And of course the so-called "ballot" to enter, was nothing of the sort. It was a rigged operation in political correctness and an attempt to rob the MAMIL of his natural habit - the closed-road sportive. And of course there would be so many newbies about that there will be crashes and bad riding galore.
But I'll admit that I was wrong, on so, so many levels. Not that it wasn't a logistical challenge to get there, although that was solved by my own genius of sleeping at the the Academy of football, an honour and a privilege. And by being very fortunate in having a friend, aka The Cycling Mayor who was kind enough to do all the registration legwork when I fouled up my dates and ended up coming back on that day from Scorchio.
Jennifer will give a great write up as usual on her blog, I have a few observations about my day. I was at the front of my starting pen so was able to get away reasonably sharpish, out of the Olympic Park and down the deserted and empty A12. Dual carriageway. In the middle of London!
Pretty soon I was through the Limehouse tunnel, into the City and whizzing past the Tower of London. With groups forming, fast ones on the right, slower coaches on the left, there was always a wheel to follow. And with no junctions, no traffic, no signals to obey, and barely a rise in the road, it was a blast through the City and West End and out across Chiswick Bridge and into Richmond Park. I think I covered the first 20 miles in the first hour.
Despite the crowded road the standard of riding was actually better than on many a sportive I have been on recently. And there were crowds of people cheering us on by the side of the road. Particularly in some of the town centres, Richmond, Kingston, Pyrford, and special mention to Dorking!
A couple of small hills, Leith and Box, slowed progress a bit out in Surrey. But once over those I seemed to collect a few groups behind me too and if anything, the pace intensified. It certainly did after I topped up on full-fat coke a gel and an energy bar, although this didn't do much for my stomach's sense of well-being! The food stops were OK, but a bit chaotic, so I preferred to stay self-sufficient.
Laurens didn't record the full distance as the satellite reception is not too good in the tunnels, but an average moving speed of 18.2 mph and total official time of 5 hours 45 minutes is none too shabby for the 100 miles! Leave it on the road just about sums up my route although it was actually the West Ham car park which we returned to through open roads later on. Oh the shame!
If you have followed these pages before, you will know that I was sponsored to do the ride for Macmillan cancer care, and you will also know why. It is exactly a year since my Mum was diagnosed, the last normal weekend had been our family trip to the Olympics, so there is a sense of coming full circle. I even cycled past a house we used to live in when we were kids. I am very grateful for all the sponsorship that I have received, and it was also great to get specific "come on Macmillan" cheers from the roadside, over and over again.
I had my teary moments, of course I did. You know what, I'm actually human! But I also feel that it was a very cathartic opportunity to move on. I'm still sad, but I think my Mum in particular would be telling me to get a grip and pull myself together. Can you see where I get it from?
So this is for them, and Ride London was the best way I could remember them. On my bike, in the fresh air, going fast,
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