Last time I did it I was sub 4, as was a good chunk of the first wave. Lots of riders going sub 4:30 right through the first half dozen or so waves. 4:30 is 22mph, 22mph is really pretty easy on a fairly flat and non-technical closed road course with 100+ riders to share the draft.
Think there are ~300 riders per wave. If wave A is capped at 22mph I’d expect at least waves B and C and maybe to join it, unless there were other cars on the course to stop that happening, and that raises a bunch more issues (like what happens to riders who get dropped from A and picked up by B if there’s a car in between?). So could end up with something approaching 1000 riders in a bunch behind a safety car. If the car is going 22mph steady there are going to be fast sections of the course where front riders will literally be having to brake to avoid going into it, the ripple effect of that braking through a bunch that big would cause carnage. I’m not sure I’d ever feel comfortable even taking one hand off the bars to grab a drink knowing the riders in front of me could hit the brakes pretty much any time!
Totally on board with this not being a race. It should however be a safe fast group ride. I’ve done it twice in the past and it’s been really good fun with generally a pretty good and considerate standard of riding - people holding their lines, using hand signals and calls, etc. I think allowing people to go the speed they want to go makes it safer as it stretches the group out, maybe splits it into some smaller groups, and makes things much more predictable. I.e. the group is slowing for turns and climbs, not because the safety car is forcing people to brake.
Looks like the issue is hitting the headlines now. Lot of people reaching out to them on Twitter and Road.cc asking for a response.
I’m debating not taking part if there’s no movement by the event, purely from a safety perspective. There’s no safe way around this, if you start at your allotted time then you are part of a huge twitchy group behind a a car and if you start later to avoid the issue then you’re going to have packs working their way through hundreds of slower cyclists. Either option feels unnecessarily dangerous to me.
I live in essex and have seen the road closure signs up in a lot ofthe villages - it struck me that they weren’t shut for very long, quite specific times as to when they will be opening again which I thought was odd…
The safety car is a good idea in my opinion - seen to many stupid crashes because people are trying to set fast times, including someone riding straight into a traffic island at over 30mph because they didnt see it due to other riders, and of course someone died about 5 years ago.
Everyone to their own but its not a race, the thought of being in a group of possible non racers travelling at 24-26mph - going to end badly, save it for racing…
Living and racing in SW London and having done a few RL, I’ve seen some things and wouldn’t say I feel any safer racing. The old RL was a hoot, it got a bit sketchy before the hills as the roads went from from 4 lanes in central London to 2 lanes but if you made the ‘selection’ over the hills, it felt very safe and fast.
Saying that, this could be chaos without any hills to thin the herd.
Hi deal, I am also doing the RL22 and my first ever 100 mile event. I am going to carry some energy gels and 2 water bottles ( 1 hydration water and 1 energy drink) which I have been doing while doing my training. I normally drink if I feel the need to or after an hour depending on the weather and about every 25 miles will have an energy gel. This is how I do it, so listen to your body don’t wait till you are exhausted.
I hope the love helps, most of all enjoy the ride.
My start time is 7:10-7:25
Part of the fun of the Ride London was getting to the start line for those start times.
I remember riding through the Blackwall Tunnel (closed specially for this so O2 car parks could be used) and then cycling past nightclubs that were just emptying out😜
4.11 on the official timer for me, was in the main group for the first 70 miles but was on the wrong side of a split after a crash and couldn’t convince others to help me chase back on. There were probably 20 of us trying but only 3/4 others willing to actually take a turn and the rest just sat on. Cruised home with this group but really paid for my efforts in the last 10 miles or so.
Really good day despite the crashes/hairpins and great seeing so many people cycling on the closed roads round central London after.
Ride London 2022. Great day with three team mates.
That big ‘break’ is due to the accident at mile 48. Four ambulances and the air ambulance in attendance. We arrived moments after the incident and got held on the road for around an hour. I’m not going to speculate on what happened because it looked serious. Just hoping everyone involved makes a swift and full recovery.
Other than that, it was a blast. We worked as a team of four for the whole ride and had a sizeable train sucking the wheels until mile 73, when we decided to stop for water. Didn’t quite know what to say to the gentleman who sought me out at the water stop and told me off for stopping as ‘We’d ruined his chances of going under four hours…’. Sorry buddy
If you get the opportunity to ride this route, I’d say do it. Parts of the route are beautiful and the roads are for the most part, in great condition.
3:44 chip time for me. Started a few minutes back and managed to work with a couple of friends to get across to the front group. Good fun day out and great to be able to ride fast on closed roads. Don’t think I’d do it again though. Course too flat to split things up so our group was pretty huge and sounds like others were as well. Lots of pretty sketchy riding as a result with everybody fighting to try and position better in the group. Not helped by having 2 u-turns on the course in the last 10 miles which didn’t exactly help calm the nerves!
Couple of big crashes around me and not surprised to hear there were hold ups later due to more crashes. Hope nobody hurt too badly.
I must have been in the same group as you - i was one of the 3/4 trying to bridge back to the leaders. Took its toll on me too and i got spat out the back with 15 to go and rolled in with 4:07 on the clock.
5:30:05 chip time for me. I was aiming for a sub 6-hour so I’m very happy with that.
I didnt use any of the welfare stations but I did have to stop for 6 toilet breaks! Was so bad trying to hold it, it was affecting my comfort and performance. I was basically a lone rider, so very pleased with my time and now I’ve done one I think with a bit more savvy I could shave a lot more time off.
We didn’t get stopped my the incident but we did go past not long after it happened and saw the initial ambulance crew taking over chest compressions from another rider Still haven’t heard any updates on the poor man. We also saw a lady not far from the start (towards Stratford area) having a fit on the roadside and plenty of people being tended to by medical crew.
The start was a complete shambles, we didn’t even know it had started!
of the Ride London was getting to the start line for those start times.
Still haven’t heard any updates on the poor man. We also saw a lady not far from the start (towards Stratford area) having a fit on the roadside and plenty of people being tended to by medical crew.