FT London 100

Yesterday, I rode the FT London 100. That's miles, not kilometres, a proper Century.  It was a very good ride, though fairly tough in the circumstances.  The forecast had been pretty dreadful, but the delivered weather was rather better.  We did get the strong westerly winds, but almost none of the rain, which was a good thing.

The start was at Dulwich Park. About 2500 riders set off in waves of a few hundred at a time, as is usual with these things.  Well organised and no problems at all.  The route went out through Croydon to the Downs, down the other side and across all the old favourites like Weare Street to the bottom of Pitch Hill in Ewhurst.  This leg was a hard pull into the wind, the next was a bit of a surprise for some  riders, who thought that Box Hill was the only hill in Surrey.  To make sure the point was understood we went over Pitch Hill and Combe Bottom then right down to Ripley, before climbing again to Ranmore.  Much more slowly, now. On the way up an Australian asked how far it was to go, and were there any more big hills.  'About thirty, and only Box Hill' I told him.  'Thirty K?'.  'No, miles'.  'Jeez, Box Hill'.  That's global recognition for you.

There was a timed 'King of the Mountains' up Box Hill, but I left that to the younger folk and just did a steady ride.  Then it was over the top and down through Chipstead when the good bit effectively ended.  From here it was a scrabble through the suburbs back to Herne Hill, about ten miles through South London's finest, out for some Sunday retail therapy in their cars.  To be fair to the organisers the route was not too bad and was well marshalled, but it was the least enjoyable bit for me.  Not for all, I suspect - I'm sure my Australian friend felt he was getting a genuine London experience - and the 'lap of honour' at Herne Hill went down very well indeed.

So, round the Velodrome, congratulations and a nice medal, then home for tea.

The ride was organised by Human Race, who do lots of Sportives, Marathons and so on.  It showed.  Organisation was slick, friendly and low key.  Timing chips and numbers came in the post a couple of weeks before, everything worked, and your time arrived by text about five seconds after you crossed the line.  Marshalling and signposting were excellent and there were three feed stations, which I didn't bother with.  Audax teaches me to be self-sufficient, I guess. Very well run.

My time was OK, middle of the field, but good in my age group.  I've a hatful of excuses as to why I could have gone faster, but that's what the clock said on the day.

The event also begs comparison with the Prudential London 100.  At 2500 riders it's certainly not small, but that's a lot less than 20,000, and the scale and logistics reflect that, for good and ill.  The FT 100 course is much harder - I clocked more than 8000 feet of climbing - and the roads aren't closed, so you don't get the fast pelotons that you get on the Prudential 100.  So it's slower.  Which one should you pick?  Well, do both is the obvious answer!

Mark