2010-04-25 Sun 6am - London Marathon Ride

With only 5 more miles to go, the front group decided that the end was in site and that glory was worth a stint in the pain cave...

Coming through the gate was very nearly an emotional finish to a truly wonderful ride, with a outstanding group of friends, riders, hipsters, and unknowns. Chapeau to you all.

As it turned out, not everyone was able to sprint the mall but pretty much everyone found each other for a mass photo opportunity before the freezing rain began and settled in for my ride home.

Bring on next year.

+1 what mashton said.

Yep, I was up in the front pack all the way until the last 5, my legs wern't having any of that break for the finish nonsense. What a great ride though, my computer recorded a time of 1h36, average speed of 18.4 mph and a top speed of 29.9 mph. Unfortunately we got stopped just short of the line but it was worth it for the jobsworth comedy value of the officials.

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Reading @mashton's review of this ride, i wish i'd have taken part. Well done!

I got wasted in Camden last night, got to bed at 3am and was up at 5:15... Hit the roundabout for 2 minutes before the start and was in the front group all the way. Wicked ride!!! Fast, fun and fabulous. Thank you all!

Glad to see the numbers didn't affect the joy of the road, can someone let me know what the final number at the start was? Want to see whether it tallies with the final list.
Anyway glad it went well, Mashton the write up was worthy of some sort of writing award. Plus the bike massif made it onto the bbc's marathon coverage, surprised they didn't send out a correspondent to interview you.

this was awesome.
i only just got in, as i went to see people running, and had a shouting match with a policeman.
but properly good ride,

damn guys, this was so fun!
same time next year?
i was the 15year old on the red argos by the way :)

yeah i think i saw you,
me and chainbreaker almost killed you as you stopped really suddly coming down the hill into surry quays
i woulda said hi, but we were trying to catch the front group

love the photos. Sounds a blast.

also skully is a funny fucker

also skully is a funny fucker

"Don't stop me now!" [/freddiemercury]

you should've heard him talking about the ambulance crews...

I shall quiz him about that when I next see him!

Ace little ride, that. I do like these early rides. Don't really like the waking up part but once you get past that - fun times.

Lovely write up, Mashton. :)

Well what a way to start the day.

(dunno your names guys, but you ride strong and hard).

Bring on next year.

Inspired race report Matt.
C U Next Tuesday ; )

You are all too kind. You can be cunts again now. My ego has been suitably massaged.

icles

Sorry Joe, had posting issues on phone.

was definitely good fun, nice pace and good people

where was harrymajor? ;-)

He must have been so fast he passed us.

guys!!! JOE SMITH and the other guys that pick me up in crystal palace thank you i hope i didnt slow you down! u guys are all awesome to much level for me! ahhaha need to catch up with my fitness!!!thanks no words!! was bloody brilliant! im horrible for names sorry but im the guy with the spanish flag in the backpack! we managed to get lost several times and one of hour group crash just 5 minutes from the end just after waterloo bridge!! hope u oke fella!!! ur knee and hand will get well soon!! brilliant breaky GERALD!!! had the nicest ride ever in london today full nice fun people with no satnavs! ahahhahaha why wait for next year we should do it more often!!! luv u all geezasss

Don't worry about it fella, nice to meet you. Much respect for getting back on your bike after what happened.

Well what a way to start the day.

I was unable to sleep at 3am so so idly grabbed my phone and checked LFGSS, the first time that I had opened this thread. 3 hours later and I was out on the road, heading to Blackheath and picking up forumengers as I went. Lovely to see Joe rolling statefully through Peckham.

The East contingent arrived fashionably just on time to prompt a massive turnout to head off, accompanied by waves and cheery "Good Morning's" from all that we passed. Our illustrious leader took the front and fucked up the first piece of navigation. To be fair none of us on the front had a scooby doo of where to go; the plan of 'follow the barriers' only worked in part.

Down into Lewisham and we had our first experience of riding on the wrong side of a dual carriageway - MiddleOfNowhere happily leading a group of about four into the middle of the wrong way. Smiles got them through and we kept the pace up in the leading bunch. Any thoughts of the peleton stringing out were forgotten as the mile markers gave us our very own green jersey competition.

We were forced to bypass the Cutty Sark by a police presence but not to worry, we definitely made up the distance later on... A quick turn around Surrey Quays gave ample opportunity for some of the back markers to high tail to the Rotherhithe tunnel roundabout and rejoin the group. I am assuming that they had had some kind of mechanical that caused their pace to slow? A relatively traffic heavy section took us onto Tower Bridge and the half way mark. Buses on the bridge didn't stop the sprinters from putting dow the hammer for the points on offer, with adoubletap and Velocio looking good for the jersey; chalenged only by team MASH SF (dunno your names guys, but you ride strong and hard).

A quick pull to the top of the Isle of Dogs and our first major navigational headfuck. Some limbo under a ribbon and then the hive mind decided that we knew where to go. Turns out that we weren't far off the mark, with David shouting the final decision and the committing to it. A fast loop round the Isle of Dogs probably took a longer route than necessary, allowing us to make up for the lack of the tea clipper in Greenwich. Once again, when we got back to the top of the Isle, there was a back marker group heading down - a quick about turn for them allowed the group to rebunch, albeit briefly.

With only 5 more miles to go, the front group decided that the end was in site and that glory was worth a stint in the pain cave, or at least the grumbling grotto. The lingering traffic, mainly consisting of psychotic coaches, was no obstacle and son a red light left a front group of 15 to 25 riders with an unassailable gap ahead of me. A quick catch up with Gerald, who had been acting as back marker, confirmed that the rear of the massive pack had had a different ride from me, although from the grin on the face it was no less enjoyable back there - although, does he ever not smile?

Gav86 and I decided not to chase down the group but just to enjoy the last few miles at the front of the second bunch. Swiftly onto the embankment and the down hill entry confirmed to my legs that I would probably not be content to sit in the peleton, even though my lack of sleep was telling me it was a good idea. A brief panic as we thought that a police man was trying to send us over Southwark bridge. In fact he was telling us to ride on the wrong side of the road through the tunnel, which was a instruction met by whoops of exuberance and a quick burst of acceleration. Tunnels rock, but a lingering sense of safety kept me near the edge rather than taking the blind racing line. Thankfully the road was well and truly closed and a clear run to Parliament square saw me working on the front and starting to feel the burn.

No problem at all mind, since as soon as we turned onto Birdcage Walk the imminence of the finish gave me a rush of blood to the head and I managed to lead the sprint round the corner onto the mall and on to the timing gate finish. Coming through the gate was very nearly an emotional finish to a truly wonderful ride, with a outstanding group of friends, riders, hipsters, and unknowns. Chapeau to you all.

As it turned out, not everyone was able to sprint the mall but pretty much everyone found each other for a mass photo opportunity before the freezing rain began and settled in for my ride home.

35 miles in the bag, showered and back in bed for 9am with, most importantly: a big smile on my face, some great memories and a warm glow coming from the legs.

Bring on next year.

Nice... :]

was gonna snooze and lie in, but hell, I'd missed so much.
top quality ride.
enjoyed the pace, not like a regular when the group stops every 3 miles and keeps the speed in the "comfort zone".
we need more of this and can't wait for next year.

Thank you all for such a thrilling morning.

The number of participants must have been close to three times what myself and most people had expected. (if that makes sense).
The glimpse of bodies and bikes at the meeting point having just heaved yourself up blackheathe hill was testament to both the power of the forum and our collective love of cycling. Disbelief and apprehension merged to feed the notion that with this many people there was a greater chance of it all going pear-shaped. Thinking about it now and knowing our community that number of people means that there are more people to care for each other, more people that want to see that smile on the face of the person riding beside them at the end of the 26 miles.
At possibly 300 metres i could see what looked like bicycles and athletic human frames but because there were so many i assumed it was an advertising board or something similar. at 100 metres i realised. wow.
Its 6.30 and all around there are smiling faces, shiny bikes on both sides of the roundabout and in ten minutes, bang on time, we are going to cycling the marathon course.
I learnt something today about being on time and how smoothly it makes things for others and i hope i can stay on track.
there were a few route mishaps but they helped to have a regrouping of a kind. one of my favorites was at rotherhite roundabout where there were cyclists everywhere cycling in every direction.
Consideration for others and different cycling abilities combined to hopefully make it a good experience for everybody. that sense of completing the marathon ride wasn't taken away from anybody this morning. well done to those that continued in the rain and the woman (your boyfriend told me your name but i forgot) that hired or bought a bike especially to do the ride.
Same as last year we were cheered, occasionally heckled and waved at all along the route. The only policeman that got a bit riled was one out of a group of four motorcycle policemen at tower bridge, he rightfully objected to us riding on the wrong side of the road. his colleagues were not that fussed but he broke from the group and attempted to have words - but that was the only incident i noticed.
It was nice getting a taste of the warm pace at the front and the dunkirk spirit at the back. Hanging out with snowyagain at the rotherhithe tunnel approach (the scene of many a wrong turn) was i think one of the most essential bits of back marking that was done the whole day, well done snowy.

At the end there must have been six or eight groups, and the total number starting must have been in the region of 160.

Rain put paid to the idea of having a little picnic but Coffee at bar italia and breakfast in waterloo with hot beans were a nice compromise.

lastly thank me for starting the list and trying to find a cafe for all of us but thats about i can take credit for. This is a forum tradition that only requires a list being started, us collectively following the little red lines and us all looking out for each other. everything else is done for us.

I took a few pictures at the mall and in bar italia. thank you all for making my sunday special.

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loving my pic coppi-macdaddy-that

this was awesome.
i only just got in, as i went to see people running, and had a shouting match with a policeman.
but properly good ride,

yeah i think i saw you,
me and chainbreaker almost killed you as you stopped really suddly coming down the hill into surry quays
i woulda said hi, but we were trying to catch the front group

oh yeah!
hey dude :)
i didnt really say much, i was pretty concentrated

yentzing fuck - nearly a thousand words and not a comment from you thankless cunts. last time I do a write up.

fucking hell, it's only a thousand words. what are you, a pe teacher?

Emailing a mate who works at the bbc to see if i can get hold of the footage. Quality ride, good pace and thankfully managed to miss the rain until i left bar italia. Def be doing it again next year, shame about the wankers at the 400m marker who turned us around.

Who was the guy I spoke to who filmed us all leaving the roundabout? I want to see that footage, would give the flouncers an idea of just how many turned up as well.
Also who was the guy from East from San Fran? I'd quite like to see some of his pictures.

after watching the footage and seeing some of the people running the marathon im thinking about running next year...