London to Brighton September 2024 - possible? or not?

[quintons]

Hi there,

I cycle around Hitchin/st albans/luton area where it is very hilly for me. gradients are from 3-8% and multiple hills. I have done a 48mile and a 42 mile ride and this weekend plan to do a 50 mile ride.

I also for cardio do jogging cross country over the week as no time to cycle. jogging ranges on average 5 miles 2-3 times. is this all enough and consistently to do the London to Brighton Cycle ride in September?

I also have Epilepsy, very well controlled during the day time. As such if I need to bail out half way is there normally a way for a cyclist to get back to clapham common? rather than cycling back 25 miles! I have not had issues while out cycling that prevent me from continuing but it is a must to know if I can return if medical issues arise.

Lastly, for the hills is a 52/36 with a 11/32 fine? or should I be using a 50/34? I am very weary of the 23% hill near the end!

Thank you for reading and answering.

 

[Dogtrousers]

You'll be absolutely fine.

Let's start with hills. If we use the commonest route there are two significant hills, Turner's Hill, which is nothing special about a third/half of the way in and Ditchling Beacon near the end. The Beacon is nowhere near 23%. It's a funny hill in that it's stepped - I've read that this is due to giving the horses a chance to have a rest on the flatter bits in the old days. Anyway, I don't think it ever gets over a max of about 15% on the steep bits, and that's not sustained for long. As to what gears you need - that's a personal matter.

Bailouts. Depending what route you take there are tons of bailout options. Off the top of my head you could get a train Horley/Gatwick. Three Bridges. Haywards Heath, Hassocks and lots of other places. From there, change at East Croydon (if necessary) to get to Clapham Common.

If it's an organised L2B ride then be prepared for it to be very relaxed and quite slow due to the numbers of people. If you're doing it on your own then you have freedom to plot a route with lots of baliouts.

Edit. After re-reading your post and bit of googling and I think you may be intending to do this https://www.londonbrightoncycle.co.uk/ on 15 Sept. I've never done this event but lots of people on here have so can give event-specific advice. I still think you'll be absolutely fine. But there may be bike restrictions on the trains going back to London. Sometimes after big events bikes are banned due to the large numbers. I don't have any specific details, but it's something to find out.

 

[quintons]

Thanks for the reply "dogtrousers", still 12% is still quite a meaty hill at least they made it with flat sections along the route up. Gears yes I understand it is a personal matter but would it make it easier for hills with a 50/34? rather than a 52/36?

good to know on bailouts. I assume then trains along the line from Brighton to London do accept bikes on the day? with the mass of cyclists is there a difficulty in getting back on the train from Brighton? the L2B ride is organised and is on September 15th this year.

Along the route for organised events of L2B, are you able to go faster as the pack of cyclists move along? do they space out? and given the mass of people doing it are there accidents along the way? kind of like the tour de france but not and with less speed

I did the London Marathon some years back and that was slow at the start but then a 3rd to a half way it all became much easier to gain speed I guess it is like this? with bicycles of course.

Komoot tells me the route on the last hill on the BHF route reaches 23% but only for a short while otherwise around 3-12%.

 

[quintons]

as a side note, this is the route for the BHF...

and this is the route I normally do over a weekend with slight variation...

the BHF route looks hideous! or not as bad as it looks?

 

[quintons]

You'll be absolutely fine.

Let's start with hills. If we use the commonest route there are two significant hills, Turner's Hill, which is nothing special about a third/half of the way in and Ditchling Beacon near the end. The Beacon is nowhere near 23%. It's a funny hill in that it's stepped - I've read that this is due to giving the horses a chance to have a rest on the flatter bits in the old days. Anyway, I don't think it ever gets over a max of about 15% on the steep bits, and that's not sustained for long. As to what gears you need - that's a personal matter.

Bailouts. Depending what route you take there are tons of bailout options. Off the top of my head you could get a train Horley/Gatwick. Three Bridges. Haywards Heath, Hassocks and lots of other places. From there, change at East Croydon (if necessary) to get to Clapham Common.

If it's an organised L2B ride then be prepared for it to be very relaxed and quite slow due to the numbers of people. If you're doing it on your own then you have freedom to plot a route with lots of baliouts.

Edit. After re-reading your post and bit of googling and I think you may be intending to do this https://www.londonbrightoncycle.co.uk/ on 15 Sept. I've never done this event but lots of people on here have so can give event-specific advice. I still think you'll be absolutely fine. But there may be bike restrictions on the trains going back to London. Sometimes after big events bikes are banned due to the large numbers. I don't have any specific details, but it's something to find out.

Thanks for the extra detail and yes that is the one. if the coach is still available then I may take that on for safety sake otherwise its an airbnb and getting back on the train the day after rather smelly from the day before. lots to sort out.

 

[Paulus]

@quintons the 52/34 gearing should be fine for the ride, the hills aren't particularly steep or long.
As for getting back from Brighton, the station/railway company does not allow bikes in Brighton station on the day so you may have to arrange a lift home, or cycle back up to Hassocks to get the train home.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

am very weary of the 23% hill near the end!

LOL. There is no 23% hill at the end. Ditchling beacon peaks at 10% max gradient. Nothing to worry about with your gearing.

 

[Juliansou]

Hello,
I did the L2B with the British Heart Foundation in June. I wasn’t worried about the distance, but coming from Essex (where we don’t really do hills!) I was slightly apprehensive about Ditching Beacon. It isn't anything to be worried about, I found it fairly comfortable, just knuckle down and get it done! you can always walk up if you need to - either of those gears should get you up it, there’s only a difference of a couple of gear inches in it so not hugely significant.