Sunday 20th June 2010 - London to Brighton Bike Ride

Today was the day of the Big ride. It is a 54 mile (87km) bike ride from London to Brighton in the south. Getting up at 6:20am to get ready and be at the start line for our 8am start time. We (Craig Fuller and I) drove the bikes to the start line and met up with the rest of our group (there were 6 of us in total). Joining the 8am start queue we finally crossed the start line at 8:23am (I started my gps tracker at this time). With over 26,000 people they had to stagger the groups some how.

The start is just getting out of London which wasn’t too bad there were only a few spots where we had to walk and as it is mostly flat there were no problems cycling in such a large group yet.

Once out of London we were into the green fields, this is where we made our first pit stop. Mostly so Craig could pump up his tyres, have a wee stop and get some food in. It was only 9:30 and I was already starving. We had lost 2 of our group already but they were cycling together so no problem there.

Cycling on further and past more hills was time for our second pit stop this is where we met up with the others. We were a group again although not for long. After this pit stop I pushed on a bit harder setting myself a better pace on the bike. I did keep looking to see if anyone else had kept up but there was no one to be seen, I just pressed on. At the hills it is hard to ride up them, not because they are steep but because the other riders who don’t want to ride up just stop and walk. This feeds down the hill and you have no option but to hope off and walk up. This slows down the pack and adds large amounts of time onto you day.

I stopped once more after a few more miles to get some more food and a power drink in from my bag me; I did have a camel bag on but needed something more than water. At this point I thought I would ring Craig to find out where he was. This was to be impossible as my phone had decided to run out of power possible due to the gps tracking application sucking the life out of it. Also to note at this point I did take a camera with me also but on the day of the ride it decided to stop working. So I have limited to no pictures during the ride. Without anyway to contact the others, I decided not to wait at the pit stop for them as I had no idea how far they might be back and trying to located them in the masses of riders could be hard. I pushed on alone.

Make some good speed and distance on the total (not knowing how far I had gone now due to dead gps) route. I was starting to burn some serious calories. It was now that I was feeling super hungry. Having eaten all the food I brought I pulled over for a final pit stop. I chose the best food going and got a (fully loaded) burger down my neck. Now fully fuelled I powered on. Making it to the last village before the famous (on the ride only) Ditchling Beacon. This is the steepest hill on the whole ride and many walk up. I along with all the other cyclists were held in this village for around an hour. A guy had a heart attack on the way up and needed to be air lifted. We later found out he died which is very sad as he was doing the ride to raise money for the heart foundation. It was an alright wait although our legs were cooling down which is not good for the next part of the ride. There was a little girl handing out apples which I thought was very kind of her. While in the village I actually met up with 2 other cyclist from our group. Its amazing out of all the people you can actually find people from your group. While in the village the police were keeping the group informed of what was going on and how long before we might get going.

Finally we were on our way. The back log of people set out to a fanfare of bicycle bells. Making our way up the hill the walkers to the left and the riders on the right. I made it a mini challenge to myself at the start of the day I was going to make it all the way up the hill and I was very glad I accomplished that challenge. It was tough trying to ride up a hill in such a low gear with so many other riders around you. You could not get a good pace going at all. Once at the top there is yet another pit stop where you can take in the view. I had a quick look around without stopping and continued on my way into Brighton. Once up the hill it is a free ride down. No more hills to ride up, only down and on flats. At one point the guy I was behind the way down clocked 45mph (I asked him when at the bottom).

It took me a while to complete. We went through the start gate at 8:23am, I didn’t cross the finish line until 15:36. In total it was just over 7 hours although there were a few delays and bottle necks with walkers and the sheer volume of people. I am proud of the time I did. It truly is an experience to take part in for the fact of having the roads to yourself (as a London cyclist this never happens) and to be riding with so many other people. All through the little villages people come out or sat outside their homes to cheer you on. One village had a brass band playing and people singing along. There is a great sense of camaraderie at the end and the sense of achievement is wonderful.

Thanks so much for your support and donations. In total we raised over £500 for the British Heart foundation which I think is a great effort.

Now onto the next challenge.

Glen