Last Sunday, I completed my 4th Prudential RideLondon. I am lucky enough to have got through 3 out of 4 ballots and I took a Charity place in 2014 when the ballot wasn’t kind to me.
One of the drawbacks of the event, especially if you expect to do a fast time, is that you are given a very early start time. This year I was in Orange Wave D, where my load started at 05:08 and closed at 05:43! I actually started at 06:25. It sounds mad, but it is a real logistical challenge to get 26,000 cyclists onto one route. I think start times went from 6am to 9.30a.m.
I drove to London on Saturday and registered at the Excel show. I always stay at the same hotel, so I know exactly where to go, where to buy stuff and where to get food. I ate sushi and stuff from a Tesco Express sat in my room and after a couple of drinks went to bed at 9. I set my alarm for 3.30 but got up at 2a.m. as I’d woken up and couldn’t go back to sleep!
I kitted up and fretted over how much clothing to wear and to carry with me. As you can imagine, the temperature is very different between when you leave the hotel before 5 and once the sun is out and you are puffing up Leith Hill.
In reception I said hi to a few other bleary eyed early starters and headed off to the start area at the Olympic Park. I stay at the Radisson Blu, New Providence Wharf which is about a 4 mile ride away. As you approach, the number of riders increases drastically and soon they are everywhere.
Once there, you load a bag onto a lorry. The bag has the things you will pick up at the finish (which is in Green Park by Buckingham Palace. Without fail, you will load something that you later wish you had kept hold of. Last year it was cycling glasses. This year it was arm-warmers. I was shivering as we started after standing around for nearly ninety minutes.
The start area quickly fills up and then the microphone kicks in and the MC, who does a good job, gets going. Each wave is asked what music they want and the usuals start, like Ace of Spades and Firestarter. It does work though and gets you ready. He says to the waves “nobody has fallen off at the start yet” and everyone gets worried they will have a “cleat moment” and embarrass themselves.
We started on the dot and I settled into my rhythm. It is very easy to overdo it in the early stages. The first twenty miles are fast and it is fun heading through the various tunnels at speed with no cars in them.
To get a good time, you need to be able to ride in a “chain-gang”. If you watch pro cycling, you will see what I mean. You join a group who are in a line all riding close to the rear wheel of the guy in front. This drafting makes cycling much easier as it reduces the wind resistance massively. The downside is that you have to know what you are doing and be confident, because if you clip the rider in front, you’re likely to hit the deck at pace and that is never pretty.
The first uphill of any consequence is at Richmond Park after around 20 miles and I had averaged 24 mph by this point and feeling okay. It seemed as if I was being passed by roughly as many people as I was passing which was okay.
The three main hills occur in a bunch roughly between around 40 and 70 miles. They are Newlands, Leith and Box Hill. Box Hill is the famous one, having been used in many Pro races in recent years. It has an alpine look in parts, with the switchbacks – but not the altitude or length. It is (I think) owned by the National Trust and it seemed to have recently been re-surfaced which was nice. Leith is the hardest but none are real problems for any serious cyclist although they do of course knock your average speed back.
My previous best time, in 2015, was 4 hours 47 minutes. I was really pleased with this time which is an average of 20.9 mph. My target today was to beat that time and get to an average of 21mph. I may have mentioned this before, but my theory, and aim, is to improve my cycling results every year until at least the age of 60. Typically men lose 1-2% of fitness capability each year at my age – but my plan is to improve my cycling fitness by training by more than the 1-2% I lose by getting older. Simple plan, but not necessarily easy to do.
After the hilly section, my average had dropped to 20.5mph. I couldn’t recall how that compared to 2015. I had 30 miles to go and I knew the last 10 miles was quick, if you still had any strength left in your legs (in 2014 as an example, I had blown up a bit by that point). I was at this point a bit worried because I could feel the fatigue in my legs.
I dug in and worked as hard as I could, without overdoing it, which is sometimes a hard balance to get right. I knew there was a last hill at Wimbledon, 10 miles or so from the end, so my plan was to work hard but steady until the top of that hill and then give everything for the last 10 miles, trying to get on, and stay with some fast chaingangs at that point.
You see cyclists of all ages, shapes, colours riding all sorts of bikes and wearing all sorts of kit. I saw a group all wearing similar kit, which I read as “Bras for Africa”. This puzzled me for a while. Is there a shortage of Bras in Africa? If so, why? I quickly realised there was an extra “S” hidden on the shirt, which then made more sense.
The crowds were out even this early in the morning and it really gives you a lift. The young kids love it when you wave back at them. I can only imagine what the Pros feel like, especially when they do the mountains and go through tight tunnels of people as they get to the summits.
Talking of summits, my plan was holding together and I reached the top of the (fairly short) hill at Wimbledon feeling okay. In fact a new energy system seemed to have kicked in, as is often seems to with me later in rides, and I was feeling relatively good. I started putting the hammer down but was not with a fast group. A serious guy with deep rim wheels was by me and shouted “come on we’ll do this together”. He was looking at a fast group up ahead and suggesting we share the work of catching them. We took turns and caught them. We stayed with them a while and recovered a bit and then realised we could go faster so jumped ahead and joined a faster group.
I stayed with this group until the finish. It was tough at some points with repeated hard efforts to stay in touch as they accelerated out of bends for instance, but I was strong enough to do it. Deep-rim was behind me most of the time now and when I looked back after a particularly hard burst, he had dropped off.
I was looking at my Garmin and my average speed crept up to and then past the magic 21mph and my mental calculations of finish time kept improving. We were flying and passing everyone on the road. I don’t think I was passed by anyone in the last 5-6 miles.
We sped along the Embankment and then into Parliament Street / Whitehall. We passed the HMRC Building where I often go with work and I smiled. Down Whitehall, ninety degree bend at the end and through the Admiralty Arch onto the Mall. We were all sprinting flat out now. Ridiculous really as we were probably sprinting for 1,002 or 1,003rd place, but we didn’t care. We were Cavendish against Greipel or Kittel. I crossed the line in 4 hrs 40 minutes and 12 seconds at an average of 21.2mph. I was amazed and really chuffed. The only downside was my brain immediately said “wonder if you can beat 4 hrs 30 next year”!
Mark from work had entered for the first time and was riding with a mate. He texted me at 11.15 to say “ I bet you’re finished already – we’re 38 miles in and stuck in stationary queue – accident I think. I’d seen a few accidents which in the main didn’t look too serious but there were some bad ones. The delays went on for ages and embarrassingly for the organisers, the Pro race got held up later due to sportive riders still being out on the course.
I recovered for a while and then cycled slowly the 7 or 8 miles back to the hotel. I’d arranged a late checkout so I could have a shower and pack at leisure.
As always, this was hard but really enjoyable. My sympathies go to the family of the rider who had a heart attack and died, and the two who crashed and were airlifted to hospital.
I’ll be back next year hopefully. 4 hrs 30 anyone??