BHF London to Brighton

[Tim Hall]

My young (18) cousin did it. Had a great time.  There was a guy near him with a solar powered sub woofer or two (a kind of loudspeaker m'lud)  in his panniers, which cheered him greatly.

He and his family stopped here (Crawley) for a barbeque en route to Sarf Lunnon. His mother says the longest he's ridden before is ten miles, so chapeau.  Nice bike though.

[Martin]

saw an awful lot of marshalls on the few 100m of it I saw; I suspect they weren't doing it for free either. That £30 entry fee probably doesn't go very far.

[Adrian]

Did it


Bike last seen here

[Jurek]

Did it


Bike last seen here

Hats off to you Sir!

[Adrian]

Thank you. The worst part of it was riding with flat pedals, I had forgoten how much effort it is to keep ones feet in place.

[Charlotte]

Chapeau to everyone that did the BHF L2B, be it on BSOs or otherwise.

I suppose I'm a slightly mardy old bag when it comes to this ride in as much as I ought to give far more credit to the hordes of (more usually) non-cyclists who take to two wheels for the day and work so damned hard to finish.  For them, it's a hell of achievement and I'll step up and say I'm sorry if what I've said in any way diminishes their achievement.

I suppose that when you have the opportunity to compare the sheer sensual delight of an L3 CTC FNRttC and compare it with the burger-bar nightmare that was the only BHF L2B that I've ever done, it quickly becomes apparent which ride you prefer.

I'm an experienced cyclist, comfortable with riding in close order with a lot of other cyclists, but descending some of those hills with over-confident, under-braked and poorly-skilled riders genuinely scared me. 

I saw the aftermath of some of the collisions and falls and it struck a chord with me that the St Johns Ambulance people had taken to using loudhailers to warn people to slow down.  Presumably they reasoned that prevention was preferable to patching up the wounded afterwards.

I shan't be doing it again and I'd hesitate to recommend it to others - particularly those who would have the option of other, more pleasant rides.

[Martin]

it's probably not a ride I'd do again unless I was called upon to accompany Zoom jr, but there are several ways of making it a fun day out among them;

1. Start at 0600 missing all the numpties (after 5km) queues and atmosphere and treat it as a Sportive (do not try this any later it becomes a nightmare trying to maintain a steady 25kph)
2. Do it as a fun social ride with friends for whom this is their annual bike ride, finishing with BEER and a barbie.
3. Treat it as a pub crawl (never saw the point of this as it's hard enough to get up Ditchling after just one pint of Harveys in Turners ill)
4.Enjoy the relaxed ride back afterwards.
5. Do it on a contraption of some sort.
6. don't even  think of where your entry fee goes and be relaxed about badgering people for sponsorship.

[Regulator]

Well, I think I shall sign up for next year... just for the heck of it!

[Wendy]

And I'm gutted I couldn't go.  All my friends had so much fun!!!!

[Butterfly]

Butterfly was that you sitting on a wall by yourself in an ACF jersey?

If it was - I shouted 'ACF'  - when I saw the jersey. I was in a Black Buccaneers t-shirt passing you about 6.50.

Will I do it again next year? Maybe...

That was me. Clarion was still in bed.

I'm seriously considering doing it next year. It looked like fun.

[antpix]

Well, very glad to have seen at least one ACF jersey!

Ant

[woollypigs]

Fail.  Sick with a cold and a temperature.

That explains why I didn't find you in Hyde Park today when I went to look for you, hope you get well soon.

[Wendy]

Thanks!  I wouldn't have been there anyway, as Mondays and Fridays are my weekends.

[Adrian]

I suppose I'm a slightly mardy old bag when it comes to this ride in as much as I ought to give far more credit to the hordes of (more usually) non-cyclists who take to two wheels for the day and work so damned hard to finish.  For them, it's a hell of achievement and I'll step up and say I'm sorry if what I've said in any way diminishes their achievement.

I suppose that when you have the opportunity to compare the sheer sensual delight of an L3 CTC FNRttC and compare it with the burger-bar nightmare that was the only BHF L2B that I've ever done, it quickly becomes apparent which ride you prefer.

I'm an experienced cyclist, comfortable with riding in close order with a lot of other cyclists, but descending some of those hills with over-confident, under-braked and poorly-skilled riders genuinely scared me. 

I saw the aftermath of some of the collisions and falls and it struck a chord with me that the St Johns Ambulance people had taken to using loudhailers to warn people to slow down.  Presumably they reasoned that prevention was preferable to patching up the wounded afterwards.

I shan't be doing it again and I'd hesitate to recommend it to others - particularly those who would have the option of other, more pleasant rides.

This all pretty much sums up my observations and feelings about it. It is a cycle event for non cyclists.

I didn't do the whole thing, because I really didn't want to ride that bike up to Clapham and back down again, so I only joined in at Merstham but the amount I did was quite sufficient. On my first downhill bit finding myself surrounded by a group of people making whooping noises was the warning I needed so I made plenty of space to stop and not be run into when we reached the three bike pile up at the bottom.

I got increasingly fed up with the lack of consideration and lane discipline. By the time I reached Lindfield I was sufficiently fed up with it to find the FNRTTC route via Slugwash lane to be quite tempting, just to have a break. At the end I really wished that I had gone over Hollingbury Hill rather than take the official route which had a dull run into town with too many cars. I guss that they go that way so that there is no more climbing after The Beacon.

All in all I would add it to incest and morris dancing.

[Jurek]

All in all I would add it to incest and morris dancing.

How utterly philosophical.
For once, I am lost for words.

Aside -  Today I rode down to my sister's in Coulsden (for reasons nothing to do with the BHF ride).
I spotted quite a few weary looking riders heading London bound.
I assume they were returning from the BHF ride.
Extra large hats off to them!

[Notsototalnewbie]

My friend asked if I wanted to do this months ago, after I'd given her lots of advice about cycle commuting, but I'd already decided I would rather do the FNRttC among more experienced cyclists. This was mainly because I was imagining a Freewheel type event all the way to Brighton.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the atmosphere of the Freewheel, but couldn't have done it for much longer than the 9 mile route or whatever it was. People weaving/zigzagging/undertaking/passing too close really unsettles me. It's needlessly dangerous. As you will all know it doesn't take much to make me nervous, and being in a crowd of numpties would probably give me a nervous breakdown over 60 miles 

I texted my friend yesterday morning wishing her loads of luck (she did it anyway), and sponsored her as it's all in a good cause. She texted me yesterday, elated that she had finished it (and in a decent time too) but complaining bitterly about the amount of fools she had to dodge, I got the feeling they ruined it for her a bit. She is not the most experienced cyclist or a snob but she has plenty of common sense.

I'm going to try and make her do a FNRttC now. 

[TimO]

....I'm going to try and make her do a FNRttC now. 

...and thus another one falls to our wiles.

[Martin]

At the end I really wished that I had gone over Hollingbury Hill rather than take the official route which had a dull run into town with too many cars.

it did until they opened the A27 bypass; round about the same time they also diverted the London Road southbound to join the bottom of Ditchling Rd which is presumably why they changed the route. There's usually a tangled mess at the bottom of the Coldean road although I have had 54mph down it (never again)

The route didn't used to go through Lindfield either but avoided it before going down Slugwash Lane but turning left at the end to join the Ditchling road by the railway bridge, it's nowhere near as nice now since they changed it, eventually it will be all main two lane roads.

[Fab Foodie]

I've done somewhere between 15 and 20 L2B's with my first in ~1983.  Probably my last 12 or so consecutively and I rode Sunday too.  Some thoughts and trends...

I have to say that contrary to others that in general the standard of riding has improved, however the density of cyclists early in the morning was very high for the first 10 to 15 miles, worst I've seen to date.

More people undertstand how their gears work and manage to get them sorted before a slight incline, the mass graunching of gears seems to have all but dissappeared.

There are many more people with decent bikes and full kit compared to previous years.  There are less "Challenge" riders... those who had  never ridden a bike more than 2 miles at a time, dusted down some wreck in the shed and battled their way to the sea-front.  Those are pretty much long gone.

There is less fun en-route as well, it has been slowly petering-out in the last few years.  It used to be really chatty, especially among the "Challenge" types, theres definately a different vibe.

Too many riders wearing headphones and in their own little worlds.

The average pace of riding has also increased and there isless differential between the average and the slowest.

There are many more women riding, and many more on serious kit.

It's still a very "White" event demographically.  No way reflecting London or Brightons diversity, but maybe reflecting cycling's reach.

The Burgers and Cake at Ardingly are as scrummy as ever.
The lycra-clad lovlies are even more lovely.

There are too many nasty accidents 

I'll be back next year... God willing.




Mikey, hope you're better.  Me and Cheryl missed you 

[Martin]

were How Lane and Nutfield Marsh walking all the way? I found alternatives to those over 15 years ago as got so fed up with it. Never had to walk the Beacon due to congestion though. Got a clear run up How Lane once; the next year stopped dead and fell over due to toe-clips; the next year I got Looks.

[Adrian]

I missed How Lane. When I was there Nutfield marsh up to the A25 was some walking but mostly riding. The Beacon was lots of walking but well ordered with sitters on the left verge, walkers on the left side and those struggling on their bikes on the right.

[Martin]

There are other London- Brightons: one organised by the Sickle Cell society in September, there used to be a Reigate-Brighton which I did once. Most weekends I see groups of riders heading southbound along the route between the A25 and Ditchling.

[domesticated ape]

I very nearly bit of more than I could chew with doing this one after an already unusually large (for me) amount of riding on the Zombie ride on Friday and getting home from it on Saturday, and after having not nearly enough sleep for two nights in a row. Our original plan was to do it on a tandem, but we couldn't get the tandem to the start or back home so we tried it on solos instead. For my wife to do the ride on her own bike was pretty ambitious since she had never ridden more than about 10 miles in one go before, and hadn't ridden it at all since last summer, and we very nearly got stuck in Brighton at the end.

Our plan had been to leave the bikes in a self-storage place in Brighton and come back to get them today, but we overslept, started much later than planned and got caught in the huge jams of cyclists from the start until after the M25, meaning we didn't get to Brighton until after the storage place had shut. Luckily there were tickets left at the finish for the coach back to Clapham Common and we managed to get on one of the last coaches of the day.

There wasn't actually as much dangerous riding as I was expecting, although one guy nearly caused my wife to crash by overtaking on the inside in far too small a gap.

Overall I'm glad we did it, but I wouldn't bother doing it again. If we could do it on the tandem it would be a lot easier, but I'd rather do a FNRTTC or something similar instead.

[hatler]

We joined up at Ditchling Common for the fun.

I'm pleased to report that mini-hatler on the trail-a-bike was pushing so hard at the top that I crested the Beacon in third gear !!  Last time we did this (on the FNRttC in about September last year) I was in bottom all the way up. This bodes well.

More amazing was a friend who made it all the way up without stopping with his 6 year old on a trailerbike AND his three year old in a Centric Safe Haven. And this chap isn't a regular cyclist. He was a bit slower than me though 

[Adrian]

Welll done to Mini Hatler