pickupthepacepaul

On the 22nd of August 2020 I took part in the virtual Ride London 100. Owing the to restrictions of covid 19 the Ride London event could not take place this year. I took part in the Ride London 100 2017, and I’m so sorry for those that missed out this year. I had a great experience in 2017, and you can see my review HERE. This year the event organisers decided to open entries up to anyone who wanted to take part virtually for #MyPRL and best of all, this counted towards the London Classics. I completed the Classics in 2017 after taking part in Swim Serpentine 2017 (check out my blog HERE) which accompanied my numerous London Marathon events.

Originally I had planned to take part last weekend, but the organisers extended the period because of a weather warning. This suited me as my friend, who I persuaded to join me for his first 100 mile ride, had more availability this weekend. So he planned the route, and we met at 07:00 to start our 100 mile ride.

I am useless at directions,  so I spent the whole ride tucked behind my friend. We aimed to take the ride steady, and enjoy a couple of stops along the way. We used this as a nice opportunity to catch up, and had no intention on pushing too hard. We started by riding to Box hill, then cut around to Epsom on the way past Denbies wineries. We stopped for a quick stretch and a photo.

After 35 miles of riding, in perfect weather, we stopped at Hampton Court for a lovely coffee and muffin. Keith was feeling a little light headed, so we took the next few miles easy as we headed out for more miles.

I decided that we should try and make it between 65 and 70 miles before our next stop, and we worked really well together. I am better at the downhills and some of the flats, but uphill Keith pulled away. We had a good mix of elevation around Ewell and once we reached 67 miles we found a cafe so decided to stop for another drink.

Once we got started again we both felt good. We didn’t feel like anything to eat, but I took some Clif Shotblocks which I had been using. At 75 miles I felt a bit feint, and my energy was sapped. I was struggling to keep up so we pulled over and i got a bag of crisps, full of salt. Within 5 minutes a felt like I had restored my energy and we had 25 miles to go. We decided to head back out to Box hill to make up the final miles.

I was really surprised at how busy Box hill was, as I’m used to only being up there with cyclist. I don’t know if its the time of day, or covid bringing more people out locally, but it was very busy.

From Box hill we just had 10 miles to ride home. I felt good, and Keith was taking it steady. We stopped with 6 miles to go for me to give Keith his phone back. We would be splitting up in a few miles, and I was charges phone. As part of the #MyPRL we had to have the app running in the background and so I had a power pack with me. We pulled over by a pub, and Keith made his best suggestion of the day, and we shared a shandy before setting off.

I drank my beer quicker, and I was conscious that we had been longer than I told my wife we would be. We actually finished the day with a lovely BBQ at Keith’s and we had a few bits to do before we left. As we were splitting up in about a mile anyway, I set off whilst Keith finished his beer. The final few miles were relatively relaxed, and I am so pleased to have finished my second Ride London, even if this one was my own route in my own time. I still managed to share it with a friend. Now, if Swim Serpentine does happen I just need to find a way to get an entry for the 2 miles so I can collect my second London Classics medal.

I may not have got a medal for this event, but I have these to look back on.