Author Topic: Ride London 2022  (Read 23811 times)

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #50 on: 23 May, 2022, 07:52:54 am »
Thanks Rob.   At least you and your neighbours will have slightly improved roads to compensate for the inconvenience next weekend.

I have to say I'm slightly more nervous about doing this than I would be a hilly 600.  Fear of the unknown I suppose.
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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #51 on: 24 May, 2022, 01:54:34 pm »
Toontra, I am a  fellow resident of North  East  London and Essex and regularly ride the roads being used by Ride London.

At the moment , the awareness of the event in Waltham Forest and Redbridge seems low, and I've heard that it's much the same in Epping. So  Sunday could be an interesting day. 


The Epping New Road remains its usual lumpy self and might be a challenge to some riders. Though if they are  returning to London via that route then some parts of it are dangerous, especially the stretch south of Epping Town before the Miller and Carter roundabout.

I hope the day goes well.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #52 on: 24 May, 2022, 02:16:52 pm »
At the moment , the awareness of the event in Waltham Forest and Redbridge seems low, and I've heard that it's much the same in Epping. So  Sunday could be an interesting day. 

Indeed.  Epping main road is always very busy with shoppers and cars on a Sunday so this will come as a bit of a shock if they aren't aware in advance.  Mind you my wave should be getting through before 8am so before the crowds.

Ironically I was made aware of the problem last Sunday when I tried to get out to Essex from home in Islington.  Due to the Hackney 1/2 marathon large swathes of my normal route were closed, and I then realised it's not even possible to cross the road from one side to the other in these circumstances as there is a constant stream of thousands of runners.  After trying various side roads (all blocked) I ended up doing a 3-mile detour which added an hour (mostly walking or puzzling over maps) to my ride.

So in Epping for example people presumably won't be able to cross the road, let alone drive along them.
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jiberjaber

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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #53 on: 24 May, 2022, 04:25:53 pm »
There's dedicated vehicle and ped crossing points all along the route, these are detailed in the community access plans

https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/road-closures/road-closure-information

Epping has 2 VCP, westbound only at M&C RBT and both directions Robin Hood Thai RBT.
A 3rd VCP is North of Epping but closed in the morning till 12:30.

With a bit of forward planning people can get around but it is quite a detour for some.  Perhaps they should just take advantage of being able to have a nice sleep in till lunchtime or explore their neighborhoods more :)


 
Regards,

Joergen

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #54 on: 24 May, 2022, 05:24:30 pm »
There's dedicated vehicle and ped crossing points all along the route, these are detailed in the community access plans

https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/road-closures/road-closure-information

Ah OK - makes sense.
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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #55 on: 24 May, 2022, 09:11:18 pm »
Looks better than I thought, though Epping will also have the Womens UCI race going through on the Saturday. Lets see what happens.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #56 on: 28 May, 2022, 07:59:25 pm »
Stay away from the edges on the section between Ongar and Leaden Roding because as off this morning there were a couple of missing drain covers / collapsed edges on what will be fast downhill sections tomorrow.  Didn’t come back the same way so they may have made emergency repairs but then again I won’t be chancing it.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #57 on: 28 May, 2022, 08:06:54 pm »
Thanks JL - will keep an eye out.
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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #58 on: 29 May, 2022, 03:53:09 pm »
Well that was fun!  Good weather - not too hot so kept the same clothing for the whole ride.  The main difference between this and any other ride I've done was, because of the closed roads and a flat route, you are pedalling all the time - no micro-rests stopping for lights, junctions or coasting downhill.  You're literally at it constantly  ;)  I felt a bit of cramp in the thighs towards the end but nothing to slow me down.

The only negative was some teams thinking they were pros and overtaking much too close, even when there was a spare lane or 2 available and empty.  Twats!  And there was a potentially serious accident which completely blocked the route at about the 40 mile mark.  Hope it wasn't too serious.  Luckilly someone next to me was local and knew a detour which re-joined the route half a mile up so I followed him  :thumbsup:

Official time was 5.13 but the delay and detour cost approx 18 minutes as best I can tell from the gpx file, so under 5 hours or evens.  I'll take that!

BTW all the potholes were fixed on the entire route.  Riding in Essex will be more pleasant for years to come  ;D
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robgul

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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #59 on: 29 May, 2022, 08:27:06 pm »
At the moment , the awareness of the event in Waltham Forest and Redbridge seems low, and I've heard that it's much the same in Epping. So  Sunday could be an interesting day. 

Indeed.  Epping main road is always very busy with shoppers and cars on a Sunday so this will come as a bit of a shock if they aren't aware in advance.  Mind you my wave should be getting through before 8am so before the crowds.

Ironically I was made aware of the problem last Sunday when I tried to get out to Essex from home in Islington.  Due to the Hackney 1/2 marathon large swathes of my normal route were closed, and I then realised it's not even possible to cross the road from one side to the other in these circumstances as there is a constant stream of thousands of runners.  After trying various side roads (all blocked) I ended up doing a 3-mile detour which added an hour (mostly walking or puzzling over maps) to my ride.

So in Epping for example people presumably won't be able to cross the road, let alone drive along them.

By chance I was riding around that area last Sunday - started from Marylebone - out through Islington to Hackney - got caught up in the run on Hackney Marshes (had to make a large detour around the end of the course on the football fields) - stayed overnight in Chingford and then via Buckhurst Hill and Loughton, High Beech and then the "old A11" from the Wake Arms PH* rbt to Epping - not a pleasant stretch, just blasted along as fast as possible to the turn for Epping Green and back on quieter lanes.   Loads of warning signs for the road closures.

*that's what is was when I lived around there in the 60s and 70s - not sure what the pub's called nowadays.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #60 on: 29 May, 2022, 08:38:00 pm »
@toontra That’s a seriously impressive time.   And there was me, well chuffed with 6:23.  Like you my hold ups, for a medical emergency that shut the road in Fyfield and a very nasty looking crash at the bottom of the hill through Woodford Bridge, cost me something like 15 mins so it may have been nearer 6:10.  I don’t know exactly as my phone decided to turn off gps while at Tower Bridge outbound so I have no track to check.

It was a decent day out.  A good atmosphere all along the route and the riding in a group made up for anything the route lacked. I burned a few matches early on trying to stick with a chain gang that were just too quick and paid for it in a few places on the way back into town, having to take a short break on the exit to the Limehouse Tunnel to massage a thigh and prevent a cramp.  The best bit was avoiding the torrential rain showers that hit those both in front and behind me.  I hope those involved in the crashes / medical incidents weren’t anywhere near as serious as they looked.

Robgul - it has been City Limits, Miller and Carter and several more names since then, but it’s still the Wakes Arms roundabout to me!

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #61 on: 29 May, 2022, 09:31:32 pm »
I really enjoyed it, as a first experience of a sportive (done plenty of Audaxes of comparable length, as I think I mentioned before). 06:31 official time, which I'm happy enough with. My son-in-law was almost an hour quicker.

Rolling rapidly along relatively wide and easy roads was a different experience. I was going well (for me) and didn't bother stopping till Felsted, and then not again. Got a bit harder on the rolling roads in the last 25 miles, but then the mostly downhill last ten miles helped. Same hold ups with accidents as JellyLegs mentioned.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #62 on: 29 May, 2022, 10:59:53 pm »
I can however confirm that all participants were well-behaved at the start, and without exception obeyed every instruction given:


robgul

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Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #63 on: 30 May, 2022, 07:39:31 am »
@toontra That’s a seriously impressive time.   And there was me, well chuffed with 6:23.  Like you my hold ups, for a medical emergency that shut the road in Fyfield and a very nasty looking crash at the bottom of the hill through Woodford Bridge, cost me something like 15 mins so it may have been nearer 6:10.  I don’t know exactly as my phone decided to turn off gps while at Tower Bridge outbound so I have no track to check.

It was a decent day out.  A good atmosphere all along the route and the riding in a group made up for anything the route lacked. I burned a few matches early on trying to stick with a chain gang that were just too quick and paid for it in a few places on the way back into town, having to take a short break on the exit to the Limehouse Tunnel to massage a thigh and prevent a cramp.  The best bit was avoiding the torrential rain showers that hit those both in front and behind me.  I hope those involved in the crashes / medical incidents weren’t anywhere near as serious as they looked.

Robgul - it has been City Limits, Miller and Carter and several more names since then, but it’s still the Wakes Arms roundabout to me!

Ah, thanks - I vaguely recall it being some sort of US diner when I rode the Dun Run in 2003?

I was on a "nostalgia ride" - I lived at Buckhurst Hill from 1953-71 and then from 75-78 - quite a bit had changed, especially pubs!  Whatever happened to the Reindeer, Roebuck and Duke of Edinburgh in BH? - and as it was a Monday the market was in Epping (after I turned off the main road I went round the back way to come out by the tower) . . . I can remember when there were pens and sheep in the market on Mondays!

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #64 on: 30 May, 2022, 07:48:07 am »
To their credit Essex highways dept had done a really good job of sweeping up loose gravel from the newly resurfaced stretch of the A414 into Ongar  :thumbsup:
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felstedrider

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #65 on: 30 May, 2022, 08:11:52 am »
Just rode into the City along some of the route.   It's almost as if it never happened.

I spotted the odd bidon and gel wrapper in the grass.   The locals are still rebelling but it looks like it's a 5 year agreement to send it our way.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #66 on: 30 May, 2022, 09:13:10 am »
I notice a good write-up in the Guardian (I'm not a regular reader). Interesting points about the flexibility of cyclists as a road-user group, and the benefits of cycling for health.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #67 on: 30 May, 2022, 01:35:55 pm »
Just got back home from riding this event yesterday and have to say I was a little disappointed compared to other years previously. 

No Expo or bag drops this year.  New route was not as good (in my opinion) as doing the climbs of Leith Hill and Box Hill.

The mass start was not good and had to wait nearly I hour to get across the start line.  What was wrong with the start from the Olympic Park and being funnelled in to the start.

Would have preferred to finish on The Mall as in previous years but I suppose the Jubilee celebrations have ruled that option out this year.

One good point was my time was almost an hour quicker (5-51) than all the other 5- times in this event.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #68 on: 30 May, 2022, 01:45:24 pm »
Indeed nice write up by Pete.

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #69 on: 30 May, 2022, 09:36:39 pm »
Ah, thanks - I vaguely recall it being some sort of US diner when I rode the Dun Run in 2003?

I was on a "nostalgia ride" - I lived at Buckhurst Hill from 1953-71 and then from 75-78 - quite a bit had changed, especially pubs!  Whatever happened to the Reindeer, Roebuck and Duke of Edinburgh in BH? - and as it was a Monday the market was in Epping (after I turned off the main road I went round the back way to come out by the tower) . . . I can remember when there were pens and sheep in the market on Mondays!

Drifting off topic for a bit of nostalgia….. I am a Woodford Bridge lad by birth but moved to Epping in the early 90’s.  You are right, Buckhurst Hill, like Loughton and Woodford, has changed massively from the places I remember in my childhood of the 1970s  and not for the better in my view. Many of the pubs are long gone, often to be replaced by soul-less blocks of flats which was exactly the fate of The Roebuck.  Most of those that remain are chain pubs, little individuality or character.  No room for the horse-drawn brewers drey that used to deliver the beer to a number of local pubs.  Same goes for most of the shops in the High Street.  No room seemingly for the quirky places like Batchelors, the sports / equestrian shop in Epping High Street that used to have the stuffed horse inside or the specialist like Mrs Gunton’s cycle shop at the top end of Woodford Bridge or the Bankhills hardware shop at the bottom end of the same parade of shops. You could always rely on both of them to have that part that no one else stocked.   The market in Epping is a shadow of its former self, even from my first memories of it in the late 80’s.  It hasn’t had a livestock element to it for many decades now. They call it progress but I am yet to be convinced.

The Wakes Arms PH, probably whilst known as City Limits, suffered a serious fire and lay empty for at least a year.  That must have been around 2003.  Weirdly it had, or may even still have, an Ordnance Survey trig point in the middle of its car park. That’s my useless bit of knowledge for the day!

Re: Ride London 2022
« Reply #70 on: 23 June, 2022, 10:17:58 pm »
Sad news today that the RideLondon participant who suffered the cardiac arrest at the 49 mile mark unfortunately passed away earlier this week without regaining consciousness.  Forty one years old is absolutely no age.  Condolences to family and friends.