Ride London advice

[mike80]

Managed to get myself a place in the ballot for Ride London next year which I'm pretty excited about, but looking for any advice from people that have done it before to try and keep the costs to a sensible level, and working out the whole logistics of getting there and back.

Obviously it's an early start, so my current thinking is book a hotel somewhere on the outskirts of London for the night before, and then drive to somewhere a few miles from the start on the morning. Does this sound feasible? How long before your start time do you need to be there? Where would you recommend parking? I'd be coming from the M1 sort of direction.

The other idea is train to Euston, stay somewhere in central London the night before, then train back after. But I imagine with such a big cycling event, getting a bike onto the train might be difficult. Also, I'd need to keep a change of clothes etc. somewhere.

Any thoughts and advice welcome!

[Roastie ITR]

Firstly well done on getting a place, very jealous as I was hoping to do it again this year after years of missing out on the ballot but I am away that weekend.

I haven't taken part since 2017, so things may have changed a little bit.

But from memory, they will give you all timings closer to the event with your start time & when you are able to enter your pen.

I live just outside of London, so the first year I got the train down and then just rode in from West Ham. The second year my start time was much earlier & the train was not an option, so I had to drive in. They also give you a list of car parks that you can pre-book, so I just choose one in the middle of the start & finish.

[Julian Scott]

Every year I've done it I've stayed centrally the night before, then had the 5-8km ride to the start - 1000s riding to the start so it's safe and fun.

I've once got the train, but other times driven (I live 200 miles north) - partly as the family came with me.

Not sure where the new start is though, this was on the old route.

[mike80]

This year the start was on the Embankment I think.

I could just drive into central London the night before, but a) it's not something I relish doing, whereas very early Sunday morning would be quieter, and b) the cost is probably a lot more.

My wife and daughter would like to meet me at the finish, as well as have a day out in London, so I'm thinking of book a hotel somewhere near a Tube or train station, I drive into London early Sunday, then they get the train whenever suits later on.

[djone101]

Last year I stayed fairly cheaply in Stratford - there's a Travelodge and a Holiday Inn Express on the main road there.
There was some free parking on the road behind the hotels - just check the regs on the signs or you can park at Westfield Shopping Centre.
The ride from there to the start was around 6.5 miles according to my Strava - took about 30 mins.
The actual ride route then took us all back to Stratford and right past the hotel in fact which is nice if family want to look out for you.
Obviously you then have the ride back after the finish if you leave your car there but it's not far.
It was a good day out.

[yellowjack]

I only did it the once, the last RideLondon/Surrey event that actually ran (in 2019). That was a ballot entry too.

We (my wife and I) got the train up from Bournemouth, and stayed in a Travelodge (I think) in Bethnal Green to be near the start. No issue with taking the bike on the trains but we weren't travelling on the day of the event. The hotel was cool with bikes in rooms too, and it was pretty much full with entrants to the event and their families. One nice touch was them putting on an early breakfast. Nothing cooked but it was nice to see the option of a continental breakfast available with so many riders having an early start time. I ended up buying pots of instant porridge and breakfast croissants, etc, from a Sainsbury's up the road to be sure of getting something for breakfast and also to save me the bother of leaving the room. We also took our own coffee from home.

I know the Essex route is much changed from the Surrey one, but when I rode it my wife wandered from Bethnal Green to Tower Bridge in time to see me come through on the way out of the city, and she then spent about four hours wandering her favourite bits of London while getting text updates on my progress from my dot-watching son at home, before materialising at the finish in time to see me there. Then we literally bumped into one another in Green Park after I'd gone through the finish area. She'd brought a picnic (a couple of sandwich meal deals really) which I was very glad of, then she got the tube back to Bethnal Green while I rode back from The Mall (and got abuse from a BMW driving twonk for "not riding in the bike lane" despite the bike lane being full of market stalls and commercial rubbish bins awaiting collection ).

I think you'll enjoy the Essex roads. A lot of the route was my old cycling territory when I lived near Saffron Walden. It's flatter than Surrey, with none of the "iconic" named climbs, but there are some decent roads and the scenery, if you're only familiar with the TOWIE/Birds Of A Feather stereotypical image of Essex, will come as a pleasant surprise to you. Good luck with your planning, and enjoy it!

I even caught a glimpse of myself on the TV coverage of the event when I watched it back at home...

...and yes, that's me in a PH cycling jersey, and I'm eating a chocolate and hazelnut croissant which had been dangling in a poly bag from my handlebar for over a hundred miles

[gl20]

djone101 said:

Last year I stayed fairly cheaply in Stratford - there's a Travelodge and a Holiday Inn Express on the main road there.
There was some free parking on the road behind the hotels - just check the regs on the signs or you can park at Westfield Shopping Centre.
The ride from there to the start was around 6.5 miles according to my Strava - took about 30 mins.
The actual ride route then took us all back to Stratford and right past the hotel in fact which is nice if family want to look out for you.
Obviously you then have the ride back after the finish if you leave your car there but it's not far.
It was a good day out.

Same here. I booked that Premier Inn thinking the start would be in the Olympic Park, just like previous years only for them to announce that it would be Embankment (same this year). But I thought the distance to the start was perfect for warming up.

OP - If it’s like last year then the event is much less structured than it used to be re the start. Rather than a really precise start time your give a 30 minute window. Then they said you could start any time during or after the window (I think I got there a bit early and they let me start anyway)

I got the train in and out which worked well for me but does mean packing very light as the event no longer has a facility for storing anything during the ride.

[mike80]

All good advice, thanks everybody.

Regarding the start, roughly how long before your start time do you need to be there? Do you need to sign in or anything like that, or is it all handled ahead of the event?

[Julian Scott]

mike80 said:

All good advice, thanks everybody.

Regarding the start, roughly how long before your start time do you need to be there? Do you need to sign in or anything like that, or is it all handled ahead of the event?

Get there in plenty of time, they close the pens early...and you want to be as far front as possible.

[gl20]

Julian Scott said:

mike80 said:

All good advice, thanks everybody.

Regarding the start, roughly how long before your start time do you need to be there? Do you need to sign in or anything like that, or is it all handled ahead of the event?

Get there in plenty of time, they close the pens early...and you want to be as far front as possible.

That’s how it used to be but this year it was a lot more relaxed. As per my earlier post, you could elect to turn up later than your allotted time (and many did leading to a lot of congestion apparently) and once you got there, there were no pens at all. They just funnelled you off the Mall and down to Embankment in a steady walk and then near Charing X, you were told to get back on your bike and start peddling over the rolling start line. I’d say I started within 15 mins of turning up at the Mall, so was actually a bit earlier than my start window. Nothing to sign etc.

OP - they may tighten things up a bit this year, but I’d certainly not worry if you’re running late.

[mike80]

djone101 said:

Last year I stayed fairly cheaply in Stratford - there's a Travelodge and a Holiday Inn Express on the main road there.
There was some free parking on the road behind the hotels - just check the regs on the signs or you can park at Westfield Shopping Centre.
The ride from there to the start was around 6.5 miles according to my Strava - took about 30 mins.
The actual ride route then took us all back to Stratford and right past the hotel in fact which is nice if family want to look out for you.
Obviously you then have the ride back after the finish if you leave your car there but it's not far.
It was a good day out.

I've gone for this, staying at the Premier Inn at Westfield, booked the car park there for £16 for over 24 hours. Did look at staying a bit closer, but hassle of driving right into the middle of Central London plus congestion charge etc. made a few miles commute to the start seem like the better option. Wife and daughter are staying with me, so we can have a meal the night before, then they can have a day out in London and meet me at the finish.

Looking forward to it! Hopefully we get some pleasant days over the winter to get some training in. I haven't ridden my bike as much as I would have liked this year, so need to step it up...

[z4RRSchris]

I rode (raced) it last year in the front pen. The first bit to epping new road was carnage with road furniture everywhere and a 500 man bunch, from there on it was ok ish, then in the cross winds past Great Dunmow it split up around some crashes and winds.

https://www.strava.com/activities/7220181171/overv...

there were no real pens behind A, you just got funnelled down embankment and over the line, they didnt check anything at all and you didnt even need a number on (mine was under an old dressing gown i was wearing to keep warm, which i binned)

good fun at the time but no chance i would race it again.

[outnumbered]

I don't know where it starts these days, but we did the previous version that started in the Olympic Park, and stayed in student accomodation at Queen Mary College the night before. It was close to the start, very cheap and secure for the bikes, but the bed was bloody awful But might be worth considering if budget is a concern for you.

[z4RRSchris]

it starts on embankment, by Proud Cabaret.