Although 100 had registered, about 60 turned up at the start in Wimbledon Town Centre. There were several children and young people with their parents and a range of bikes from rusting mountain bikes to smart new road bikes. Doing the pre-ride checks, the majority of faults were under inflated tyres and saddles at the wrong height. Most had not brought along pumps and spare inner tubes, so were going to have to find their own solutions if they flatted. Not usually a problem in Central London with so many bike shops around.
With excellent marshalling and leading by Charles Barraball with a large green flag attached to his pannier rack, we made good time along the Wandle trail and across Wandsworth Common to stop at Clapham Common for a comfort break. Here we met the Lambeth Group and numerous other individual riders heading into the City.
We crossed Chelsea Bridge and went up the CS7 to Parliament Square where we dispersed to join in the closed roads route and visit the various attractions at the hubs dotted along the way.
It was an impressive sight seeing so many cyclists of all shapes and sizes slowly circulating around. So many that there were choke points mainly around Trafalgar Square and the Mall, where we mixed it with the hordes of tourists there for the changing of the guard.
I ended up at the hub by St Paul's where there was cycling polo and a mini street velodrome. The weather was mainly sunny with light winds, perfect for such an event, and there were estimated to be 60,000 plus bikes present during the day.
There were fewer riders for the ride back, though we picked up a few from the Tooting group who had lost their leader.
There was one collision and a couple of flats on the way back, and it was noticeable how much busier and less accommodating the motor traffic had become. The group marshals by now had honed their techniques and even on main roads the cars and buses were stopping.
I would thoroughly recommend doing this when it comes around next year, unless the weather is like what it was the day after.
I was a helper at the LCC hub in Hampton Court for the Ride 100, which had been shortened to the Ride 86 due to the weather forecast. Despite being virtually flooded out at around 9 am I was impressed by the good spirits of the rides and how keen they were to deposit litter in the available bins. Almost all were determined to continue and were rewarded by improving conditions later on.
Mostly people were riding road bikes though there were many tandems and the odd tourer, and towards the back there were obvious novices. This has to be an event for everyone who is reasonably fit. The other lesson is that showerproof jackets are not up to the job of coping with downpours.
There are also accounts of the ride on the Wayfarers blog.
Harry Cole
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