Ride London 100/86 report by Sally Smith

Here is my ride report from Ride London 100/86 – feel free to send me your thoughts on the day:

Waking up at 1am on the day of Ride100 I could hear the rain lashing against the window and I thought ‘I aint going’ but for some strange reason when my alarm rang out at 4am I pulled on my Medway Velo kit and hauled my backside to the Blackwall drop off point for the Ride London 100. I think it was because I had been training with Nicola Smith and despite only getting to grips with clipless pedals some two weeks prior to the event, I knew she would be on the start line and in an odd way I didn’t want to let her down.

On arrival I spied Gordon Chambers, Andrew Collyer and Shaun Robinson and we headed for the start-line. After a congested start we got going and it was great to say hello to Steve Smith who was riding with Nicola. I got into a good rhythm dodging in and out of some crazy cyclists and tucked in behind Andrew’s wheel for the first hour. As we got to Richmond Park I lost the wheel on a slight rise then tight bend and chased him down until I spotted him at around the 25 mile mark, as I was reining him in a sharp left hand bend was to be taken and the woman in front of me went down, she slid for a good few metres before coming to a stop. I am not sure how I avoided her, but somehow I did and I even managed a bunny hop so I didn’t run her hand over. She had gone into shock and I helped her to the side of the road, gave her my emergency foil blanket and made sure she was attended to before pressing on.

To be honest it gave me a fright and highlighted how treacherous the conditions were, I eased right up. It’s only a sportive and I am not coming a cropper unless there is something to be gained from it! I trundled on but at nowhere near the lick I had been previously. I came across Mark Barton and his friend Rob and we rode to the first feed station, where I saw Dame Sarah Storey (oh and I had previously been passed by Vos also). The second I stopped the cold got to me and I started shaking so I didn’t wait for the boys as I knew they’d catch up soon enough anyway.

The ride was shorted to 86-miles for safety reasons this cut out Box and Leith Hill, in my opinion it made the ride very dull indeed. I spiced it up by counting folk with mechanicals and punctures, I got bored and lost count at 32. Then came the rain, this was not ordinary rain, but stupid, biblical rain, the sort of rain that sees cyclist and bicycle separated. I think I must have been cursed because, as I entered a tunnel, another girl went BAM down in front of me right on her backside. It looked so painful. I stopped but she said she was ok so on again I went, even more cautious. It looked like her bike had slipped on a discarded gel wrapper. I think cyclists who throw their gels in the roads are an absolute disgrace and should know better, I mean they are not too lazy to cycle 86 miles but too bone idle to dispose of their rubbish. How hard is it to put a wrapper back in your pocket jackass?

Onwards I went, then came the 2ft deep puddles and oh the idiot on a TT bike with 88mm rims who couldn’t control where he was going – he was a laugh a minute. I saw Mark and Rob again and grumpily made my way to the finish, a few moments later it was done. I got my stupid medal then regretted giving away my foil blanket as I went hypothermic.

For me the best bit of the day was seeing Nicola had persevered and finished, unless you rode today you have no idea what absolute determination and guts that took. It’s a bit like Roubaix – unless you have done it you will never know the true extent of the horror. Well done Nicola.

Final thoughts:
Positive – my overall speed was faster than the previous year in appalling conditions and this time without a group to ride in as I wasn’t risking the chopper wheels
Negative – I’m not sure this means jack as the climbs were cut out

Positive – all the velos got round and finished
Negative – I hated every second and am never doing it again

Positive – the hills were cut out
Negative – I liked the hills

Positive – loads of people said my bike was cool
Negative – I already knew this

The honour role – Kudos to all
Mark Barton – 4.30.31
Phil Booth – 5.09.05
Gordon Chambers – 4.40.50
Andrew Collyer – 4.09.00
Karen Florey – 5.11.32
Rob Holyoake – 4.40.51
Jacob Kennison – 3.37.38
Tom Kennison – 4.08.06
Adam Mumford – 4.28.19
Shaun Robinson – 3.47.26
Sally Smith – 4.21.58
Nicola Smith – 08.07.00
Steve Smith – 8.07.01
Kevin Toogood – 4.41.26
Paul Hicks – 3.44.55
Donna Hopper 4.13.20