2011-08-20 - M25 Orbital Ride

So, based on this, a couple of us plan to circumnavigate London, following the M25 as closely as possible.

space reserved for dropout's lengthy and impenetrable prose

The route will be approximately 160 miles. It is challenging in places but rewarding too.

You will see plenty of surburban parts of London you will quickly forget, but you'll also get fantastic views of the capital, acres of rural countryside which don't seem to belong so close to the big smoke, abandoned (and often soiled) furniture of all descriptions, horses, donkeys, cows, sheep, buzzards (if we are lucky), and of course, multiple surreal crossings of the monstrosity that is the M25. dropout will have to do the rest...

The Route
BOOM

[ame]http://ridewithgps.com/routes/636556[/ame
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The Details
The** 05:30 from London Bridge** gets into Dartford at 06:08. We'll then roll down to the bike mounting area at the foot of the Dartford Bridge, and hopefully leave by 6:30.

A small group of us (probably dropout, Fox, and myself) will ride at 'audax' pace...14-17mph or thereabouts, probably slower in places, uphill etc. Whippets/roadies/garminbators who would like to go a bit faster are welcome to steal the route and do their own thing, but dangling off the front of the main group/half-wheeling/trying to raise the pace of the group will be frowned upon. Sorry. Pet hate. Conversely, if people are constantly being dropped they may be directed to the nearest station, since we'll aim to try and finish with the daylight.

The distance is demanding, so you should be confident that you can ride in excess of 100 miles in one hit. Having said that, there are plenty of bail out points along the route if you would like to ride, say, the first 80 miles.

Check your bike - do this in advance of the morning of the ride. Make sure it is roadworthy. Check tyres for glass, slits, sidewall rips, etc. Remove glass if necessary. If your tyre says 'Gatorskin' on the side, you should remove it immediately and replace it with something else. Make sure they are inflated properly. Check your brakes. Lube, tighten, clean, do what you need to do.

Also: Bring tools, spare tubes, appropriate clothes, plenty of food and water, lights, batteries, etc. Familiarise yourself with the route, swap numbers before departing, and charge your phone. Eat/drink little and often. We will be able to stop on route but we will aim to minimise the time spent doing this.

It will be fun and you know you want to do it.

1. Stonehedge (Good step up towards my first 200)
   

Oh and I'm happy to help out with reccies...just let me know

1. Stonehedge
   
2. edscoble
   

1. Stonehedge
   
2. edscoble
   
3. PP
   
   

Looking forward to it!

1. Stonehedge
   
2. edscoble
   
3. PP
   
4. Nigel182
   
   

count me in a local start and finsh for me (that'll be a first)....
any idea of start time / location as i'll have to cross the Bridge for the Start.

Spybot is no good at lists ;)

1. Spybot
   
2. Dropout
   
3. Fox
   
4. Stonehedge
   
5. edscoble
   
6. PP
   
7. Nigel182
   
   

Sunrise should be just before 6 and sunset just after 8 on the 20th. So I think we should get the 5.30 which gets in to Dartford at 6.08. The 5.00 gets in at 5.38, might still be a bit dark. So probably 6.15ish if we do that Nigel, although I'm sure definite info will follow.

I'll update exact details later - especially time. Actually, what Fox said re trains. I'll update op.

We'll start at the area where you mount/dismount bikes to cross the Dartford Bridge, on the south side.

I should also add that certain sections of the route are offroad. Most of them are fine on a fixed/road bike, but you probably wouldn't want to take your bestest carbon road bike on them. We've edited out the worst of these sections from the route...when I've stitched the whole thing together I'll try and give a summary of those, and potential garminbators can ride around them if they want. I've only included these sections as they shorten the route/avoid unpleasant A roads.

would love to do this but i will be in the land of hol...

No worries can be there for 6am will be riding singlespeed ...off road sections shouldn't be a prob...but cheers for the heads up on that.

Arsenal Liverpool, first home game of the season. Don't suppose there's any chance we'd be finished by 12.45?

Bugger.

2 years in the making... Good work chaps.

1. Spybot
   
2. Dropout
   
3. Fox
   
4. Stonehedge
   
5. edscoble
   
6. PP
   
7. Nigel182
   
8. Welcome Braker
   

Sunrise should be just before 6 and sunset just after 8 on the 20th. So I think we should get the 5.30 which gets in to Dartford at 6.08. The 5.00 gets in at 5.38, might still be a bit dark. So probably 6.15ish if we do that Nigel, although I'm sure definite info will follow.

It'll be light enough at 5:38am.

2 years in the making... Good work chaps.

Yup. 2 years in the making and i'm on holiday.

FUUUuuuuuuuu....

It'll be light enough at 5:38am.

Probably true, but that's an extra half hour in bed. Need to balance maximal light with a reasonable amount of sleep given the whole 160 mile ride thing ;)

Great work by spybot, Dropout, and Fox, after I shamefully did no work on this whatsoever after announcing that I would. Now I'm not sure that I'll be in London that day ...

Should be a great ride.

I should also add that certain sections of the route are offroad.

Would my Pinarello with some sturdy wheels and 25mm tyres on be alright?

hmmmm...

Are you going to take too many water bottle again Flamboyant Iain?

Iain is dressing in suburban ennui. Too bad I am away on holiday.

Would it be correct to say we are more or less guaranteed a headwind AND a tailwind on this ride?

I would believe that is correct if the wind direction does not change on the day.

there could be no (hardly any) wind, but i doubt it.

That is what I meant by more or less.

Nice. I expect we'll have a nice tight pack on this one.

Would my Pinarello with some sturdy wheels and 25mm tyres on be alright?

23s would be fine, we've all done these bits with our usual wheels. It's more a case of letting people know that some sections are a bit rough. They're perfectly passable on a normal set up.