I'm doing the RideLondon 100 in August. Whereas I have no doubt that I can get round 100 miles, the question is whether I can do it under the time limit (eight hours). If I don't make the three checkpoints in time, I'll be taken off the course (because the pros are coming through on a similar course after). I would be pretty devastated if this happened, particularly because I'm doing it for a charity.
The Surrey hilly bits in the middle will be my problem, I suspect. I go up them, but very slowly. My bike is a Surly LHT, which has its own gravitational pull, but I love it because it's a comfortable ride and I feel confident on it, and the low gears mean I hardly ever have to resort to the 24 inch gear.
People's reactions when I tell them that I'm planning to do the RideLondon 100 on it usually involve them looking at me like I'm a lunatic. I went out with Rob, Jane and two of Rob's speedy roadie friends last weekend, and while I kept up with them reasonably well on the flat, they left me for dead on even smallish hills. Rob keeps insisting I should use one of his road bikes instead (he's not much taller than me), but I'm not really a fan of twitchy road bikes, especially when descending so I'm very reluctant.
Am I absolutely mad to want to use a heavy tourer for this ride?
I have at least 10kg of weight to lose that has crept on over the last two years, which I am already shifting and will hopefully be gone by August. I'm cycling to work and around all my sites four days a week (15-20 miles a day), attending spin classes three times a week where they make you do lots of 'hills', and doing longer rides at the weekend when I can (I'm doing a Masters part time and term finishes in May, so I'll probably be doing them most/all weekends by then).
Advice welcome. I know some of you are well 'ard and think nothing of riding 100 miles or more each weekend, but bear in mind I'm not in that category.