So, I did it. On Sunday 2nd August, I completed the Prudential RideLondon, 100 miles from the Olympic Velodrome, across closed roads in London, into the Surrey Hills and back to the finish line on the Mall, it was a great, albeit tough day in the saddle.
I spent the afternoon on Saturday washing my bike, oiling the necessary components and fitting all race numbers to the bike, jersey and helmet. Everything was going nicely to plan. I got a text from one of the guys from my cycling club, Southgate CC, saying that a group of them were meeting at 5.15am and cycling to the Velodrome, although some had slightly earlier or later start times I decided to join them for the spin. Later that evening, one of our cats decided to throw a big spanner in the works, he went missing. To cut a long story short, when I should have been tucked up in bed, I was outside strolling around the house until 2.30am trying to coax Jackson back into the house, he was embroiled in a territory war with another local cat, I was not pleased. Anyway, I eventually made it to bed and set the alarm clock for 4.30am, this would give me time to have a bowl of porridge with Nutella, have a little espresso and a then a quick shower to wake me up. I woke up at 4.55, exhausted and due to meet the guys in 20 minutes about 2 miles away. I quickly devoured 3 Weetabix, threw on my London Cycling Campaign kit and rushed out the door completely disorganised and disorientated, luckily I arrived at the meeting point at 5.20, another rider was still due to arrive. A few moments later the group set off for the Velodrome at an average speed of 37km/h to warm up; these guys are strong riders, the pace certainly got my legs pumping.
When we reached the Velodrome I had to leave the group and head to the yellow holding area, with 25,000 riders, there are very specific zones and waves that the riders had to set off in, mine was Yellow Wave G, due to depart at 8.07am, but I had to be in my wave area at 6.45am. I used the spare 40 minutes to have a coffee and a pastry and sit in the sun for a while beside the Velodrome (looking at the Chobham Manor maisonettes nearing completion, a project that I helped design) and basically relaxing. I was also trying to spot other people that were riding for the London Cycling Campaign; normally I would ride a distance like this with a few other people as you can share the workload and conserve energy by taking turns at the front and blocking wind etc., I saw one or two, but they were in different waves, also, we might be riding for the same charity but none of us had ever met apart from a few that live in South London and had been going on training rides together in the build up to the event. I knew that it would be a solo kind of day.
Waiting to begin at the Velodrome.
When the time came all the riders from Yellow Wave G entered the holding area and waited for close to an hour as we slowly made our way down to the start line which was beside HereEast. I became quite excited as the group eventually made it to the start line and waited to be sent off by the MC to some pumping music…3…2…1… and we were off. It was a great feeling to start cycling after 2 hours off the bike since getting to the Velodrome. We made our way out to the Olympic Village and onto fully closed roads around London. I was cycling on the wrong side of the road beside Billingsgate Market, it was Very unusual. I spotted a LCC rider on the road, said hello, but had to push on as I was wanted to push the pace a bit harder. Two riders took my wheel shortly after this and we started working together until I made a stupid mistake near the East India Dock Road and took a long right forgetting that the roads were closed and I could have slid around a traffic island instead, the two riders and another rider who had caught their wheels powered passed me, I was laughing at my stupidity and pushed on as hard as I could. I was speeding through the streets of London as fast as I could, the traffic free roads were amazing to be on, it felt eerily strange. After about 10 minutes I caught the riders that had overtaken me and I turned on the gas, we were travelling at 45km/h as we passed hundreds of riders at the V&A museum, I backed off and one of the guys took the front for a while. Shortly after this a couple on their bikes started heckling us for riding too fast ‘You will never do 100 miles like that’ 'You guys are idiots’, I found this quite annoying as we were cycling safely and minding our business. As we headed out of London a few trains of riders started to edge past us on the opposite side of the road, I was in combat mode, I took the front again and we overtook them, we jockeyed for position for a while until we came upon the signs for first drink stop, I slowed in case any of my temporary team mates wanted to avail of a beverage, as we slowed, the train of riders that we were 'racing’ edged passed us again; we slowed as there was a bit of congestion up ahead as other riders took the right turn to the drinks station, the other riders must not have noticed as we passed one of their group lying flat on the road, he must have clipped wheels with somebody turning right.
We reached Richmond Park, I had never been, it is an amazing place to cycle through, made even better by the glorious sunshine, it was at this point that I parted company with my temporary team mates and decided to up the pace again, I had a notion that somehow I might catch up with some of my local Southgate Cycling Club riders. I thoroughly enjoyed this solo approach, I pushed when I could and took it slightly easier if necessary, but for the most part I was positioned on the right hand side of the road calling out 'On your right’ or 'Passing on the outside’ as I passed countess riders. It was a real pleasure to pass through Kingston, there was a huge crowd of people out on the streets cheering us on, the energy boost that this provided was immense, the crowds remained for the rest of the day as we passed from town to town through country lanes and dual carriageways alike. A highlight of this section was passing Hampton Court Palace (I think). Lots of amazing scenery and buildings to behold; I like cycle touring so this is a big factor in any ride undertaken.
At the 45 mile mark we entered the Surrey Hills, a place of outstanding natural beauty, the sign did not lie, it was fantastic, and also provided the first hill of the day, Newlands Corner, it was quite dangerous as a massive bunch of riders up ahead were not prepared for the change of incline and came to a complete halt all across the road. Some of the moanier riders started shouting to 'move to the right if you are going get off your bike and walk’, not necessary really, eventually the pack sorted itself out, and we had the fun of a standing hill start. I was feeling a little bit tired here due to lack of sleep and my porridge so I decided to stop at Hub 2 which was located directly at the top of the hill at mile 47. It was a big mistake, one that I won’t make again in the future. The Hub, which had food stops, drink refills, mechanics and toilets was absolutely rammed with people. We had to dismount and follow a long U-shaped route to avail of facilities. I decided that I needed something substantial to eat here so I joined a food queue, it took 30 minutes to place my order of a bottle of coke, an espresso and a tuna Panini; I was annoyed that the time was slipping away but the food aid off immensely. I took a 5 minute sit-down, made use of the toilet facilities, got my bike and made my way to the refill area, I got some energy drinks but all the bananas were gone. I prefer to have food as opposed to energy gels on a big ride, once you take an energy gel you need one every 20-30 minutes, also people devour their gels and then fire their rubbish on the ground, I hate this. I finally managed to make my way out of Hub 2 after about 45-50 minutes and then had a fast paced descent to enjoy as I got my legs back. There was a Belgian Pro Team car on the road in front of us, It felt good to whiz past it as fast as possible. I recorder my fastest speed on the bike somewhere along this route, 75km/h, prior to that it was 61km/h. As I made my way towards Leith Hill I passed a team that had come over from Ireland and shouted out the obligatory 'UP WEXFORD!’ as I passed them in my London jersey, a strange sensation, it was nice to hear the accents as they replied with the standard 'HUP YA BOYA!’ and similar stereotypical Irish phrases like 'HAVE A POTATO! (This last one is a joke.)
There was some very sad news on the route. As we approached the right turn towards Leith Hill, we were diverted towards Box Hill, the other major climb of the day. I was not sure what was going on until we merged with a group of riders that had just come from Leith Hill. At the beginning of the ascent of the hill, a man apparently suffered a heart attack, when I checked the news later that day I was very upset to hear that the man had passed away at the scene, it was shocking. When we were diverted I was fully sure that he would be ok. During the course of the day I passed numerous people that had come off their bikes, some were unconscious, some were bloodied and holding injured arms and legs. Seeing these accidents on the road made me focus even further on cycling safety and etiquette as I passed riders on the road, I have had plenty of experience with injury and accidents in the last year as most of you will know.
Box Hill was a great experience, I didn’t find it very steep, and found the views across the valley to be very appealing as the pack snaked up the switchbacks. At the mid-point there was a group of drummers pounding out a beat and singing, it was fantastic and helped me speed up to the top of the hill. At the very top there is an amazing view across the Surrey hills, I took the corner slowly as I composed myself and enjoyed the landscape. Soon there would be a descent.
I was enjoying cycling along a flat shaded area at the top of Box Hill when I glanced around and saw that I had a cyclist on my wheel, I wasn’t going very fast at this point so I veered to the left to let him get past but he stuck with me. Eventually he came up alongside me and thanked me for letting him draft for a while. The man then described the descent in detail as there were a series of sharp turns and blind corners. I was very thankful for this information, as I started the descent and came around the first bend there was a cyclist up ahead lying on the road, he was being looked after by a steward and another couple of cyclists, I spotted him and started veering slowly to the left to make my way past, the road was a bit crowded here as we were slowing down for safety. We were lucky as another cyclist that had dismounted was screaming irately for us to stop and watch the cyclist on the ground, she was taking up the whole road and shouting in people’s faces, it was fortunate that another crash didn’t occur as a result. The road wound downward again for a few minutes and I enjoyed the descent, trying to tuck my arms in and get as aero as possible; 60km/h on the Garmin, happy days. On the next flat I spotted a white jersey up ahead with Dundrum Shopping Centre as a sponsor, I used to go there when I was a kid in Dublin, I called to the rider 'Dundrum Shopping Centre, is it?’, he answered instantly in a Dublin accent with 'Open 9-9 Monday to Saturday, and 9-6 on Sundays’ I was cracking up. The rider and a few friends were over from Dublin for a few days for the ride, he lived close to where I grew up, yet again, it was nice to hear an accent from home. I said my goodbyes as the hill pitched down steeply, being quite big I can gain a lot of speed on the downhill sections.
The next few miles featured a series of descents, flats and small climbs as we made our way towards London. Along a stretch of dual carriage way I suddenly felt a twitch in my right leg, just above the knee, it was cramping, a painful sensation. I stood up on the bike in order to get the blood flowing through my legs which eased the situation. At this point I would have loved a banana as the sugars help the lactic acid to disperse, luckily I had an energy bar in my pocket and a small amount of drink in my bidon. I sat up for a little while and ripped open the wrapper of the energy bar with my teeth ( I can’t cycle with two hands off the bar, embarrassing, as I see people cycling around putting jackets on, getting food out of their jerseys without hands on the bar!) I eventually get the bar open and squeezed some of the molten contents into my mouth, at one point this had been a chocolate orange solid energy bar, not any more. Despite the way it looked, the effects were immediate and I felt myself power up again. It was well timed because shortly after this I was in Kingston again, the crowd was massive as we made our way onto the Market Square, I went as fast as I could at this point, the cheers of the crowd were infectious, I could not stop smiling as I pedalled. After Kingston we happened upon a small but punchy climb called Wimbledon Hill, typically, my cramp flared up again at this point and I had to slow down a good bit here. The cramp cleared up and I was then spurred on by the signs for the sprint for the Pro race in Wimbledon Village, 500m…..400m….300m….200m….100m…… even though I wasn’t sprinting against anyone in particular I couldn’t help but let fly and cross the sprint line, it was still a good feeling, Mark Cavendish and all the other top sprinters in the world would be doing the proper version in a few hours.
At the 87 mile point I knew there was a drinks station, I stopped as by now my water bottles were totally empty. There was lots of HIGH5 energy drink available here but I had already had 4 bottles of this stuff today and opted for water. I was hoping for a banana here, yet again, nothing left at all. I really needed this stop as my feet were getting quite numb. I ended up stopping for about 10 minutes, I called my sister and arranged a place for my family to meet me close to the Mall, I said I would be there in 20 minutes or so. I used the toilet facilities and set off again.
The last 10 miles were tough, there was a headwind along the bank of the Thames but I kept going, trying to overtake as many cyclists as possible, eventually I looked up and saw the Houses of Parliament ahead of me, there were lots of riders on the road, I spied a tiny gap between the riders and the barriers lining the right hand side of the road, I wound up the pedals and took off, managing to pass the large group of riders and catching a single rider as he was passing the Cenotaph. Up ahead there was a bit of a scene as a hippy-ish character had breached the barriers at Trafalgar Square and was riding a Mad Max type bicycle in the middle of the road, as we drew closer he was pulled toward the barriers by the police. There was a hard left bend as the road swung towards the Mall. My family were stationed here but I did not realise, I assumed that they were at the finishing line. It was just myself and the cyclist that I had caught as we approached Admiralty Arch, I definitely had a small amount of energy left for the sprint down the Mall, I looked to my right and started to go flat out assuming that the other rider would enjoy the sprint challenge as well, he had no energy left at all and I had to drop him. I used every single ounce of energy that I had left as I charged down the Mall, I could feel my eyes rolling back into my head and felt quite faint but I kept going and overtook a few more riders as I crossed the line. I thought that my family were waiting at this point and It was a bit of an anti-climax as I looked for them to no avail. I rolled on and eventually dismounted with a crowd of other cyclists. It was a euphoric feeling to be presented with a substantial finishers medals and a goody bag, which luckily contained a bottle of water.
About to cross the finish line.
I called my folks and we arranged to meet at the entrance to Buckingham Palace, as I made my way there I met another LCC rider who was dressed identically and had the exact same bike, awkward! I chatted to a few riders and I made my way to the Queens London pad and spotted a rider who was wearing a Carten 100 jersey, this was an event that I had partaken in back in May, 100 miles from Cardiff to Tenby. I was finally reunited with my family and posed for some photos in front of Buckingham Palace, after a few minutes I had to get back on the bike and try and navigate back to open roads in order to cycle home and prepare dinner for the family, no rest for the wicked. It was strange to be on the road with cars again as I headed North through Camden and up the hill to the Seven Sisters Road. There were two cyclists up ahead that were going back to Enfield following the RideLondon, we had a quick chat but I had to push on, it was 4.15pm and the shops close at 5pm. The hardest part of the day was making it back home in to buy the potatoes for the Sunday roast, how Irish!
Cheers for reading and a further massive thanks to everybody that donated to the London Cycling Campaign on my behalf. I had a really good day despite the lack of sleep the night before. I’m looking forward to the next challenge, don’t worry, I won’t pester you for more money.
https://www.strava.com/activities/359604485/analysis
