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@RJBHurst
In case you've not already read enough reports of the ride, here's mine.
The steed, to which I added an ass saver and saddle bag (NORMALLY a solid combo for keeping your inner thighs/arse crack dry, btw.).
Woke up (luckily) at 5:50 after falling asleep before actually setting my intended one for 5:30 and hustled over to the start by about 6:30 for my 7:15 start time. I had been rather optimistic with my estimated completion team, which worked in my favour as I was at the start with some ridiculous crabon steedz and club jerseys. At this point, whilst damp, there was no real sign of rain, just some clouds, so I half wondered whether we might get away with it. In fact, a small part of me thought that if I got there early enough and the weather had held, they might let us up the hills. But, as you know, the weather did not hold...
I mostly saw decent riding, with the worst being people pulling out on me only when they'd glanced back and thought I'd been too far back to be of concern but not realised I was coming up on them fast. Anyhow, stayed out of trouble and stopped once at a hub around 50 miles before thinking better of it when I saw the queue and once around 70 miles for a bottle (which I was glad I'd done around 5 miles from the end as I picked up the pace. I did see a fair few people on the ground, but only one actual 'crash', which was just a guy hitting a cat's eye on the crest of a hill while crossing the central line. Other than that, pretty much went without incident - a little bunching on some hills, but there was usually space on the right and I didn't have to put a foot down at any point, so was pleased with that. I also managed to get a cheer on the way into Richmond Park by yelling 'Fenton' a couple of times, with an obliging chap nearby following up with a 'Jesus Christ!' OH HOW WE LAUGHED.
The weather made for a challenge of it's own in place of the bigger hills with some places requiring slowing right down to roll through a foot of water under bridges etc. and I found a nice balance with sunnies/cap where I could use the glasses on my nose to stop water coming in from below and the peak to stop it from above. Only about an inch of clear visibility, mind, but it helped. On top of that went with my newly acquired Macmillan jersey, Torm arm warmers and a rain jacket which I kept undone but kept my arms and shoulders dry for a while. The ass-saver/saddlebag combo kept the tush nice and dry as well, until the major downpours, at which point there was no getting away from the squelch.
Got round in 4:24, averaging 19.7mph, which I was pleased with given I tend to rock a solid 17-18 on normal solo rides so got myself a Big Mac and side cheeseburger at Liverpool Street and had a rack of ribs for dinner (recovery protein, innit) back home. I also consumed so much energy fluid I'm expecting my guts/arse to punish me at some point today.
Overall thought it was a great event and loved riding the closed roads. And the cheering - riding in a recognisable charity (Macmillan) jersey meant I got more than my fair share.