The weekend started with collecting the ride numbers & timing chips from London's Excel centre in Docklands. I drove down to Bethnal Green with a fellow cyclist (Richard) where we checked into our cheap & basic hotel. We cycled to Excel along some busy east end roads, but probably covered the distance quicker than by car. After a look around we headed back to Bethnal Green along a more convoluted, but less busy route generated by the Garmin Edge 810. The route took us under the railway, however as Richard passed through a small gap i had the misfortune to check the route and went straight into a bollard!
The result was two bashed & tender knees and a seriously buckled front wheel. Slackening off the brakes enabled me to sort of cycle back to Bethnal Green where we found an open bike shop who with a bit of persuasion, managed to adjust the spoke tensions sufficiently to produce a more circular motion in the wheel. This was an ominous start to the ride.Sunday morning came very early, as the hotel backed onto the tube line & was really hot and stuffy. My start time was just before 6am and Richard's just after 7am. Instant porridge & a smoothie for breakfast, while Richard finished his pasta salad. We cycled to the Olympic Stadium together and soon joined the steady flow of cyclists, before turning off to our respective wave starts.
The start was well organised and was more of a rolling one, so that you passed the start line without actually thinking this is it. I stopped at the first bend just before the A11 to await Richard. Chatting to a Scottish rider who had been waiting half an hour for a friend and had another half hour to wait for the third, I was glad I only had 11 minutes to hang around.
Once he came through I had to sprint after Richard as he had not seen me, but we were soon cycling together through the streets of London. It was a great experience to pass through traffic free roads of central London and to do so at a really good speed. Despite my wheel problem & sore knees we kept going until the second hub at Newlands Corner. This was roughly the halfway point and with the sun was out it was a really warm day, with good views. Richard pointed out how bad it had been the previous year when it was pouring with rain.
The two infamous hills - Leith Hill and Box Hill came in the second half of the ride and were more challenging due to the sheer numbers of riders. Those going slower tended to block most of the lanes and the superfit were itching to get past you as you overtook those struggling more than you. Richard was ahead of me on both hills, but I made my way to the top at a reasonable pace. Our last well-earned stop was the top of Box Hill.
The remaining hills felt worse than they really were due to increasing tiredness and the effort expended getting up Leith & Box Hills. As we neared London the pace quickened and I tucked in with some faster passing groups to help me achieve my fastest pace all day according to the official stats. Throughout the day there had been a number of falls and as we approached the finish line we were being slowed down as someone had come off just over the line. The accidents throughout had been well marshalled and the casualties looked after. Sadly, we heard later that someone had collapsed & later died on Leith Hill.
After meeting up again on The Mall, Richard & I went off to Green Park for some food & met up with sarah from our running club who was supporting her friend Heidi. A great day with the satisfaction of achieving my first century and tackling both Leith Hill and Box Hill. Official time 6 hours 32 minutes, but moving time was 5 hours 36 minutes. Nearly an hour taken with the two rest stops and waiting for Richard at the start. A good effort.It was a great experience, but it was extremely busy and this did detract from the enjoyment a bit. It did encourage me to achieve the century though and take on the two infamous hills. Not for me next year as I should be in deepest Tanzania when the next Ride London sets off. With a few easy rides early in the week I did nearly 200 miles this week as part of my Tanzania Challenge
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