Author Topic: Ride London  (Read 10799 times)

essexian

Ride London
« on: 23 July, 2018, 10:35:58 am »
Hi

Has anyone done this ride? I am down to do Sunday's Ride London 46 effort leaving at just after 9.15am.

I have a couple of questions.....firstly, does anyone know whether TFL will allow bikes on the District Line after the ride. I have checked both the Ride London website (rubbish) and TFL, neither of which rule this out.

Secondly, does anyone know how tightly they stick to their cut off times? While I should manage the 13mph average expected, I am worried what might happen if I had an issue which delayed me such as a "visit."


Many thanks


Ian

Re: Ride London
« Reply #1 on: 23 July, 2018, 11:55:41 am »
Should be riding the 100 which will be my 5th time (riding for a charity, the only way to get a place in the 100).  Booked into a Travelodge near to the Excel Centre which I booked almost a year ago but got a good rate!

I assume that the District Line is underground so NO chance of taking a bike unless its a foldable type and YES the organisers DO stick to the cut-off times as there will be a pro race behind you.

Good luck, its going to be hot, hot, hot.

Re: Ride London
« Reply #2 on: 23 July, 2018, 12:02:14 pm »
You can take your bike on the District Line

content.tfl.gov.uk/bicycles-on-public-transport.pdf


essexian

Re: Ride London
« Reply #3 on: 23 July, 2018, 01:11:25 pm »
Hi Both

Many thanks for your replies.

I guess my question with TFL is yes, while the District Line being a subsurface line does accept bikes, are they going to ban these on ride day like Southern (is it still Southern? I don't normally go south of the River so its all DoubleDutch to me...whatever that means) does for the London to Brighton ride.  This map on this page just shows the normal range of tubes/bikes so could be taken to mean that there won't be a problem.......https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/ridelondon

Cheers


Ian

cygnet

  • I'm part of the association
Re: Ride London
« Reply #4 on: 23 July, 2018, 02:01:55 pm »
The cut off for the 46m route is at Kingston (25miles). You need to get there before 11.30am and it cuts out approx. 6 miles
Past this there are no shortcuts/diversions that you can be sent on that I can see.

Closing time on the Mall is about 5:40pm.
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essexian

Re: Ride London
« Reply #5 on: 23 July, 2018, 02:10:06 pm »
Thanks Cygnet...that's the cut off I am worried about. My 9.16am start gives me 2 hours 14 to do that which is well within my capabilities (I normally average between 13 and 14mph) but not really much in the way of a margin if something goes wrong.

Sorry, I am a worrier!!!  :facepalm:


bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: Ride London
« Reply #6 on: 30 July, 2018, 01:56:05 pm »
I did the short. To be honest as nice as it was to be on segregated roads I'm going to give it a miss next year.

My main complaint was that I had to go and register in-person the day before, and getting to Excel was a complete pain in the arse. They didn't give any "how to cycle here" instructions in light of the road closures nor were there any signs up in the street (made even worse by many cycle routes from google being blocked by construction work). I'd rather have paid £5 or even £10 to have had my stuff posted out than cycle out to Stratford.

This is the number one thing that is making me want to stay away. I got to the Excel fed up and in a mood (had punctured on the way there having spent at least 30 mins fannying around trying to sort my route out).

The ride itself was OK. It'd have been nice to have had hot drinks at the hubs and while waiting around at the start (one coffee van doing boutique espresso with a queue half a mile long was a bit much).  As it was, I was stood around on a brisk cool morning, after an 0530 start, for about two hours in the open air. A hot cup of instant coffee from a big bowser would have really hit the spot. Some people were getting very cold especially the less well prepared.

I was amazed at how many punctures there were. You'd pass someone stopped with one at least once a minute. Often, more frequently than that. I personally witnessed one serious accident where a pedestrian knocked a cyclist over. I wasn't impressed with the safety at the crossings personally, I saw that serious incident and a near miss when I was on the way home (cyclist missed that a crossing was closing ahead and nearly cycled straight into the non-flourescent rope (!) being stretched across the rode to close it). She could easily have been garrotted if we hadn't all screamed at her.

Full marks for getting the roads shut but everything else.... Unless I get on the classic I'll do the Dunwich instead.
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