velovoice
Veteran
- Location
- Between the City and the Sea
Just a reminder that this is NOT an organised ride. Patrick of the London Cycling School checks the route beforehand, goes around again on his motorbike on the Saturday to put out a few jam jar lights at the trickiest corners, prints off a route sheet and offers it for donations at London Fields.This was third DD
My observations/improvements would be
Encouragement for people to leave earlier, so instead of the bulk leaving around 8pm, start them off from 4pm, given that a 'normal' cyclist takes circa 12 hrs Park to Beach (9-10hrs moving time seems average) , then a lot more people would be at the beach by dawn. I hear people were still rolling in after mid day !
It would also spread the surge out in the London traffic and reduce the queues at the popular stopping places.
Some better sign posting. These are probably only about 15 turns in the entire 118 miles that are not obvious. a couple are signed. a few more would be excellent
Encouragement for a few more pop up food stalls, especially in the last half.
Who's going to do all this ? Personally i would not mind adding £1-2 to the coach ticket (which would make another £1-2K) which would pay for someone to take a couple of days off work, have some 'estate agent' type signs printed up, and the day before to drive the route and put them up.
(Yes, i did buy a route card, but they cant be read in the dark, and also unless you understand them they may as well be written in Greek)
Likewise, a bit of PR with the village WI or whatever may get a few more of those villages 'on side' especially if we contribute £500 to the local church steeple fund or whatever from buying cakes and coffee
It would all take time and behind the scenes organisation, but it could be done and still keep the anarchic disorganisation vibe
That's it.
Southwark Cyclists take it upon themselves to offer returns to London.
That Is It.
There is no one to "encourage" people to set off at any time at all, much less "earlier" or in stages.
There is no one controlling traffic, much less preventing bunches or surges or queues.
You want that stuff, enter a sportive.
Sorry to be grumpy, but I've been involved with this event for a very long time and it really does get annoying how many people make ungrateful noises like this afterwards. You didn't sign up anywhere. You didn't hand over your name, telephone number and insurance details to anyone. No one owes you anything. Just get out there and pedal your bike and enjoy the magic. It's up to you to make that happen.