London 100-mile Bikeathon 2013
September 15th 2013
The London Bikeathon is organised in aid of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. There are options for 26, 50 and 100 miles, and a group of friends and I opted for the 100-mile challenge.
This was more of a leisurely ride for us rather than a race, but we still tried to be as prepared as possible. I opted to take a saddle bag with an inner and other key repair items as well as a waterproof, some energy gels, cereal bars and two large bottles of fluid. This seemed about right for the ride.
The start, once we'd made it into central London (not easy at 07:00 on a Sunday!) was a very muddy affair. Personally, I don't think cycling shoes and mud mix well, and I began the ride with decidedly muddy cleats, spending the rest of the day having a few issues clipping in. Had I noticed this was the problem I probably would have taken the time to stop and wipe them down!
The first ten miles or so were very busy and it was difficult to keep even a group of four together due to multiple traffic lights. We soon ended up in two pairs and proceeded to cover the first 30 miles or so. I ended up in the trailing pair, although I could easily keep up at this point, so was surprised to be reunited with the leading pair a couple of hours later. Turns out, due to the slightly ambiguous signage at the crossing point of the figure of eight loop that they'd taken a mini detour...
Box Hill came upon our newly reunited group at this point, and I was pleased to make it up with relative ease. Having heard about it from previous riders I took it nice and slowly, but the good, traffic-free surface and *relatively* gentle slope made for a pleasant climb. We stopped at the top for a break before proceeding onto the next stage.
Leith Hill was much more of a challenge - my bike has relatively few gears and certainly no 'granny' gears so I pushed on up, in my easiest gear from fairly early on. There was a fair amount of undulating after we'd reached the top, which didn't really aid recovery. Nor did the water station, which conveniently, at the point you'd want it most, had run out of any type of fluid. Poor organisation - I had a little water left so had to make do.
White Down hill turned out to be even steeper. Gritting our teeth the group set off up it. Unlike Box Hill, the surface wasn't great, and the combination of traffic and a multitude of bike-pushers made navigation difficult. A group of bike-pushers very helpfully walking three-abreast were going so slowly that on coming up behind them I had to stop and un-clip. This being my undoing, I then had to walk a few metres to find a spot shallow and empty enough to get clipped in again (difficult on a 19% slope - try it) and was disgruntled to have lost my rhythm. The top of the hill was as ever welcome, especially as the last of the major climbs.
Now about 60 miles in, we cycled another 10 or so before becoming separated again. The signs became more and more tenuous and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. My pair bypassed the last water station as it was raining fairly heavily and would continue to do so for the next 20 miles. Glad of my waterproof, I decided that I wasn't stopping again, apart from the endless traffic lights and jams which befell us about 10 miles from the end. We'd now also accrued the extra difficulty (aside from the wind, heavy rain and mild but increasing hunger) of having to dodge the 26 and 50 milers, who somehow, even with the shorter distance, looked about as downcast as I felt.
Re-entering central London was not a nice experience and the loop around the start area to finish was not appreciated either. However, we crossed the finish line with the satisfaction of having covered the distance without any mechanical failures and with a lot of determination.
Times
Total time: 8:43:57
Box Hill: 0:09:41
Standings
Overall: 477/600 80%
Gender: 35/54 65%
Box Hill: 10?54 19%
Route
The London Bikeathon is organised in aid of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. There are options for 26, 50 and 100 miles, and a group of friends and I opted for the 100-mile challenge.
This was more of a leisurely ride for us rather than a race, but we still tried to be as prepared as possible. I opted to take a saddle bag with an inner and other key repair items as well as a waterproof, some energy gels, cereal bars and two large bottles of fluid. This seemed about right for the ride.
The start, once we'd made it into central London (not easy at 07:00 on a Sunday!) was a very muddy affair. Personally, I don't think cycling shoes and mud mix well, and I began the ride with decidedly muddy cleats, spending the rest of the day having a few issues clipping in. Had I noticed this was the problem I probably would have taken the time to stop and wipe them down!
The first ten miles or so were very busy and it was difficult to keep even a group of four together due to multiple traffic lights. We soon ended up in two pairs and proceeded to cover the first 30 miles or so. I ended up in the trailing pair, although I could easily keep up at this point, so was surprised to be reunited with the leading pair a couple of hours later. Turns out, due to the slightly ambiguous signage at the crossing point of the figure of eight loop that they'd taken a mini detour...
Box Hill came upon our newly reunited group at this point, and I was pleased to make it up with relative ease. Having heard about it from previous riders I took it nice and slowly, but the good, traffic-free surface and *relatively* gentle slope made for a pleasant climb. We stopped at the top for a break before proceeding onto the next stage.
Leith Hill was much more of a challenge - my bike has relatively few gears and certainly no 'granny' gears so I pushed on up, in my easiest gear from fairly early on. There was a fair amount of undulating after we'd reached the top, which didn't really aid recovery. Nor did the water station, which conveniently, at the point you'd want it most, had run out of any type of fluid. Poor organisation - I had a little water left so had to make do.
White Down hill turned out to be even steeper. Gritting our teeth the group set off up it. Unlike Box Hill, the surface wasn't great, and the combination of traffic and a multitude of bike-pushers made navigation difficult. A group of bike-pushers very helpfully walking three-abreast were going so slowly that on coming up behind them I had to stop and un-clip. This being my undoing, I then had to walk a few metres to find a spot shallow and empty enough to get clipped in again (difficult on a 19% slope - try it) and was disgruntled to have lost my rhythm. The top of the hill was as ever welcome, especially as the last of the major climbs.
Now about 60 miles in, we cycled another 10 or so before becoming separated again. The signs became more and more tenuous and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. My pair bypassed the last water station as it was raining fairly heavily and would continue to do so for the next 20 miles. Glad of my waterproof, I decided that I wasn't stopping again, apart from the endless traffic lights and jams which befell us about 10 miles from the end. We'd now also accrued the extra difficulty (aside from the wind, heavy rain and mild but increasing hunger) of having to dodge the 26 and 50 milers, who somehow, even with the shorter distance, looked about as downcast as I felt.
Re-entering central London was not a nice experience and the loop around the start area to finish was not appreciated either. However, we crossed the finish line with the satisfaction of having covered the distance without any mechanical failures and with a lot of determination.
Times
Total time: 8:43:57
Box Hill: 0:09:41
Standings
Overall: 477/600 80%
Gender: 35/54 65%
Box Hill: 10?54 19%
Route
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