Today was the Prudential Ride London - Surrey 100 event, to give it the correct name.
I had got an entry through my work, with Mencap who are our partner charity ( we will be holding another quiz night in Sept to raise funds!) It entailed staying over in East London last night as my start time of 0620 needed me to be in the pen at 0543? So I was up at 0445 and had a can of cold rice pudding for breakfast and followed the growing number of nocturnal cyclists on the 4 mile ride to the start at the Olympic Park. I handed in my kit bag for collection at the finish.
We then set off at pace, I really enjoyed the Velothon on closed roads but to do this through the Centre of London really was something else! It was amazing to see so much. My tactic was to do a 'Cavendish' and get on the back of as many fast trains as I could ! The first 50 miles were covered at speeds between 32 and 38kmh and then we got to the Surrey Hills. We then had 30 miles of up and down. The hills were not so bad in themselves but the number of then wore you down. Box Hill was fun, I'd love to have a go on the super smooth tarmac when I was fresh! The last 20 miles were flat again and we blasted back into London. My time was 4:39:15, an average of 22.2mph.
I then picked up my kitbag and gave my bike in, to pick it up later from the Olympic Park. The logistics were excellent. I'd recommed this to anyone, amazing views and great countryside. Even the weather was spot on!
