BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride

On Sunday I took part in one of my favourite cycling events – the London to Brighton Bike Ride organised by the British Heart Foundation.  It’s the second year I’ve ridden the 54 mile route, and is a great event, fun and well organised.

There were four of us this year, and because we’d raised over £150 for the charity last year, we were entitled to the 6am start time, the earliest set off from Clapham Common in London.  Perhaps not the most sociable hour, but if you want any chance at all of getting a good time, the earlier the better.  Otherwise the roads become too busy, you get caught up at traffic lights, and the sheer number of other cyclists (27,000) make it very crowded and congested, especially up the hills.  We got to Clapham around 5.30am (this involved a 3am wake up call, and a 4.20am set off from St Albans in the car!!) and joined the queue in front of the 6am starting line.  It was already busy!  There were going to be several waves, every half-hour, until 9am (I think).  No way would I have wanted to be in the 9am start, it would probably have taken us hours just to get out of London!  Mind you most people do take the day quite leisurely and as it’s a ride, not a race, and all for charity – plus the number of pubs along the route make it tempting to stop off several times for a quite drink or lunch!

My aim was to beat last year’s time of 4.08, and hopefully get in under 4 hours.  I just prayed I wouldn’t get a puncture!  We set off, and the first few miles were very easy – it was all flat and downhill and not too crowded so it was a gentle warm up.  There were quite a few traffic lights but we didn’t get held up for too long.  The weather was good, chilly at the start but fine when we set off, although the week’s heatwave had certainly come to an end.  I was wearing my long-distance trisuit (mainly as a test ride before the half iron), along with a sleeveless jersey and arm warmers.  I didn’t work very hard in these first miles, and my times for each mile were quite fast without much effort.  Knew it would not last though! 

At about 12km, we came to the first hill in Sutton, a grade 3 listed climb.  It was fine – although it did warm me up a lot so I took off my arm sleeves when I got to the top!  That certainly got the blood pumping and heart rate going, so now there was no excuse for any more gentle riding, it was time to get a bit more serious.  The next 20km or so we quite undulating, with some short sharp climbs and fast descents.  I am not too experienced on either hills or descents so I was huffing and puffing on the up-hills, and then freaking out and hands over the brakes on the downhills!  There was a good mixture of riders though, with many faster club riders coming through and overtaking, and myself overtaking others.  I did a lot of bike-watching, and if anyone overtook me I would check out their bike!  If they were riding a mountain bike I was a bit annoyed that they were going faster than I was!  The other thing I noticed was it was mostly men around me.  If another women went by, I noticed, and we usually said hello. 

There were plenty of official refreshment/check-in points along the way, all offering a good choice of drinks, food, bike equipment, energy gels, and I believe they all had mechanics on board as well to help fix minor repairs, free of charge.  I didn’t stop at any of these in the end, as I wanted to try and beat my time, and by sipping water and taking energy gels I had no need to stop.  Plenty of people stop regularly though, and it is all part of the fun!  Especially when you reach the top of a hill and there’s a pub with a beer garden!

The second part of the ride is quite fast, there are loads of flat and downhills where you can get the pace going.  Although I was separated from the rest of our group, I joined a few other groups of riders and tried to stick with them rather than being on my own.  It was much better motivation and gave me a reason to push on and not be lazy on the flats.  There really are some quite steep descents with sharp turns, and I dread to think what the roads are like a few hours later when thousands of people are coming down them, many of them with little road/group experience.  I was nervous of them, and that was with plenty of space around me!  Sadly there were two quite serious accidents that day, two crashes both resulting in quite serious injuries for the riders.  The ride is very well organised, with hundreds of marshals, but I am surprised there are not more accidents.  A huge pile up round a steep corner almost seems inevitable.  I guess they trust the earlier fast/club riders to look after themselves and know what they are doing, but I imagine that they are extremely strict after 9am when the later start masses are coming through.

The famous part of the ride that everyone talks about is the absolute beast that is Ditchling Beacon.  It is about 10km from the finish and is about 4 times as long as any previous hill on the ride and steep, too.  You can see it looking about an hour beforehand stretching out over the horizon and wonder how on earth you will manage to get up it!  Last year I had to walk up it all, but this year I was determined to try and cycle as much of it as I could.  I took the flat few miles before Ditchling village easy, and had my energy gels and some water, ready for the climb.  Every few minutes, round every corner, I’d wonder if this was it!  Soon I was slowing right down, and was the lowest granny gear possible, but I did not actually realise I was cycling up it due to a weird optical illusion with the hill in front, that makes you think you are still on the flat and not at the hill yet!  I even had to stop as I assumed I had a puncture, but hadn’t!  Then I realised this was definitely the start of the Beacon.  So I went for it, for as long as I could.  There was still plenty of space around me, and I over took people walking, and other faster riders over took me.  I can’t believe how easy some –people made it look!  The cleats on my shoes certainly made it much easier than last year, but sadly I did not manage to make it up all the way.  I wasn’t really making any progress and was weaving left and right to try and make the gradient less steep, but it was very tough.  I had to get off and walk the rest of the way, I was totally spent.

Getting to the top is still a great part of the route though, when you walk or ride, or a bit of both.  The views across the Downs and on to Brighton and the sea are amazing.  It’s a real treat to get there and many people take advantage of the final refreshment stop to relax and take in the view and sea air.  Not for me though – it was back on the bike, a swig of water and no more excuses – onwards to Brighton!  Luckily the combination of recovering quickly and the downhills meant for a fun last few miles.  You really do feel like a bit of a pro as you come in at speeds of around 30mph, riding alongside others but without the huge crowds to worry about, when else am I going to be able to hit those speeds for that amount of time!!  Again the down hills are risky, with a clear road and fewer sharp turns they were just pure fun, but I do wonder how much you could enjoy them and hour or two later with hundreds of other riders next to you!  The final part coming into the city centre and out onto the sea front was great, it was well under 4 hours, the crowds were brilliant and it reminded me of the Brighton Marathon which finishes in the same place.  The guy on the PA was great and the atmosphere was electric coming over the finish line.  I looked at my Garmin – 3.48!  Well within 4 hours and 20 minutes off last year’s time so a massive PB!

After collecting my medal and drink, I rested my bike down and ate a huge breakfast roll and piece of chocolate, and chatted to some other riders.  It was pretty cool to think that it wasn’t even 10am and here we were in Brighton already when many people were only just getting up!  It wasn’t too warm, so I pulled on the jacket and leg warmers I had brought with me.  I then went to meet up with the others and had a nice mug of hot chocolate and slice of cake at a beachside café.  We spent a few hours there, while Ray came in at around 12.30pm, just relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere.   

Took the coach back to London and finally got home at about 5.20pm, so a very long day and was exhausted by the time I got in, but well worth it!  Just enough time for a shower and lie on the sofa before I headed off to the pub with family to celebrate Father’s Day.

Next year – to try and cycle up all (or at least more!) of Ditchling Beacon, so I can buy a “I beat the Beacon” tee-shirt!

I suggest if you do want to do this, do everything you can to get an early start, get at the front of your wave, or just take the day easy and have the odd stop at a pub - as it does get really overcrowded even from 6.30am which means a heck of a lot of hold-ups and you could still be out there after 7+ hours.  But it's a good fun day though, well worth it!

5.45am at Clapham Common - an early start!

Obviously ready to go...happy happy happy!

At the finish!  Madeira Drive, Brighton, 54 miles later.

Kent Roadrunner Race Report

Just six days after running the Liverpool Rock & Roll Marathon, it was finally time to run the fifth marathon of the spring streak of races I’d signed up for.  The second of two back-to-back weekends of marathoning!  And – my 10^th overall!

Liverpool was tough, and by this point my body was telling me it was having enough of the long distances, so it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a fast one and it was just about fun and finishing it.  Oh, and the medal!  Did I mention that?  Kent RR has one of the biggest medals around – biggest I’ve heard of in the UK – very impressive!  It’s very unique, as it’s round a 2.5km cycling track, of which you run 17 laps!  My plan was just to finish in under 6 hours, and if possible, don’t get a personal worst!  This meant I’d try to finish in 5.48 or under.  Sounded easy, for a PB-potential road race, but not after running 104.8 miles of marathon racing in under two months!

I arrived at the Cyclopark in Kent, the venue of the race, early on the Sunday morning and made my way to the start.  I picked up my bib, 16 wristbands (for counting your laps – once you’ve taken off your final wristband it means you are on your last lap) and others picked up their very cool tee-shirts that they had ordered.  The venue was fantastic, really modern with a café, great changing rooms, lockers, showers, plenty of loos.  I put my valuables in the locker and then took my bag to the area marked “personal drinks”.  Here is a great aspect of the race – you can set up your own table with drinks and supplies, and you get to pass it every 1.7 miles.  I’d brought a folding chair, and then a selection of different drinks, energy gels and snacks.  The great thing about passing your station so often was that there was no need to carry too much, so although I’d bought my hydration pack with me, I just placed it by my chair as a backup and took my mini 330ml water bottle instead as it was a very hot day and I knew I would want to sip little and often.  Some runners had really gone to town, with a huge range of snacks, drinks, all laid out in order and marked with the lap number they should be taken.  The best was 17 individual water bottles with a parasol over them to keep them cool.  There was also a normal water station just after the start/finish/lap line which had plenty of treats – including Clif blocks, gels, jaffa cakes, crisps, cake, energy drink, squash and water.

It was a small field of around 450 or so but very friendly.  I recognised May Chan from Twitter and said hello.  She introduced me to some of her friends.  It was great to get to know them and have some company on the start line!  There was an interesting mix of people, this is obviously a great “bucket list” race to do due to its atmosphere, excellent organisation, unique laps, and of course who doesn’t want one of those huge shiny medals!  So there was everyone from newbies (I was definitely a newbie, even though this was my 10^th marathon) to members of the 100 Marathon Club.  In fact I have never seen more of those blue and yellow club vests in any other race!

Off we went, and it was the first of 17 laps.  It sounded better than 26 mile-laps, or 42 kilometre laps anyway.  The first lap was a bit shorter than the next 16 to get the distance exact.  It was warm already, and there was really no shade at all from the sun.  The route was gently undulating, with some nice flat parts and gentle declines, but that hill just before the start/lap line was steep and I knew that after 5 or 6 laps it would feel like a mountain!  A few minutes in I recognised another familiar face – Andy from the Race Your Pace Half!  We’d chatted most of the way round Dorney Lake during that windy half marathon in February and he’d remembered I’d gone on to do another half (Brighton) the following day!  We had a great catch up, but I had to let him go on when I realised I’d done my first mile in 11.20 - faster than marathon-PB pace, so too quick for a 5.40 or more marathon.  I had to slow down, as I was still aching and tired from the previous Sunday.

The laps passed by, slowly but surely.  Every time I went through the start line, I took off a wristband and threw it into the bucket, and then when you passed “go”, your name and how many laps you had done flashed up on a screen.  The collection of bands never seemed to get any smaller though!  I thought it might be mentally hellish, but in fact I found the laps quite reassuring.  After 3 or 4 laps, I always knew where I was, what was coming up next, when I knew there was a decline, and when I could plan a walking break.  The views were nice too, out over the countryside – although we did get a prime view of the A2 and a huge traffic jam, the Eurostar trains, and the Dartford Crossing in the distance.  I would not help but notice one of the overhead road signs that stated a particular town being 26 miles away and thought we were running the same distance round and round this track!  What was good was the water station and personal drinks area.  With just my small bottle, I was able carry that instead of the hydration pack, and refilled the bottle every 2-3 laps.  I got quite practised at this and soon the marshals knew I was about to stop by with an unscrewed bottle top, and they kindly refilled it for me.  The snacks were a welcome treat too, especially the crisps.  I don’t really eat crisps, but the saltiness was much needed on this really hot day.  About half way through, I was thinking about taking my electrolyte drink.  The problem was that I had not mixed the drink up before hand as I was not sure I would want that or the powered energy drink, and there was only do many bottles of water I could carry.  So on the next lap, I stopped and dropped the electrolyte tablet into the water bottle, and then carried on running.  By the time I had come back round, it was all diluted and mixed in nicely!  So I could now take a swig every lap.  Might sound like a lot of faffing, but it wasn’t too bad (it was just like sorting our your transition area in Triathlon!) and I was not looking for a decent time anyway so could afford to do this.  The only things I could have improved were I will bring a bucket of water and sponges next time to cool myself off at each lap, and I could have worn a racer-back vest as I was not wearing the backpack (which sometimes rubs my back if not protected by a vest covering all of my upper back).

I did run really slowly, and ended up walking a lot of it too.  It was really, really tough, and at one point I was not even sure I’d make it in under 6 hours. Everything hurt – my hip, ankle, calves, all sore and more and more painful.  I was walking nearly every hill and a when I did run I felt slow and my legs like lead.  The heat and lack of shade was not great either.  I just kept thinking about the medal at the end, and listened to my music.  Kate Perry’s Tiger song was on repeat for about half an hour after the half way point, as it was the only song that I seemed to keep me motivated!  The other runners really did a lot to keep my spirits up though, as for the first 3-4 hours there are still loads of people out on the course so you are always with someone, and see the same faces over and over.  One guys even ran the race backwards, and was continuously saying well done to everyone his passed!  Awesome work! 

After about 4.5 hours, it did get quieter, but finished runners were all gathered along the 500 meters or so by the start line so they were now providing support as spectators.  The weirdest thing is that normally, if you are at the same point in a road race as someone else, it’s highly likely they have done the exact same distance as you.  But not here.  At one point, I think I had done about 18 miles, and I chatted to a guy as we both took a walking break.  He said this was his 24^th mile.  This was really bizarre!  Both on the same part of the course, but he was 6 miles further ahead of me!  I couldn’t get my head around it (although the sun and generally weariness was stopping me get my head round a lot of things!).  When I had almost finished my 14^th lap, I got really confused about how many laps I still had to do.  I knew I had to run my 17^th lap with no wristband, and was on my 14^th lap, so I must have 4 to do.  But this did not add up as that meant I had 10km to do, but I had done over 21 miles, so that did not add up to 26.2.  Bear in mind my marathon-maths goes out the window especially after 5 hours of running in the hot midday sun!!  It was only when I realised I had almost finished my 14^th lap and had to drop one wristband that I was relieved to discover I only had 3 more laps to do!  Because I did not wear the wristbands round my wrist like most people, but tucked them into my running belt, some people assumed I was always on my last lap!  It was a bit demoralising to keep saying, “ah, still have 3 to go”! 

Finally though, I was on my last lap.  I had been walking so much by this point, but with less than 2 miles to go I wanted to try and run as much as I could.  There was nothing more to lose, so I went for it as well as I could.  I can’t say the last lap was fast, but it was a lot quicker than any of them after about lap 8 or 9 at least!  At long last, I was allowed to bare to the left, for the finisher’s funnel, rather than to the right for the last lap, and the spectator support was great!  I was given a beautiful, chunky medal, a box containing some great goodies (mostly food, which is the best), and some water.  The box also contained a ruler, to measure the size of your medal which I thought was a great idea.

After the race, I said goodbye to the others, hobbled over to the personal drinks station to collect my chair and water bottles, then watched some of the final finishers for a bit.  Some people were having cake to celebrate someone’s 100^th marathon!  I went and had a shower, which was bliss after being so hot and sweaty since 9am!  I found out my time – 5.45.02.  This was my second slowest (after Eden, in 5.48!) but hey I did it!  I was slightly annoyed about those 2 seconds as a 5.44.xx sounded better than a 5.45 but never mind!  I was just glad to have finished my 10^th marathon in about 18 months and 5^th marathon that year!  I would also like to say thanks to the tzruns team and the fantastic volunteers who put on such a brilliant event!  Needless to say I am already signed up for next year!

Me on the course!

Personal Drinks Station

THE BLING!!