Ride London 2022

It was a dull sky and chilly northerly wind that greeted us as we left our hotel for the short ride to the start of the 2022 Ride London. Standing outside the historic Houses of Parliament reminded us that we were about to undertake one of the most iconic sportives of the cycling calendar. For one of our group, it was a particularly exciting event as it was his final leg of the London Classics Challenge, The London Marathon, The Serpentine Two Mile Swim and Ride London itself.

A long queue to the start caused by the organisers allowing entrants to start in a later wave but not in an earlier one led to a somewhat tedious and chilly wait. Once underway we were able to set off at a good pace due to wide roads and the complete absence of tin box pilots trying to wriggle past and then turn left! The ride out of London, past The London Stadium where my brother, a West Ham fan, could be seen giving a respectful salute and I the single figure version, was very flat  enabling us to make good time to the first rest stop on the edge of London. This proved rather disappointing due to the lack of any meaningful refreshments apart from water bottle refilling stations and Hydration tablets from High 5 nutrition.

Anyone who has completed the original Ride London will remember the constant hold ups due to narrow roads and accidents to inexperienced cyclist slowing the ride to a stop in places. The new route went though North Essex and was much wider and safer and hold ups were very few and far between enabling us to make excellent progress to the main ‘food’ stop in the grounds of Felsted School. Again this proved rather disappointing as apart from bananas, crisps and more High 5 sweet stuff there was little in the way of refreshments. Even two coffee vans, which were so small that a queue halfway around an enormous playing field built up, were not up to much so it was a quick bottle refill, yet another High 5 tablet, and off we went.

The new route was much flatter than the previous one so, with no Leith or Box Hills to negotiate it, was a quick and relatively flat third section to the final disappointing rest stop and yet more High 5 tablets and a water bottle refill.

The last twenty five miles was very easy and my daughter in law and I were able stretch our legs and up the pace to an average in excess of twenty miles per hour as we made our way back to the finish on the stunning Tower Bridge and our eco friendly wooden medals.

On reflection the new route provided a much safer and fulfilling ride enabling us to ride with freedom on traffic free, mainly well surfaced roads. With so many cyclists of all speeds and abilities riding the organisers did a fantastic job ensuring the ride was safe well supported and successful for the vast majority of those taking part. If the rest stops had been better with a decent selection of refreshments I would undoubtably given the event a five star rating. As it is I would still recommend it as an excellent sportive well worth entering and one that all keen cyclists should do once during their cycling career.