The BHF London to Brighton

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Here are my results took part on fixed track bike.

http://runkeeper.com/user/lukemartin/activity/39960071

Must have been a glitch with signal as my top speed has been recorded as 68.8 mph LOL

nice time dammit, i knew i shouldn't have stopped at the top of the beacon to admire the view. 3hrs 14mins for me. No traffic up ditching if you set off early. After the first few miles it was mostly roadies. I know the ride gets a lot of stick for being slow due to walkers but i don't think you would be able to post a faster time any other day of the year due to it being so well staffed. You could apex all the turns and blast through due to traffic control and on the descents you could let loose as there were no cars. great ride. Could have done without cycling back to three bridges!

Thanks for the kind words Josh, leaving at twenty to seven was much better than previous years as the initial climbs had not had time to clog up.

Previously the earliest that I’ve left is 9, and a lot of the riding time was spent standing around, then shuffling forwards very slowly as the chokepoints cleared.

It looks like I averaged 15mph for the first hour (Clapham Common to the M25 01:04:48/15.67miles), then the next forty miles took two hours, so fairly obviously ~20mph average. The first hour was spent dodging nodders who were enthusiastically weaving left and right without looking, I had passed a lot of those by the time we went under the M25.

If I hit the road at 6am next year and maintain 20mph I should do it in 2 hours and forty five minutes.

At least this time I was not beaten by people dressed as cows on a tandem.

What yesterday really did bring home was that if I had been in a small bunch of people taking turns at the front then a sub two and a half hour time would be fairly easy to achieve- on your own, into the wind you have plenty of time to wish for someone to tuck in behind.

I was off at 6.15 and still had to battle up the first few climbs clogged with spinning halfords mtbs. Next year it will be a 6 start and a group of 4 similarly matched riders. By the time i hit the finish there were only 100 ish riders.

Last year = farce. This year = awesome.
I left in the second wave at 6am. Still spent 40 mins passing nodders but had very clear roads after that.
Still took me until 930am (on the road bike) as we stopped for an ice cream at the top of Ditchling and my marathon running buddy claimed his legs hurt so we took it easier after about 40 miles.

No ice cream, a little fitness and some drafting this could be sub-3 hours no probs I suspect.

Didn't see anyone else sporting a LFGSS shirt though :(

I wore my LFGSS cap for crash protection on the way down into Brighton and fishtailed it across the line so should have been easy to recognise. I would have been several hours after you though.

For the sake of accuracy and honesty, just checked the computer and my max speed was 40.2 not 40.8mph as stated above. The 4 hours 26 was also riding time not total time, which was over 5 hours due to a couple of Guinness at the top of Turners Hill.

As much as I wouldn't do it again at the time my group set off, you have to be impressed by the organisation and the fact they got 28,000+ people to the finish, most of whom would never ride that distance. That's pretty epic numbers for any road network to handle so fair play to the charity for putting so much effort in. All in all, now I'm soberish, it was still a nice day out.

Oh, and Ditchling was hardly a green monster, more of a little inconvenience on the way.

+1 to that.

My legs are a little stiff this morning, as the timer ticked down (and then past) my target I think I may have overdone it slightly.

From my garmin record I hit 31.4mph down the sea front to the line.

Next year it will be a 6 start and a group of 4 similarly matched riders. By the time i hit the finish there were only 100 ish riders.

[QUOTE=walm;2233321]No ice cream, a little fitness and some drafting this could be sub-3 hours no probs I suspect.
QUOTE]

I see BHF are doing this as a night ride in May 2012, I wonder if the roads will be closed as they are for the day version

how about start at six an have a police siren on your bike to make people move out of the way

how about start at six an have a police siren on your bike to make people move out of the way

Looks interesting, its open to limited numbers though so to me that would say no. I dont think it would be much of an issue once you get out of london if they do the same route as the normal L2B.

Who's that handsome devil?

Who's that handsome devil?

the bloke in the orange? no idea...

Does anyone have a link for the site of the people taking photos on the day, lost my bit of paper and cant find it with google.

http://www.actionphoto.net/order.aspx?pgm=2

Cheers :)

anyone know when this is happening 2012. also is it really as bad as people are making out?!!?

Normally on Fathers Day whenever that is. Mid June or thereabouts.

It's ok if you leave at the start at 6am or a bit before. Leave any later and it is mayhem.

+1, I will be there at 06.00, in my skinsuit/overshoes/pointy hat

It was pretty crazy this year from my experiences, I managed to get an early start but there are still numpties about. You just have to keep your wits about you as people just swerve all over the place, sometimes without realising. Also if you don't wear a helmet usually then invest in one if you plan on doing it, I would definitely wear a helmet second time round.

A few years ago a then colleague, a decent cyclist, was descending on the first hill. She doesn't know what happened but it seems as though someone clipped her wheel. After three of four years of reconstructive surgery, her face was still fairly messed up and she still had impaired speech. She was wearing a helmet.

Hey guys I'm new here -

How were your experiences with the BHF ride last year?

I'm planning on getting a fixie very soon and want to do the London - Brighton this year wth a friend. How long did it take you and are there any not-so-experienced riders out there who did it on a fixie? The most 've traveled in one go is 20 odd miles... I'll prepare myself before the event though :/

AfroT there'll probably be a couple of L-2-B rides on the forum here (hell I may lead one later in the spring) so look out for one of those. Good fun and lotta knowledge knocking around in forum-types so you pick up tips as well. I'd never knock a charity ride and may be good fun if you leave early, BUT a forum ride or going with some experienced chaps offers the following:

1. Company will be better
   
2. Route will be much faster
   
3. Pub stop
   
4. 25,000 fewer bikes in your way
   
   

Sign up if you want to donate to charity, but if you read back you'll see it's not reviewed as an easy-going fun ride to brighton.

Afro T.. i recommend you do some shorter rides and build up from there also get some hills in before attempting L2B, riding fixed uphill and downhill needs practise... and *YAL *is right you don't really want to be climbing/pushing your bike up ditchling beacon with 25,000 other cyclists. these rides are better with a small sociable group at a nice pace.. we even do LBL sometimes ;)

good luck
Al