The ride across London to the start was the beginning of the experience. The nearer you got to the Olympic Park the more bikes there were, joining the column from every side street. For the last couple of miles along the A11 there was a solid phalanx of bikes filling an entire carriageway, moving quickly, but considerately of each other. Cars stayed well clear, which was interesting of itself. At the park smiling and helpful games-makers directed the crowd to one of the two start areas, and then the rather regimented process necessary to deal with so many people began. There were more than 16,500 starters on this the inaugural year.
First you had to show your number to get into the start area. Once there - there was plenty of space - you could wander around, go to the loo, watch others starting off, buy some food, check your bags for collection at the finish or just pass the time of day with other riders. Then you were called to wait to be assembled into a 'wave', which was about a thousand riders at a time; then you entered the 'wave' pen, exactly on time; then the 'wave' moved to the start line and finally, exactly on time again, you set off along a two-mile run-in to the start itself.
I had been a bit worried about this bit - a large number of cyclists close together can be difficult, but it was absolutely fine. A slow roll away, an easy turn onto the A12 (closed to traffic, of course), with the speed gradually building over the next couple of miles on the large road, allowing sub-groups of similar performance to naturally form. Crossing the start line I was part of a peleton of fifty or so, which soon accelerated up to about thirty mph. Hard to do by yourself, but easy enough as part of a peleton, and we kept this speed through Canary Wharf and on towards the Tower of London, where narrower roads brought the pace down. Still over twenty mph, though, so we were flying along. Having the entire road to yourself is plenty of space for a group of bicycles, so slower (and faster) riders were easily accommodated.
The run through London was splendid. No traffic, no hold-ups, traffic lights didn't matter and helpful marshals signalled every turn and corner. The London Eye, St James' and Harrods passed in a jiffy, and we were soon heading over Chiswick Bridge into Richmond Park.
Here some of the gritty reality of cycling interrupted the dream. The familiar sinking feeling told me that I had a puncture. It took a few minutes to fix, during which time about a thousand bikes passed. A kind lady walking her dog offered to help, but puncture-fixing is a solitary pleasure, so I thanked her and got on with it.
A couple of miles down the road I saw Graham Hill and gave him a wave, then Kingston, Walton, Byfleet and out into the country, heading for Newlands Corner. This is the first of the hills of the route, and I had wondered how it would work out. Not bad, was the answer. There were some slow riders, and even some walking, but the bike-jams of the London to Brighton didn't materialise, mainly because, once again, the full width of a road is a lot of space for a group of bicycles. I did see Boris as I was riding up, progressing steadily on his flat-bar commuter bike. Even at this point it was obvious that he wasn't going to make a great time, but equally obviously he was cycling well within himself and would be sure to finish without difficulty.
At the top I made the mistake of going in to one of the service 'hubs' to buy a replacement inner tube. I had patches, and would have done better going without, as it was packed with cyclists refuelling. Queues for everything and it took an age. Large numbers of people are always a problem.
Back on the road and fast riding again; Abinger Hammer, Holmbury St Mary and then Leith Hill, the second of the challenges. Pretty slow going here, as the road is in any case narrow and numbers of walking cyclists made it more so. But no real problems, and over the top and on to Dorking.
Dorking was terrific. There were barriers down the High Street, and large crowds banging them and shouting encouragement at the cyclists. This is what it must be like for Mark Cavendish. Excellent. Then Box Hill, Leatherhead, Cobham (where I saw Colin, doing duty as a marshal) and we were on the home straight. The pace began to rise again.
At Wimbledon I saw Dave, Graham and Gill; Putney High Street was quite an experience at 34 mph with crowds roaring the bikes on; over the bridge, the Embankment and then it really was head down for the finish line. Parliament Square, Admiralty Arch and there it was.
There seemed to be two approaches to the Mall. Some slowed down, waved to friends and family; others got their heads down and went as fast as they could. I went for the latter, and was very pleased with myself crossing the line.
A medal and a handshake, I didn't bother with the 'goody bag', a left turn by Buckingham Palace and that was that - all over.
All in all, a great day out. Impeccable organisation, pleasant and supportive staff and fellow riders, and perfect weather for cycling. Car free riding is great, they should do it every Sunday. My time was 5:55, just inside the six hours I had estimated. End to end average 16.7mph; moving average 17.8mph with 45mph being exceeded several times. So quite a quick ride, with the peleton speeding up the flat and the downhills, but the crowd slowing the uphills. And a great experience.
If you fancy it next year, the ballot opens on Monday.
Mark
PS: Ken Williams had a great day, too. His ride description is in the 'Comments' section here: http://kingstonphoenix.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/im-riding-100-miler-on-sunday-as-is-ken.html
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