London to Brighton June 2026
Discussion
Has anyone else signed up for next years L2B ride in June?
Link below for anybody interested -
https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bik...
It'll be my first time doing anything like this, I only recently got back into cycling and thought this would be a good excuse to keep up the training over winter.
I regularly ride 70km in around 2hrs 45 mins so hopefully I'm not going to find this too difficult.
Would be great to share training tips / progress with others on here in the build up to the ride.
Link below for anybody interested -
https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bik...
It'll be my first time doing anything like this, I only recently got back into cycling and thought this would be a good excuse to keep up the training over winter.
I regularly ride 70km in around 2hrs 45 mins so hopefully I'm not going to find this too difficult.
Would be great to share training tips / progress with others on here in the build up to the ride.
I'm not this year but did it the last 2 years.
Rode casually the first year and stopped a couple of times with my mate so took 3hrs.
Managed to get in a decent bunch this year and did it without much effort in 2hr 40
Both time I have then ridden another 90km home to Portsmouth.
It's quite lumpy but nothing that difficult. Even ditchling wasn't much hassle (set a new 5min power PB up it this year and went up it in 6mins).
If you can ride 70km already, you'll ride L2B with no issues.
If you're not local, go up the night before and stay in a hotel. It removes all the stress from the weekend, especially if you have a 6am start time.
Rode casually the first year and stopped a couple of times with my mate so took 3hrs.
Managed to get in a decent bunch this year and did it without much effort in 2hr 40
Both time I have then ridden another 90km home to Portsmouth.
It's quite lumpy but nothing that difficult. Even ditchling wasn't much hassle (set a new 5min power PB up it this year and went up it in 6mins).
If you can ride 70km already, you'll ride L2B with no issues.
If you're not local, go up the night before and stay in a hotel. It removes all the stress from the weekend, especially if you have a 6am start time.
Thanks for the advice!
Ditchling is the only bit I'm a bit nervous about, I've heard horror stories of people being stuck behind others who are pushing their bike up the hill and not making room for those who want to ride up.
Normally towards the end of a 70k ride my legs can cramp when I'm tackling steep hills so I'm hoping training can help with this in the build up to the event.
I'll be riding my Canyon Grizl, I have a spare set of road wheels / tyres for it but I've found the gravel tyres that it came with to be pretty much identical in speed. So probably going to stick with the gravel tyres to keep things comfortable.
Ditchling is the only bit I'm a bit nervous about, I've heard horror stories of people being stuck behind others who are pushing their bike up the hill and not making room for those who want to ride up.
Normally towards the end of a 70k ride my legs can cramp when I'm tackling steep hills so I'm hoping training can help with this in the build up to the event.
I'll be riding my Canyon Grizl, I have a spare set of road wheels / tyres for it but I've found the gravel tyres that it came with to be pretty much identical in speed. So probably going to stick with the gravel tyres to keep things comfortable.
Admittedly years ago now since I did it, but the advice then probably still holds true.
Try to be in one of the earler groups to avoid the traffic, particularly on Ditchling.
I followed this advice, and there were enough riders around to make if feel like an event, but not so many that there were any real issues on the climbs or bottle necks.
Try to be in one of the earler groups to avoid the traffic, particularly on Ditchling.
I followed this advice, and there were enough riders around to make if feel like an event, but not so many that there were any real issues on the climbs or bottle necks.
Discendo Discimus said:
Has anyone else signed up for next years L2B ride in June?
Link below for anybody interested -
https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bik...
It'll be my first time doing anything like this, I only recently got back into cycling and thought this would be a good excuse to keep up the training over winter.
I regularly ride 70km in around 2hrs 45 mins so hopefully I'm not going to find this too difficult.
Would be great to share training tips / progress with others on here in the build up to the ride.
Brace your self...as this might not be what you want to hear. Link below for anybody interested -
https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/events/bik...
It'll be my first time doing anything like this, I only recently got back into cycling and thought this would be a good excuse to keep up the training over winter.
I regularly ride 70km in around 2hrs 45 mins so hopefully I'm not going to find this too difficult.
Would be great to share training tips / progress with others on here in the build up to the ride.
Ask your self this. Do yo want to ride a 56 mile cycling event or do you want to do London to Brighton as they are two different things. There are plenty of 50 mile cycling events that are much easier to deal with than L2B.
I did it about ten years ago when Mrs BakerStreet and her friends signed up. Eventually they bailed out and I did it solo. Sadly, my OH couldn't drop me off at event start, so ended up paying £120 for a cab to get me to the start line. That wasn't so bad. There aren't really many options for parking a car at the start.
My start window was somewhere in the middle and that was a massive mistake. It was so slow for about the first 10 miles and I was on my CX bike with double sided pedals and if you do it, I 100% recommend you switch to double sided pedals and you see plenty of carbon race bikes running SPDs as its just so much easier for stop starting.
People do London To Brighton on a variety of bikes and also there is quite a range of skill levels too. This is just about ok on the slower stuff, but when the roads open up and the pace increases it can be a nightmare. Because of the variation of bikes and riders, I'd say crashes are probably more common and I believe there were some really serious ones on the year I did it. We are talking broken legs and air ambulances. I think we were stationary for about 2 hours the year I did it.
I got about four punctures on the ride and that is bad for your average 56 miles and I walked half a mile to the aid station to pay for someone to repair it as I was using Gatorskins and anyone who has run those tyres will tell you how much of a PITA they are to get on and off the rims. There is at least plenty of stop points with bike service, refreshments, toilets ect.
Ditchling Beacon is a tough climb but made even worse as once again the variety of cyclists on the event mean many walk it. Some are clever and keep to the left, others, just wander about and I watched a guy ride into a hedge to avoid some idiot weaving about the place. He got out of the hedge and just swore at the guy and then rode off. Also, trying to clip in on single sided road pedals on an incline when its that crowded is hard going.
The lowest point was when we were descending into Brighton and many roadies are fed up by that point and giving it the beans. Sadly during some top beanage a lady just wobbled into the middle of the road and the guy swerved to avoid said wobbler and crashed into the tarmac and I had two choices. Go over his leg or his rear mech. I chose his rear mech and it broke. The guy was fine and all I could do was offer him the £20 cash I had on me. He declined.
I made it to the finish and my mum picked me up but because of the crashes it took her four hours to get to the designated car park.
A few years ago, the company I worked for were trying to organize a L2B office ride. It was clear that I' be needed as some kind of support rider. I politely declined unless the company wanted to organize the transport there and back. Logistically its a hard event to deal with and just not worth it in my view. Unless my kids step up and ask, I won't be returning.
Honestly, I just fancied doing an event next year so that I don't stop riding over winter.
The fact that it's London to Brighton doesn't factor in (I live in Worcestershire).
The plan is to drive my van down to Brighton and park it up somewhere, then jump in my friend's camper and drive into London, find somewhere to sleep the night in there. Then ride to Clapham Common in the morning, do the ride and drive back in my van, stopping in London on the way to pick up friend's camper.
I was really hoping the Birmingham Velo 100 ride was still happening as it would've been a perfect local challenge but I think the organisers went bust.
I'll try to get an early slot, I put myself in the 4-5 hour category though so they might stick me in the later groups.
The fact that it's London to Brighton doesn't factor in (I live in Worcestershire).
The plan is to drive my van down to Brighton and park it up somewhere, then jump in my friend's camper and drive into London, find somewhere to sleep the night in there. Then ride to Clapham Common in the morning, do the ride and drive back in my van, stopping in London on the way to pick up friend's camper.
I was really hoping the Birmingham Velo 100 ride was still happening as it would've been a perfect local challenge but I think the organisers went bust.
I'll try to get an early slot, I put myself in the 4-5 hour category though so they might stick me in the later groups.
I did it... in 1992... so perhaps not that relevant to what it's like today! Though I guess the terrain is the same.
My Dad had got together an office team, sponsored by the company, and I made the mistake of joining them. Some of my 'team-mates' hadn't done much cycling and hadn't bothered to train for the event, and most of them wanted to stop at every other pub for beers. This wasn't at all how I wanted to play it, so I left them to it and headed off on my own.
As others have said, there's a range of different cycling ability levels and speeds, so you have to keep your wits about you, but it's a fun experience.
I was on a cheap bike with a three-speed Sturmey Archer. I was one of those people who 'cycled everywhere' in day-to-day life but didn't go on long leisure/fitness rides. I found the physical side of the cycling fine. Mind you, my attitude towards cycling uphill has always been that if it's more effort than walking, I'll get off and walk, so I certainly did this at Ditchling (not getting in other people's way) The final downhill section from there down into Brighton was very pleasant.
Getting home is the other issue... when I went, the railway still laid on special trains of spare old carriages for the day to take cyclists back to London. But I happened to know a guy with an old double-deck bus, so I had the idea of 'hiring' him to meet us. Unfortunately, my pub-crawl comrades took about 6 hours to reach Brighton and find the bus, so the bus man wasn't very pleased to be kept waiting for hours. But it was handy to get a ride home, with the bikes between the seats downstairs and everyone sitting upstairs.
My Dad had got together an office team, sponsored by the company, and I made the mistake of joining them. Some of my 'team-mates' hadn't done much cycling and hadn't bothered to train for the event, and most of them wanted to stop at every other pub for beers. This wasn't at all how I wanted to play it, so I left them to it and headed off on my own.
As others have said, there's a range of different cycling ability levels and speeds, so you have to keep your wits about you, but it's a fun experience.
I was on a cheap bike with a three-speed Sturmey Archer. I was one of those people who 'cycled everywhere' in day-to-day life but didn't go on long leisure/fitness rides. I found the physical side of the cycling fine. Mind you, my attitude towards cycling uphill has always been that if it's more effort than walking, I'll get off and walk, so I certainly did this at Ditchling (not getting in other people's way) The final downhill section from there down into Brighton was very pleasant.
Getting home is the other issue... when I went, the railway still laid on special trains of spare old carriages for the day to take cyclists back to London. But I happened to know a guy with an old double-deck bus, so I had the idea of 'hiring' him to meet us. Unfortunately, my pub-crawl comrades took about 6 hours to reach Brighton and find the bus, so the bus man wasn't very pleased to be kept waiting for hours. But it was handy to get a ride home, with the bikes between the seats downstairs and everyone sitting upstairs.
I've done it several times... as other posters have said definitely aim for one of the 6am start times, it's too popular, and too many people just join the route along the way (I may be guilty of doing this myself once or twice) as a day out it's definitely amusing.
If there is an accident you'll be held up for a while as they clear it, and the queues just back up from there.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
Ride itself isn't too bad 3 or 4 big hills the beacon is doubly hard due to some people's lack of road skills and some cyclists who think it's the TdF
Getting home is a pain unless you have someone to pick you up (or, pay for their transport back - not done it but Qs always looked massive) you can't take your bike back on the train (slow-hand clap Southern railways).
It may have changed, but you can park Sat-Sun on many of the residential roads off the top-end of Dyke Road for free if you want to park and leave the car day before and get train back to London (only 2-3 miles from the sea-front.. uphill) - use this map to find the current parking zones https://bhcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/ind...
On the day you can sometimes get parked in the Marina multi-storey car park.
I've DIY'd it before on a spare Sunday (and bunged the BHF some money) and that was much more fun - this was the route I did https://www.strava.com/routes/3249493532069685956
If there is an accident you'll be held up for a while as they clear it, and the queues just back up from there.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
Ride itself isn't too bad 3 or 4 big hills the beacon is doubly hard due to some people's lack of road skills and some cyclists who think it's the TdF
Getting home is a pain unless you have someone to pick you up (or, pay for their transport back - not done it but Qs always looked massive) you can't take your bike back on the train (slow-hand clap Southern railways).
It may have changed, but you can park Sat-Sun on many of the residential roads off the top-end of Dyke Road for free if you want to park and leave the car day before and get train back to London (only 2-3 miles from the sea-front.. uphill) - use this map to find the current parking zones https://bhcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/ind...
On the day you can sometimes get parked in the Marina multi-storey car park.
I've DIY'd it before on a spare Sunday (and bunged the BHF some money) and that was much more fun - this was the route I did https://www.strava.com/routes/3249493532069685956
Edited by SaTTaN on Friday 3rd October 11:22
SaTTaN said:
I've done it several times... as other posters have said definitely aim for one of the 6am start times, it's too popular, and too many people just join the route along the way (I may be guilty of doing this myself once or twice) as a day out it's definitely amusing.
If there is an accident you'll be held up for a while as they clear it, and the queues just back up from there.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
Ride itself isn't too bad 3 or 4 big hills the beacon is doubly hard due to some people's lack of road skills and some cyclists who think it's the TdF
Getting home is a pain unless you have someone to pick you up (or, pay for their transport back - not done it but Qs always looked massive) you can't take your bike back on the train (slow-hand clap Southern railways).
It may have changed, but you can park Sat-Sun on many of the residential roads off the top-end of Dyke Road for free if you want to park and leave the car day before and get train back to London (only 2-3 miles from the sea-front.. uphill) - use this map to find the current parking zones https://bhcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/ind...
On the day you can sometimes get parked in the Marina multi-storey car park.
I've DIY'd it before on a spare Sunday (and bunged the BHF some money) and that was much more fun - this was the route I did https://www.strava.com/routes/3249493532069685956
Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely going to try for an earlier slot, I'm not going for race pace but if I'm stuck behind people pushing up the beacon I'll be a bit annoyed. If there is an accident you'll be held up for a while as they clear it, and the queues just back up from there.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
Ride itself isn't too bad 3 or 4 big hills the beacon is doubly hard due to some people's lack of road skills and some cyclists who think it's the TdF
Getting home is a pain unless you have someone to pick you up (or, pay for their transport back - not done it but Qs always looked massive) you can't take your bike back on the train (slow-hand clap Southern railways).
It may have changed, but you can park Sat-Sun on many of the residential roads off the top-end of Dyke Road for free if you want to park and leave the car day before and get train back to London (only 2-3 miles from the sea-front.. uphill) - use this map to find the current parking zones https://bhcc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/ind...
On the day you can sometimes get parked in the Marina multi-storey car park.
I've DIY'd it before on a spare Sunday (and bunged the BHF some money) and that was much more fun - this was the route I did https://www.strava.com/routes/3249493532069685956
Edited by SaTTaN on Friday 3rd October 11:22
If this goes well I'll sign up for some actual races next year.
SaTTaN said:
I've done it several times... as other posters have said definitely aim for one of the 6am start times, it's too popular, and too many people just join the route along the way (I may be guilty of doing this myself once or twice) as a day out it's definitely amusing.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
There are too many people that haven't ridden in a while, or at-all (it would seem) with no road-skills or awareness, just keep to the right and try not to get too close to anyone else.
Edited by SaTTaN on Friday 3rd October 11:22

Definitely agree on the early start. I happened to work for one of the sponsors a few years ago which gave us access to the "VIP lane" at the start. This meant that we could set off between the bulk releases - was quite odd riding through S London on a completely empty stretch of road. Didn't last long of course but we still managed to get to Ditchling before it got too busy. Always enjoy the run down from Ditchling & getting the speed warning sign to flash on Coldean Lane

2011 I think at the time my longest ride was 55km.
Clapham common was annoying, some dozy woman smashed her pedal into my aero wheel. IIRC I had a 630am start, which was later that I wanted. You virtually dont pedal for the first 20km or so, draft fest out to Carshalton-ish. Then it goes more uphill which thins it out very quickly! As above, lots of amateurs. Woman in front of me, near the M25 just stopped dead with no pre warning. She got told!
Had some bell draft me for a good few miles. I sat up expecting him to come round, but he didn't. I accelerated and dropped him and he turned himself inside out getting back to me only to rest again. So I literally stopped. (took the opportunity to take jacket off) He went round me, and I caught and passed him a few miles later. Didn't see him again
I walked half of Ditchling as I wasn't as fit back then. There was a guy with a megaphone at the top egging everyone on. The descent into Brighton is fun. You should get up to 50mph with a bit of effort and tuck.
My tip was that I would be collected by the "team car" a bit outside Brighton town centre so they didn't have to drive into the centre where there are obviously road closures. Somewhere near Preston Park would be my suggestion if that's your plan.
I believe the trains DO NOT allow bikes that day
I'd do it again if I was asked.
Bad points, a lot of people bandit it. And then claim the medal at the finish. Which pisses me off as its a charity event and whilst the medal that year was cheap and nasty, thats OK as the idea is the money goes to BHF!
Clapham common was annoying, some dozy woman smashed her pedal into my aero wheel. IIRC I had a 630am start, which was later that I wanted. You virtually dont pedal for the first 20km or so, draft fest out to Carshalton-ish. Then it goes more uphill which thins it out very quickly! As above, lots of amateurs. Woman in front of me, near the M25 just stopped dead with no pre warning. She got told!

Had some bell draft me for a good few miles. I sat up expecting him to come round, but he didn't. I accelerated and dropped him and he turned himself inside out getting back to me only to rest again. So I literally stopped. (took the opportunity to take jacket off) He went round me, and I caught and passed him a few miles later. Didn't see him again
I walked half of Ditchling as I wasn't as fit back then. There was a guy with a megaphone at the top egging everyone on. The descent into Brighton is fun. You should get up to 50mph with a bit of effort and tuck.
My tip was that I would be collected by the "team car" a bit outside Brighton town centre so they didn't have to drive into the centre where there are obviously road closures. Somewhere near Preston Park would be my suggestion if that's your plan.
I believe the trains DO NOT allow bikes that day
I'd do it again if I was asked.
Bad points, a lot of people bandit it. And then claim the medal at the finish. Which pisses me off as its a charity event and whilst the medal that year was cheap and nasty, thats OK as the idea is the money goes to BHF!
Edited by BunkMoreland on Tuesday 7th October 21:32
I've done it twice OP.
If you are regularly riding 70kms then you will be fine doing it, the novelty will be you being able to ride across junctions where you would normally have to give way.
The absolute ball ache however is the amount of people doing it. Ditchling Beacon is a real tester but the reality is that you get a load of middle-aged mums on shopping bikes pushing them up there six abreast whilst having a chinwag, making it near impossible for anyone wanting to ride up it to do so.
Factor in some speed merchants giving it the absolute beans on the flats/downhills, at speeds inappropriate for the numbers of people around and you get too many accidents.
Finally, the ban on bikes on trains makes getting back difficult for many.
If I were you I would just choose to ride the route on any other given day free of crowds and just live with the traffic. Far less aggro.
If you are regularly riding 70kms then you will be fine doing it, the novelty will be you being able to ride across junctions where you would normally have to give way.
The absolute ball ache however is the amount of people doing it. Ditchling Beacon is a real tester but the reality is that you get a load of middle-aged mums on shopping bikes pushing them up there six abreast whilst having a chinwag, making it near impossible for anyone wanting to ride up it to do so.
Factor in some speed merchants giving it the absolute beans on the flats/downhills, at speeds inappropriate for the numbers of people around and you get too many accidents.
Finally, the ban on bikes on trains makes getting back difficult for many.
If I were you I would just choose to ride the route on any other given day free of crowds and just live with the traffic. Far less aggro.
bakerstreet said:
Salted_Peanut said:
That's unhelpful.
Its been that way for years and given the size of the event, you can understand why. just one full size bike on a single carriage in peak travel time is a pain, let alone thousands. bakerstreet said:
Salted_Peanut said:
That's unhelpful.
Its been that way for years and given the size of the event, you can understand why. just one full size bike on a single carriage in peak travel time is a pain, let alone thousands. Shooter McGavin said:
I've done it twice OP.
If you are regularly riding 70kms then you will be fine doing it, the novelty will be you being able to ride across junctions where you would normally have to give way.
The absolute ball ache however is the amount of people doing it. Ditchling Beacon is a real tester but the reality is that you get a load of middle-aged mums on shopping bikes pushing them up there six abreast whilst having a chinwag, making it near impossible for anyone wanting to ride up it to do so.
Factor in some speed merchants giving it the absolute beans on the flats/downhills, at speeds inappropriate for the numbers of people around and you get too many accidents.
Finally, the ban on bikes on trains makes getting back difficult for many.
If I were you I would just choose to ride the route on any other given day free of crowds and just live with the traffic. Far less aggro.
Thanks for the advice! I'm already signed up and raising money for the BHF so might as well do the event now, but noted for future years. That sounds like what I expected if I'm honest, I'll just do my best to ride around people who are pushing up the beacon and will be mindful of the Aero boys coming down the other side. If you are regularly riding 70kms then you will be fine doing it, the novelty will be you being able to ride across junctions where you would normally have to give way.
The absolute ball ache however is the amount of people doing it. Ditchling Beacon is a real tester but the reality is that you get a load of middle-aged mums on shopping bikes pushing them up there six abreast whilst having a chinwag, making it near impossible for anyone wanting to ride up it to do so.
Factor in some speed merchants giving it the absolute beans on the flats/downhills, at speeds inappropriate for the numbers of people around and you get too many accidents.
Finally, the ban on bikes on trains makes getting back difficult for many.
If I were you I would just choose to ride the route on any other given day free of crowds and just live with the traffic. Far less aggro.
I think we'll take the advice of someone further up the thread and park our second van out of the town centre somewhere in Brighton. We're on bikes afterall so it won't be a problem riding to the van. Just need to make sure I can leave it somewhere without getting tickets.
Does anyone know if I can request an earlier start time? On the entry form it asks how long you expect the ride to take, and I put 4-5 hours as I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think this might put me into a later start category which I'd rather avoid.
Discendo Discimus said:
Thanks for the advice! I'm already signed up and raising money for the BHF so might as well do the event now, but noted for future years. That sounds like what I expected if I'm honest, I'll just do my best to ride around people who are pushing up the beacon and will be mindful of the Aero boys coming down the other side.
I think we'll take the advice of someone further up the thread and park our second van out of the town centre somewhere in Brighton. We're on bikes afterall so it won't be a problem riding to the van. Just need to make sure I can leave it somewhere without getting tickets.
Does anyone know if I can request an earlier start time? On the entry form it asks how long you expect the ride to take, and I put 4-5 hours as I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think this might put me into a later start category which I'd rather avoid.
When I did it (20+ years ago), we got there quite a while before our official start time, so once we'd registered, I just rode round the corner and got on the course at least half an hour before we we supposed to leave. This was still way too late though as there were people walking on every hill, but I just about made it up Ditchling without being balked by anyone.I think we'll take the advice of someone further up the thread and park our second van out of the town centre somewhere in Brighton. We're on bikes afterall so it won't be a problem riding to the van. Just need to make sure I can leave it somewhere without getting tickets.
Does anyone know if I can request an earlier start time? On the entry form it asks how long you expect the ride to take, and I put 4-5 hours as I wasn't sure what to expect. But I think this might put me into a later start category which I'd rather avoid.
I think you just have to view it as a charity event that happens to involve cycling, rather than something that will actually be a decent bike ride.
Fair enough, I'll sign up for some sportives for later in the year I think, hopefully that will attract more serious riders and will push me a bit harder.
I've noticed a distinct lack of road / gravel events in and around home (Worcestershire / Shropshire), which seems odd given the hilly terrain and plentiful forests. It's difficult to travel too far for events as I have 3 very young children and a wife who couldn't care less about cycling!
I've noticed a distinct lack of road / gravel events in and around home (Worcestershire / Shropshire), which seems odd given the hilly terrain and plentiful forests. It's difficult to travel too far for events as I have 3 very young children and a wife who couldn't care less about cycling!
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