London to Brighton Off Road - L2BOR
Discussion
Yes I did it for the first time last year. The weather was amazing for September, and the organisation/signage/marshalling was all very good. The route is good fun, but nothing that challenging. There's one main climb towards the end up on the South Downs, so save some energy for that. I did it on a hardtail with some fairly fast rolling tyres and that was absolutely fine. I also used bottles rather than a hydration pack, which I found much easier to re-fill en route.
The feed stops are at good intervals and well-stocked, you'll need some cash for those. You also pass a few shops.
It was quite busy with riders early on so you find yourself naturally riding at the same pace as people around you, so we just chilled out and enjoyed the views around the Thames until we got a bit further into the ride and it all thinned-out a bit, then we picked up the pace a little bit. I think our riding time was about five and half hours. I hadn't hadn't done any specific training, my longest off-road ride last year before the event was about 30 miles and I felt fine at the end. If you ride on/off road reasonably regularly, and ride at a comfortable pace you'll be fine. (In bad weather it could be a different story though!)
Logistics can be a bit of a pain depending on where you need to get to/from, so worth thinking about all that fairly early. They do a shuttle bus from the finish to the start, either before or after the ride so you can leave a car at either end, but I think people can end up waiting a fair while for those to leave, and I'm not sure how carefully the bikes end up being packed! The bus needs to be pre-booked. I'd definitely try to start riding as early as you can.
The feed stops are at good intervals and well-stocked, you'll need some cash for those. You also pass a few shops.
It was quite busy with riders early on so you find yourself naturally riding at the same pace as people around you, so we just chilled out and enjoyed the views around the Thames until we got a bit further into the ride and it all thinned-out a bit, then we picked up the pace a little bit. I think our riding time was about five and half hours. I hadn't hadn't done any specific training, my longest off-road ride last year before the event was about 30 miles and I felt fine at the end. If you ride on/off road reasonably regularly, and ride at a comfortable pace you'll be fine. (In bad weather it could be a different story though!)
Logistics can be a bit of a pain depending on where you need to get to/from, so worth thinking about all that fairly early. They do a shuttle bus from the finish to the start, either before or after the ride so you can leave a car at either end, but I think people can end up waiting a fair while for those to leave, and I'm not sure how carefully the bikes end up being packed! The bus needs to be pre-booked. I'd definitely try to start riding as early as you can.
I've never done the ride, but the hill Willow refers to is one of my regular climbs up to the Downs. It is quite technical; although it is pretty wide rainwater has carved a gully down the middle and you have to zig zag across it in places to find the smoothest line. There's a mix of smooth chalk, buried bricks and some loose rocks, and if it has rained it can be hard to keep the pedals turning. There's a section with drain covers and an exposed pipe, as well as some fly tipping at the moment 
I would think if there are a lot of people on the same part it could be a queue. At the top of the climb, you turn on to a Tarmac road that is a dead end at the youth hostel (with a cafe) so there will be little if any traffic. If the wind is from the east this can be a pig, it's an exposed gentle climb so a headwind is horrendous. You then turn right and head off road downhill again, and once the tarmac restarts you haven't got far to go.
There's a 30 odd km stretch before this on a disused railway line which is gravel, easy going. There's one part where you have to go up and over a closed tunnel; I think the uphill heading south is easier than going the other way. There's also a couple of pubs along this section. I haven't ridden beyond Guildford so can't comment on that.
I should have said, this ride gets asked about every year on here, you should be able to find some previous years' threads to get more info. Probably me saying the same as above!
I would think if there are a lot of people on the same part it could be a queue. At the top of the climb, you turn on to a Tarmac road that is a dead end at the youth hostel (with a cafe) so there will be little if any traffic. If the wind is from the east this can be a pig, it's an exposed gentle climb so a headwind is horrendous. You then turn right and head off road downhill again, and once the tarmac restarts you haven't got far to go.There's a 30 odd km stretch before this on a disused railway line which is gravel, easy going. There's one part where you have to go up and over a closed tunnel; I think the uphill heading south is easier than going the other way. There's also a couple of pubs along this section. I haven't ridden beyond Guildford so can't comment on that.
I should have said, this ride gets asked about every year on here, you should be able to find some previous years' threads to get more info. Probably me saying the same as above!
Thanks for the info guys. I did a search, but must have been using the wrong terms. I have a regular Sunday MTB ride with a few mates which usually runs between 20 and 40 km each week and is a breeze. I also do quite a bit of road riding when weather permits and am happy enough doing 100km on the road.
I'm thinking it'll be fine if I take a more casual pace and hit the feed and water stops. I'll have to try and convince some pals to come along and look into logistics.
I'm thinking it'll be fine if I take a more casual pace and hit the feed and water stops. I'll have to try and convince some pals to come along and look into logistics.
I did this ride for the first time in 2018, the weather started ok, but by lunchtime it was raining solidly and by the time we hit Brighton about 3pm....we were soaked through and a lovely all over shade of mud!
I'd never done a ride that long before, but it was actually ok, rode at a sensible pace, the big hill previously mentioned was un-cyclable due to the river running down it, but other than that it was very well organized and laid out.
We got my wife to drive us to the start at kempton racecourse, she then drove down to Brighton to do some shopping and waited for us to arrive.
I used my full sus 2016 Kona Hei Hei and a hardtail would have been fine, we did briefly see a few riders at the start on gravel bikes go flying by us, so clearly even those would have worked!
Enjoy!
I'd never done a ride that long before, but it was actually ok, rode at a sensible pace, the big hill previously mentioned was un-cyclable due to the river running down it, but other than that it was very well organized and laid out.
We got my wife to drive us to the start at kempton racecourse, she then drove down to Brighton to do some shopping and waited for us to arrive.
I used my full sus 2016 Kona Hei Hei and a hardtail would have been fine, we did briefly see a few riders at the start on gravel bikes go flying by us, so clearly even those would have worked!
Enjoy!
Edited by AceKid on Tuesday 28th January 11:52
It took a lot of searching, but here's a thread, which has links to other threads - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Definitely pace yourself as much as you can, stay in z2 as much as you can if you have a heart rate monitor. The section along the Downslink is easy; I don't ride it much because some of it is in railway cuttings and all you can see is dead ahead, but the first time you do it it's ok.
Definitely pace yourself as much as you can, stay in z2 as much as you can if you have a heart rate monitor. The section along the Downslink is easy; I don't ride it much because some of it is in railway cuttings and all you can see is dead ahead, but the first time you do it it's ok.
I did it last year on a hardtail with 2.2 RaceKings at highish pressures. Could have done it on a CX bike. The one hill at the end beat me so walked it, but it is very steep and rocky!
I did very little training, was way out of shape and survived, so if you're doing the kinda riding you're doing already, it'll be a fun day out. The decent into Brighton is pretty cool. We started late so did it as it was going dusk which made it even cooler. Make sure you take a few spare tubes, and carry enough water with you (was lovely and warm last year) and you'll be reet.
I did very little training, was way out of shape and survived, so if you're doing the kinda riding you're doing already, it'll be a fun day out. The decent into Brighton is pretty cool. We started late so did it as it was going dusk which made it even cooler. Make sure you take a few spare tubes, and carry enough water with you (was lovely and warm last year) and you'll be reet.
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