PistonHeads London To Brighton. We Made It

Pistons were replaced with pedals and legs on Sunday as PH did a completely new type of hoon

05.35 Final checks

The last thing you want on a Sunday is for your alarm to go off at 4am, but oddly enough I was actually awake before it went off, as I was as excited as a child on Christmas Day.

In an hour and a half I would be meeting up with a few chaps 'off the internet' that would be dressed in lycra and standing outside my house. But rather than being some sort of weird fetish morning, this was the start of Team PH's attempt at cycling along the road from London to Brighton, all 54 miles of it. After months of chat, the big day finally arrived and we were fired up and ready to go.

5 well trained cyclists, and Mr Will

Six of us met up in Putney, and the last-minute fettling of the bikes ensued, with some envious looks at each others' machines being shared. PHer Nick F took the most admiration as he unloaded his rather lovely carbon Planet X and seemed to know what he was doing, too. Then Swerni arrived complete with bandana - and this hilarity took our minds off Nick's impressive prowess.

We were due to leave for the Clapham startline at 05.30 so, true to form, Mr Will arrived at 05.33 with his bike in the back of his car in pieces and a water bottle that had leaked en route. PH staffer Stuart was due to ride with us, but due to the small matter of his first child arriving on the Friday he was unable to make it - a great shame as he organised the ride in the first place, but we're sure the new arrival more than made up for it. Will stepped up to take his place and, with a rusty old relic of a bike, perished tyres, no training, no water and one flapjack. Eventually we headed off and made it to the startline after a 4.5-mile warm-up ride.

The startline. Busy.

It's fair to say that the startline was rather congested and although we met up with a couple of other PH riders we didn't see the whole team, but set off in the hope that we would all catch up along the way. Most of us were riding road bikes, but annoyingly some chap from the fens tagged along who kept mentioning how fast his 'mountain bike' was. It was fast too, but then again it was 80 per cent road bike after much modifiying had taken place - but we didn't mention it and allowed him to carry on with the MTB banter. Turns out that it was none other than PHer BliarOut, who had bought some new lycra shorts especially for the day and rode non-stop to complete the ride in a very fast time indeed. At one point we were both side by side, flat out showing just how fast his bike was. Top man.

Getting out of London was a nightmare

As is usually the case, we ended up riding at our own pace after 40 miles or so and I paired up with PHer AE82GT, as we shared a similar pace. Swerni and boolay had shot off into the distance and at this point we were still unsure where the others were. Mr Will was still in the game and riding at a steady, swift pace behind us and Bliar was some way in front after refusing to stop at all, so desperate was he to be first across the line. He'll say that it was something to do with his gammy knee, but we knew the truth.....

We all managed to climb the excruciating incline of Ditchling Beacon (and I was particularly proud of my pace up there) with the exception of Mr Will who, understandably, elected to walk after getting half way up, before making our ascent into Brighton at 40mph+. Arriving on the sea front we found out that dubbs had already finished in a remarkable time with JayPee and 936ADL already there too. Most of us had finished under 4 hours, which, taking into consideration the heavy traffic getting out of London, and waiting for Mr Will, wasn't too bad at all.

Team PH regroup at the finish line

All in all we had a great day and, for all the other Team PH riders who I didn't meet, please post your times and tales on the attached thread. All of the PistonHeads riders offer sincere condolances to the family of the rider who sadly died after taking part in the event, very sobering and our thoughts are with you.

It's not too late to support our Herculean efforts by sponsoring us. If you feel the need to do so then click the link here. It's well deserved, as one rider - you know who you are, Mr Will - even wore some borrowed (used) cycling shorts to take part. Dedication above and beyond, I'm sure you'll agree. Here's to 2011.

^{Huge thanks to Bob at Ford UK and Nicki at Volkswagen UK for the loan of the 160PS Transit and 180PS Transporter that we used to get the bikes and riders back to London. Both vans were ridiculously fast and well equipped, in fact we were all amazed at how far vans have come over the past few years. Impressive stuff, thanks guys.}

Time to load up and head home

At least we looked good (ahem)

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Wing Commander

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