the issue, watts down to 100 and speed down to 15/17 so thought sod it went back to the front and tried to make sure I didn't burn any matches.