Ride London 100

Thanks @Itisaboutthebike

Saddened by the news that the rider passed away.

Very sad news. RIP

RIP Rider

Someone had a heart attack in Richmond park last year didn't they? Guess with the numbers it's not unexpected, but always so sad.

London Marathon claims about 1 in 65000, so one every couple of years during events of this scale is not unexpected.

RIP rider.

So sad to hear. As the tail back was clearing a rider ahead asked one of the police what had happened, I was too far away to hear the reply but could tell is was serious from the coppper's reaction. Must be horrible dealing with incidents like that at events like these.

Biggest negative/down side for me is that High5 muck.

I reached for a piece of my homemade energy bar at about mile 40 and tromboned all my food for the day onto the road.
Then at about mile 60 my bottle bobbled out of the cage and accross the road.

So I had to do most of the race with the High 5 waters and gelson offer, which is just junk.

I feel like I have been poisoned.
It is so so chemically, sugary that my beard and hands and bike and gloves were covered in a sticky film of syrup.
Rank.

And RIP rider...

I had a good day out, aside from the 4am wake up and feeling very groggy for a bit post-Leith. Nice to then find that Box Hill is an easy one.

Highlight was a big group of us being escorted through Putney by three of the course motorbikes at what felt like about 35mph (...but was probably much slower).

Sorry to hear about the death, that's very sad.

Rider pics are starting to appear now...

https://www.marathon-photos.com/

...Also, my tip on what otherwise felt like a really well-organised event: make the timing mats (or whatever those rubber speed-bump things you have to cross at regular intervals are) less of a harsh bump. There were bidons all over the road after each one I crossed.

Also had a brief chat with a tall chap on what looked like a custom build Roberts.
He had a distinct whiff of "on here" about him.

#SteelIsReal

Read all about how inconvenient it was yesterday as people could drive there boxes around in the Sun

sorry for the DM Link, was sent to me.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3183081/Motorists-vent-fury-major-roads-London-closed-annual-Ride-London-cycling-event.html

How frequent were the timing mats? Tracking people using the app was a bit hit and miss as I guess it was interpolating between points.

The app gave 8 splits (start, Burlington Road, Hampton Court Road, Newlands Corner, Leith Hill Summit, The Crescent (B2122), Kingston Market Place, The Mall). Were there more timing mats than that?

Great amusement to be had by watching people trying to drive near the course. Endless queues of cars driving up to the "Road Closed" signs and wondering if it applied to them too. A marshal would politely explain that the roads were indeed closed and they'd open up again about 7.30pm. The car would do a u-turn and the next one would pull up to the marshal/sign. Lather, rinse, repeat.

On the official results I have no entries for the EST 17 or EST 55 section, also it says 92 miles, mins Leith but the guy I was riding with shows a 100 but they didn't do Leith either!!

Not very many thankfully, they were also an absolute b*stard to go over at 20-30mph!!
If people are riding with smart phones in their pockets, why not just setup the Find Friends app or track via iMessage shared location (Android alternatives are likely available).

Much 'amusement' was the two cars on the course who tried to get away from us at the speed limit (think Indiana Jones running away from a boulder), they failed and we started to engulf them, much foul language was hurled before one turned across us into a side road and the other finally put its foot down.

For anyone who wants to see the full breakdown in a single excel, there is one here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MEvGXz4s_3VeYCs50LhALfbSrB95krIYUQ7BtpcmCcU/edit#gid=516851539

re timing strips...do you even bunny hop?

^ your list of mats sounds about right, don't think there were any more of them than that.

Also, shout out to the lady that smacked me an awesome high five as I went through Dorking. Loved that!

Indeed. BBC London ran a similar piece last night, getting vox pops of drivers who were completely caught unawares, despite the month long road closure warnings.

On a personal note, had a lovely ride, though nothing like the times other people had, mostly due to group fatigue, water stops and mechanicals, but a great ride. And all without having to run a rear brake, though had one on standby in bag.

RIP to the unfortunate rider. It's a sad statistic that something will happen at some point. Thought to family.

re bunny hops ...they sure weren't my bidons

they spaced two strips perfectly so you'd land on the second one, unless awesome.

It was in Surrey too, not Richmond Park.

@iPete nice work on spreadsheet.

Finished with the first group and placed around 20th although i'm 5th on your spreadsheet. Will probably get in framed!

Hah, I was 1,387th. What material of medal do I get for that? Straw? Mud?

I can't take credit for the spreadsheet, it's a club mates.
With it being based on time, most of the quickest times are people from the 6:03 Wave.

We must have ridden fairly close yesterday, I rolled in about 30th in that bunch.