London to Brighton Bike Ride - 8 September 2013

[andy753]

Hello everyone, is anyone planning to ride in the Bike 4 Cancer London to Brighton bike ride on Sunday the 8th of September?  I am riding with three friends - we've all lost someone to cancer and this is our way of fighting back!  The ride leaves from Clapham Common at 9am and finishes in front of Brighton Pier.

Has anyone taken part in this event in the past and if so, does anyone know about the train company policy on carrying bikes on trains?  I've heard that only 2 bikes are allowed per carriage which is rather worrying - there'll be 5000 riders taking part in the ride!  All advice would be greatly appreciated!

To find out more or to register, visit: http://www.bike4cancer.org/london-to-brighton-bike-ride

[Kim]

I expect the station staff will be on the lookout if there are that many cyclists around.  I know that Southern have form for a blanket ban on cycles during the BHF ride.

I've not had problems getting bikes on the train after a FNRttC, but with just a hundred riders spread over several hours (and a fair few riding back to London or having alternative arrangements) there's a lot less contention to worry about.

[Martin]

Southern advertise a blanket ban weeks in advance of the BHF ride; they'd need to do the same for this. I suspect they'll turn a blind eye to more than 2 bikes per train on the day but they may make you wait a bit to get on a train. Have the organisers not laid on alternative transport back?

I generally find the train companies OK with these smaller events at weekends as long as you don't inconvenience other passengers. The BHF ride ran into problems because for many years they laid on special trains to take bikes both up to the start and back to the finish and they could not continue this with the new stock so all the bikes ended up in lorries or in cars etc.

If you can't get on a train at Brighton try Hove or Lewes