April's ride with food

[HaloJ]

Onwards with the organising of the 100 mile daytime rides......

April we'll be following the Olympic Road Race route starting and finishing on the West side of Admiralty Arch. A break from the traditional starting point because that's where the road race will start and finish. I'll be riding the route solo tomorrow (28th March) for a reconnoitre and to also get my March 100 in.

My initial thought was to have the lunch venue somewhere on Old London Road allowing those that do not wish to ride box hill to wait for us. Distance wise though this would put the "halfway stop" at 55/60 miles and considering the actual planned route is 80 miles (without laps of Box Hill) I don't think it's a good idea.

For those using the ride to get their April 100 I'm quite sure that the 80 mile route should be sufficient with your journeys to/from making up the extra. Personally I'll need a lap or two of Regent's Park/Hyde Park to finish the 100.

So with the above in mind I think we'll have lunch about the 40 mile mark in Gomshall at The Compasses Inn allowing everyone to be sufficiently over-stuffed ready for Box Hill.

Route : http://ridewithgps.com/routes/333820

Abs

 

[martint235]

Booked in my diary!!

 

[frank9755]

Sorry to miss it, but I have already got my train tickets for Blackpool!

Martin, you will find it a breeze after the Cheam & Morden

 

[martint235]

Sorry to miss it, but I have already got my train tickets for Blackpool!

Martin, you will find it a breeze after the Cheam & Morden

Believe me I'm hoping every ride I do is a breeze after that!!!

 

[StuAff]

Pencilled in. Doing the Wiggle New Forest sportive the following day, but think I'll manage both

 

[HaloJ]

Sorry to miss it, but I have already got my train tickets for Blackpool!

Martin, you will find it a breeze after the Cheam & Morden

Sorry for the clash Frank. May will be 7th or 8th to Cambridge again although with a slightly modified route to keep us on faster roads.

 

[Martok]

I'm in!

Well, you need someone slow to bring up the rear to make you fast-uns look good.

 

[ianrauk]

I'm in..(of course).

 

[rb58]

Be rude not to. Add me to the list please Abs.

 

[Tynan]

West Ham are at home so me tackling Box Hill on two pints and a huge lunch will have to wait another year I'm afriad

ditto anyone dying to guide me slowly home

have fun

 

[redjedi]

I can't think of a reason not to do it, count me in

And I don't think anyone will need to avoid going up Box Hill. The zig zag road is really not that bad and everyone will be able to get up it with no problems.

 

[gbs]

Count me in please. I have had enough of this lurking and pretending to be judicious but I have to admit that I have have not exceeded 125k on a ride this year. However, I know the cafes and railway stations of Surrey and I have a rail pass......

PS looks like a vg route

 

[HaloJ]

So I did the route today. Nice route and some great set pieces which will be spectacular to watch. Cracking hair pin just out of Richmond Park on Star and Garter Hill. You'll want to be stood on the inside to spectate there just in case someone slips and smashes their way through the pack to the curb. Other pieces could see some interesting breaks for instance as they pass through Bushy Park which is quite tight and I hope they let them split either side of the ornamental pond.

My ride today didn't go fully to plan. My Garmin was acting up and I had to reset it and wait for the Garmin to recalculate the route before setting off. Whilst waiting I was approached by an older couple who opened the conversation with "Had a spill, riding far?" whilst pointing at my bruised and scarred leg. There son used to race and they were keen supporters regaling me of stories of them meeting Mark Cavendish and how he was such a nice chap. Eventually his wife dragged him away saying "we best leave the poor girl alone as she'll never be finished".

So off I set, a mishap and wrong turn on the way through Fullham. The weather was raining, forcing me to admit that it's not summer and put my Montane on. Chased down a speedy rider coming through Richmond and then chatted and paced him before leaving the park and descending the wonderful Star and Garter Hill. He if he finds the thread maybe joining us.

I'm surprised that they've said that the roads are fine and don't need to be repaved. There were some horrible sunk drains and covers and a good number of potholes and a couple of the faster sections are surfaced with those heavy packed big stones which saps the pace.

The ride through Pyford Village and up and through Ripley is gorgeous. Beautiful houses with nice roads passing a gorgeous derelict church whilst riding over a delta flood plane. After Ripley the route starts a deceiving climb of only 1-2%. It's long and whilst I kept the pace up I was somewhat miffed I wasn't going faster.

Nearing the halfway point and turning into the aptly named Shere Road a "warmup" climb which after 40 fast miles took me by surprise. It's a cold start climb after a turn which gets steep quickly forcing you down the gears. Hungry and with aching legs I dropped to the granny and span up at 7 mph. RideWithGPS marks it as only 10% but it felt steeper than that. It then rolls on fast roads to the lunch destination of The Compasses where I tarried for 50 minutes before pushing on.

I'd stowed the montane and was back riding with bare arms not much past Byfleet but post lunch I was rewarded with a bit of sunshine that stayed with me for pretty much the rest of the ride. Enough sunshine for Andy to comment on this years "up and coming" cyclist tan as I walked through the door.

So, Box Hill. As I approached the Garmin told me I'd soon be turning right. Looking right all I could see was a house nestling at the foot of a bloody sheer white cliff face! I snapped a photo with the phone but it's not come out overly well. Laughing I pressed on and turned onto the first section of Box Hill. This is where I decided not to take any photos because it has to be seen with your own eyes. It's a gorgeous climb, not overly pressing and no need for a granny. Unfortunately the 2nd and 3rd quarter are poor surface but with the scenery that can be forgiven. Reaching the very top and looking South as I passed made me exclaim out loud. Just beautiful. The decent is marred once more with more poor surfaces keeping me around the 30mph mark. With a smoother surface I'm sure it'd be a faster descent.

The rest of the route is mainly working your way back through towards London.

All in all I did 109.4 miles at an average moving speed of 16mph with a moving time of 6hrs 50mins at 83rpm. I had to work this out from the intact data of the Garmin as it tells me I've done 668 miles at an average of 101mph with a top speed of 40. Yes, that is correct the top speed was less than my average. Ride with GPS gets the data a little more correct but is slightly out on moving speed. Total duration, getting lost and waiting 3 times for the Garmin to sort itself out was 9hours 13. Oh I forgot to say as I didn't know my distance but knew I was close to the 100 I did a lap of Hyde Park, attempted to visit Mike who wasn't there, then a lap and a half of Regent's Park before heading home.

Data : http://ridewithgps.com/trips/203060

Abs

 

[rb58]

Sounds fab Abs. I well remember the first time I went up Box Hill. It wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe it would be and the views from the top were stunning. Well worth it.

Fingers crossed for a clear day!

Ross

 

[ianrauk]

Nice one Abs, sounds excellent.
Looking forward to this.