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On 28 May 2023, I took part in Ride London. This was not the first time I had completed Ride London, having taken part in 2017 (Ride London 2017 review). This was, however, the first time I took part in this route. Rather than riding through the Surrey Hills, this new route is a flatter course, starting and finishing around Victoria Embankment, riding through Essex.

Both routes are very different, but both are fantastic. The newer route is definitely a lot easier, as the hills in the previous route were particularly difficult. You finished at the Mall previously, outside Buckingham Palace, whereas you started here for the initial organisation before the start. I must say, this year, I loved the finish, riding over Tower Bridge for the final push before the finish line, pretty special.

This year, I wasn’t exactly ready for a 100-mile ride. This was not the main event for me. In fact, I entered it as a training ride for Ironman Poland later in the year. I have been very busy running 19 marathons so far in 2023, and this ride was only the second time I have sat on my bike this year. It’s not ideal. I also spent the day before at the Premiership Rugby Final and enjoyed a lot of London Pride. But I wasn’t going to let this stop me, as this ride was the start of my triathlon specific training.

It was a 12-mile ride for me to get to the startline. Again, it’s not what is needed before a 100-mile ride. I arrived at Buckingham Palace and realised that I had a slow puncture. I had pumped up my tyres the night before, and then in the morning, my front wheel was a little deflated. I thought it might have just been temperature, so I pumped it back up and rode to the start. When I arrived, it was clear I had a slow puncture, so although it was fine, I knew it was only a matter of time until I was going to have to change my inner tube. So at 05:30 in the morning, outside of Buckingham Palace, I was changing my inner tube.

Once sorted, I went to the toilet, and thankfully, there were track pumps so I could top up my tyre pressure. I then made my way to the start of my wave, where I waited to start. It was particularly well organised managing so many riders.

I had no real ambition of going for a time. I guessed I would finish in around 6:30. But that was also when I thought it was 100 miles, not 103. I started off well at a reasonable pace. It did take a good 5 miles to find space, as it was congested with a mixture of rider abilities, making it a little dangerous at times, so I was very mindful of people crossing in front of me.

The course had some climbs, but it was rolling, and none of the climbs were particularly challenging. Aid stations were around every 25 miles, but I only stopped at the halfway point. There were detours for the stops, but I did like that at halfway they made a non timed zone to allow riders to stop for as long as they liked without losing time. I only stooped for about 10 minutes.

The only negative I can think of is the number of times that I got stopped on the ride. I do not recall being stopped for traffic in 2017, but this might just be my memory. I think I was stopped 7 times to allow for traffic to pass. Each time, this made the course far more congested as it allowed riders to bunch up. There was one point at mile 43 where we came to a complete standstill for over 10 minutes. There must have been an accident at this point, so this is completely understandable, and I hope the rider(s) are ok.

I felt reasonably strong for the first half. After the stop at 43 miles, then going to the aid station at 53, I found I was fatigued and struggled to get power. My arse was sore to sit on the saddle, which is a result of the lack of training. My left knee was hurting, and mostly, my lower back was really sore. So I spent a lot of the second half, in particular the final 25 miles, stood out my saddle and coasting.

This is the 8th time I’ve done a 100-mile ride. My second sportive (both Ride London), and 6 Ironman events. I’m not great at the bike, and I know I need to spend time training to improve. But I’m determined and persistent. Riding 100 miles is not easy, and it doesn’t get any easier. With such a long distance, it is so easy to lose time by coasting and taking it easy. I found myself cycling slowly at times and had to focus on putting more power in.

I had an enjoyable day out in the sun and thought it was a great event for all abilities. I didn’t stop my watch from start to finish, and it recorded 6:48, although my official finish was 6:28:57, which was bang on my predicted 6:30. The course was 103 miles, not 100, plus I was stopped for over 15 minutes throughout the course, so a 6:15 in real terms. I’m really happy with my time, especially with the lack of training and tired legs from marathon running. I think I could realistically aim for a 5:30 in the future, but to get faster than that would take a lot of training.

I had an enjoyable day, and would definitely do it again. Hands up if you have taken part, or are considering it in the future?