Viceroys James, Jon, Adam, Alan, Matt J, Matt B, Carla, Charlotte, Lara, Helen, Fab, Kate helped to make sporting history on 4th August as they were among the 20,000 riders to attempt the inaugural Prudential Ride London 100: a 100 mile route which took cyclists from the Olympic Park in Stratford, through London, out through the Surrey Hills and back to finish on The Mall, left even our most seasoned riders awestruck.
All riders agreed that the organisation was 1st class, from turning up first thing through the route and support stops and the finish. All was smooth and at no time was the number of people overwhelming. The closed roads and sheer number of like-minded cyclists throughout the route made this an amazing experience for all involved, and as Matt Bee explained, even pain was worth it to be part of such an awesome event: ‘ the last 20 miles I was struggling, but have never enjoyed suffering as much as I did during the Ride London-Surrey 100!’ Cycling on roads that we were all familiar with was new and exciting as we jumped red lights and cycled the wrong way down one way streets!
Riders found the first 45 miles sped by and Newlands Corner and the hilly part of the ride had started; time for 20 miles of pain and then a fast run back to London. James tells us, ‘Leith Hill made me hurt. I can’t remember it hurting quite so much other times I have ridden it. By Box Hill and the first cramp pains had settled in and once cresting it was a matter of digging in for the fast run back into London. Finished in a time of 5 hours 11 mins which really surprised me considering I had a good couple of chats at the food stops along the way.Highlight was turning onto the Mall with 5 other riders and all deciding to go for the sprint to the line. I won!’
Superfit Carla managed to hang on to one of the pelotons that sped past the rest of us at regular intervals in a race to the end: ‘before I knew it I was in a Peloton topping 22mph through Blackfriars, our club Tuesday dash set me up for this and meant I could latch on to some amazing Pelotons, absolutely brilliant.’
Viceroys LOVED Ride London 100, despite the early start and never quite managing to catch Mayor Boris; when do entries for next year open?
