Ride London Accident

[User482]

Most incidents I witnessed (and to be fair, I didn't see that many, so let's not overstate it) were the result of mixed speed and ability riders occupying the same space. I would be unfair to blame them all on the faster 'all the gear' riders as that certainly wasn't the case.

Yes, that was my experience too. For the most part, the event seemed to cope well with the wide variation in ambitions for the day. Obviously there were a few nobbers but that was very much the minority, and it seems to me that some commentators who weren't there are too eager to stereotype the participants.

Sadly, I did see the aftermath of a very nasty crash near the bottom of the Leith Hill descent: a rider was lying unconscious in the road, covered in blood. I do hope the organisers will reflect on the wisdom of funnelling so many people down a steep, narrow descent.

 

[zizou]

I observed last year that with a middling start time I was being overtaken by pace lines of identically dressed fast club cyclists. They had clearly either waited and formed their group or had cheated by putting identical slow time projections.

From my experience of the start time allocated to me and everyone I knew who rode, the "seeding by projected ride time and age" was pretty good and consistent.

Part of this might be explained by how the club entry is handled - the riders get allocated a wave corresponding to what the slowest rider in their group puts on their entry.

 

[Beebo]

I assumed that people just lie on the application, on the basis that they think putting down a slow time will get their application binned.

The perverse thing is that if you are really slow it is beneficial to have an earlier start time so you have longer to finish.

This year was just a mess because the big hold up bunched every one up too tight, then slow riders at the back too a diversion which placed them back in front of riders trapped in the blockage. That road through Ripley really doesnt have any other suitable diversion routes because it is the only bridge over the river Wey.

Then leith hill was shut so this further compacted the field. And to top it off two other diversions were in place to cut out box hill, and they also made some riders divert across to leatherhead missing out all three big hills.

The tannoy at the finish was saying there were unexpected numbers when i finished. i presume there was a whole hour when virtually no one crossed the line.

 

[PK99]

Part of this might be explained by how the club entry is handled - the riders get allocated a wave corresponding to what the slowest rider in their group puts on their entry.

I hadn't realised that there were club entries treated in this way, sounds ripe for manipulation.

 

[rugby bloke]

Sadly, I did see the aftermath of a very nasty crash near the bottom of the Leith Hill descent: a rider was lying unconscious in the road, covered in blood. I do hope the organisers will reflect on the wisdom of funnelling so many people down a steep, narrow descent.

This part of the course always scares the bejesus out of me - steep, narrow, dark ... I'm hard on the brakes all the way down ... I'm probably the slowest person on the course at that point.

 

[PK99]

The perverse thing is that if you are really slow it is beneficial to have an earlier start time so you have longer to finish.
e.

What would be truly perverse would be to allocate start times in that way and have the whole field bunching and turning itself inside out out over the morning.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Let's not lose track of the fact that this is a Sportive, not a race. Far too many people don't seem to get that fact.

 

[User482]

This part of the course always scares the bejesus out of me - steep, narrow, dark ... I'm hard on the brakes all the way down ... I'm probably the slowest person on the course at that point.

I think your comment goes back to rb58's point about mixed speed riders occupying the same space. It's a non-issue on a wide A-road, but very much a problem on that descent.

 

[Tim Hall]

Let's not lose track of the fact that this is a Sportive, not a race. Far too many people don't seem to get that fact.

The BBC for one. Their local news page referred to it as a race.

 

[vickster]

Maybe there shouldn't be club/team entries...it's not a race after all

Or a club applies for say 4 entries and the clubs all go out first.

 

[PK99]

Maybe there shouldn't be club/team entries...it's not a race after all

Depends on the intended riding style, if either of the clubs I ride with put in a club entry, the ride would be on the same terms as our club rides - the pace of the slowest rider.

But your point is valid wrt 'racing teams'

 

[rugby bloke]

I think your comment goes back to rb58's point about mixed speed riders occupying the same space. It's a non-issue on a wide A-road, but very much a problem on that descent.

It's a tricky one - I find that I'm slower than most of the riders around me on the descents, as quick as most on the flats and overtaking people on the climbs - so that on average I'm probably in the right place even if I'm a bit of a road block on the descents. There were other riders who were in the opposite position, they would over take me on the descents and I would over take them on the climbs, on average we were maintaining the same pace. I guess its not an issue when the road is wide but I recognise that slow descenders like me are a problem on narrow roads,

 

[Racing roadkill]

The BBC for one. Their local news page referred to it as a race.

And their commentators continually referred to it as a 'race'. This is where the problem lies. Too many "urrgh, by the power of grayskull, I must not let anyone pass me, because I'm a pro you see, a pro I tell you, I could ride for a pro team, cos I'm that good, but I have to enter a sportive / fun ride, because I'm actually a bit crap, by pro standards" monkeys, making it stressful for the vast majority.

 

[User482]

It's a tricky one - I find that I'm slower than most of the riders around me on the descents, as quick as most on the flats and overtaking people on the climbs - so that on average I'm probably in the right place even if I'm a bit of a road block on the descents. There were other riders who were in the opposite position, they would over take me on the descents and I would over take them on the climbs, on average we were maintaining the same pace. I guess its not an issue when the road is wide but I recognise that slow descenders like me are a problem on narrow roads,

As others have said, it's not a race, so you should feel able to descend at your own speed. I think the problem is simply too many people for that section.

 

[mjr]

The BBC for one. Their local news page referred to it as a race.

Here, enjoy the full horror of "Two riders have been injured in separate crashes during the amateur RideLondon-Surrey 100 cycle race. A man came off his bike and hit a tree just after 09:00 BST in Woking and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. Another rider was injured in Thames Ditton just before 11:00 and treated at the scene for head injuries. [SPOILER DELETED] later won the men's professional Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic race, which finished in The Mall, London just before 18:25." - but there's enough BBC-kicking over on the race thread, for now.

And their commentators continually referred to it as a 'race'. This is where the problem lies. Too many "urrgh, by the power of grayskull, I must not let anyone pass me, because I'm a pro you see, a pro I tell you, I could ride for a pro team, cos I'm that good, but I have to enter a sportive / fun ride, because I'm actually a bit crap, by pro standards" monkeys, making it stressful for the vast majority.

Did we like the sportive rider in the cinelli kit who rode into the Mall with the last of the pro race before being ordered off the course at the deviation?

I guess its not an issue when the road is wide but I recognise that narrow roads are a problem when too many nobbers try to turn it into a race

Fixed that for you! It's like the loonies with gels and TT bikes who tut when a small child on a fairy bike gets in their way on the Freecycle loop. It's not the place. EDIT: I think the organisation and the Fear-Of-Broom-Wagon time limit is very unhelpful here, encouraging everyone to keep push on lest a mechanical or the man with the hammer prevents them from finishing a ride that they ordinarily could do comfortably in a day.

Publish times and it is always going to be a de facto race, no matter what the organisers intend or state.

Is there a published list, or just the rider tracker? Anyway, if the event didn't publish, there would still be some Straviots and Garmingers racing for top places on their sites.