My London to Brighton BHF bike ride 2011
Stolen pleasure
With just over a week to go I arranged for my beloved mountain-bike to be serviced by South Coast Bikes (picked up on the Thursday night). I'd replaced the cassette and chain a few weeks ago but the gear changing wasn't quite right. Having been in London all day Friday and getting home late, South Coast Bikes were due to return my bike on Saturday morning. A slightly subdued message left on my mobile-phone from the repair shop to call them back resulted in the bitter news of my Giant XTC1 had been stolen that previous evening. Thieves had broken in to their premises, walked passed 40 odd other customers' bikes and stolen mine and another then left in a van according to the CCTV. This obviously f*cked up my plans for training and ride but carried on with my 8 year old bike.
The weather that Saturday was not kind either. I tackled Ditchling Beacon to see if I could cycle the 15 minutes it takes uphill as a measure of fitness. After almost being drowned in the downpour and pelted by the hail earlier (this is June remember), I managed to climb the South Downes beast. At the top though I was sweating badly and a bit out of breath. Not a confident sign for the main event just 8 days away. In fact, my own training before the event wasn't to the same level as last year. Although I commute by bike about 5 miles everyday, I only managed to do about 4 or 5 long rides (10-12 miles) in preparation. I mostly blame the weather.
BHF balls-up
Registering so early this year I expected to receive all my rider information, number, transport etc. weeks before the actual date. In reality, I had received nothing right up to the last few days. BHF's helpline was constantly engaged, their email took days to respond and when they did respond they made a standard response which didn't even answer my issue. Contacting them via Facebook and twitter only had a marginally better result due to others agreeing or 'liking' the statement I was making. Eventually, an email arrived with my rider number and start time. A day later my transport details arrived but something must have gone seriously wrong in this year's process.
The big day
The day itself was a bit more chaotic. I arrived at 5:45am to join the queue for the lorry transportation but it took another 40 minutes to leave Brighton. I'd heard people say that the A23, the main road to London was shut and indeed when we got to the road it was blocked off. A 20 mile diversion meant my planned 8am start was scuppered especially as I had to register again at the BHF information tent. Even when we approached Clapham Common the coach driver didn't even know where to go.
The information tent looked busy when I arrived but the BHF volunteers were quickly dealing with people along the queue. By 8:45am I was in the 8:30am pack to start. Without any real time to properly prepare we were off which was slightly annoying as I hadn't sorted out my backpack drink or selected a decent album to listen to on my walkman.
Being at the back of the pack meant slow progress through London even more frustrating than last year to the point of even having to walk at some tight sections or approaching junctions and traffic lights. The cycle traffic didn't really thin out until at least 15 miles out. There were a few annoying riders out there that took it far too seriously cutting up others and overtaking and squeezing into gaps almost causing accidents - if you're reading this road racers, you're all knobheads!
The old bike kept going but the gears kept clunking and skipping. There were some great outfits for the special occasion. A few superheroes like Spiderman, Superman etc, spotted Mario a couple of times and a couple of guys as stereo-typical French cyclists (see my YouTube video). Best costume for me though was Big Bird found on BHF's Flickr site.
Stopped 3 times to refuel and managed to cycle the whole way up Ditchling Beacon as you can see below. We had a quick shower of rain before Ditchling but after the Beacon the wind had picked up and the sky looking ready to unleash wet hell. Indeed it did and for 2 miles it was like being pricked by 1000s of wet cocktail sticks. My trainers were soaked and squelchy too and my legs pale white since I was wearing shorts. Still I didn't want to stop and just wanted to finish.
It was a welcome sight to see Kerry, Kev and Karol at the finish line and a relief it was over. I had enough energy for more but being soaked just took the fun out of it. Next year I think I need some company if I'm going to do it again. Any offers?
Special Thanks
As well as the 'fun' aspect, there was a serious cause to this ride. Just want to say many thanks to those sponsoring me. I managed to raise £190 plus Gift Aid which makes a tasty £240.77. Well done eh!
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