Welcome to the forum
Ride London team entry
We applied for 6 teams and we got 5 which is great,
Please note: Each rider within the team must pay their own entry fee (£48) and complete their own online entry form; all 4 riders in the team must have completed and paid for their entry by 25 April or the team will lose its place.
We will get the links for the online entries next week and I'll post them up here. I cant make the ride this year and I'm away for the next couple of weeks so will leave it to you all to sort this out.
I suggest the following teams according to who said they were interested. You dont have to stick to these but if you want to change them you'll need to agree it amongst yourselves, and make sure you get all the entries for the teams sorted out. If people drop out you will need to find replacements. I wouldnt worry too much about who is in which team, last year we all rode in one big CCA group, and you all get an individual time anyway. The group time is for the 4th member of each group across the line, but does it really matter?
MIXED TEAM (2 male. 2 female)
Mark W
Stevie W
Andrew R
Vicky
TEAM 1 (all male)
Martin H
James D
Matt S
Shaun
TEAM 2 (all male)
Will
Neil M
Robbie L
Phil K
TEAM 3 (all male)
Adam R
Mark Young
Andy Hartley
Vic
TEAM 4 (all male)
Jamie
Gino
Bob R
Bob S
1st reserve - Matt Smith
Please note: Each rider within the team must pay their own entry fee (£48) and complete their own online entry form; all 4 riders in the team must have completed and paid for their entry by 25 April or the team will lose its place.
We will get the links for the online entries next week and I'll post them up here. I cant make the ride this year and I'm away for the next couple of weeks so will leave it to you all to sort this out.
I suggest the following teams according to who said they were interested. You dont have to stick to these but if you want to change them you'll need to agree it amongst yourselves, and make sure you get all the entries for the teams sorted out. If people drop out you will need to find replacements. I wouldnt worry too much about who is in which team, last year we all rode in one big CCA group, and you all get an individual time anyway. The group time is for the 4th member of each group across the line, but does it really matter?
MIXED TEAM (2 male. 2 female)
Mark W
Stevie W
Andrew R
Vicky
TEAM 1 (all male)
Martin H
James D
Matt S
Shaun
TEAM 2 (all male)
Will
Neil M
Robbie L
Phil K
TEAM 3 (all male)
Adam R
Mark Young
Andy Hartley
Vic
TEAM 4 (all male)
Jamie
Gino
Bob R
Bob S
1st reserve - Matt Smith
Comments
Last year I recall we all put in the same anticipated ride time of 6hrs to 6hrs 9mins on the logic we would get the same start time - being mindful of the early start we had last year, 6.38am!!!!!, is there merit in putting in a quicker anticipated time, to hopefully get a later starting position - my ride time last year was 5hrs 10mins
I think it works the other way round. They send the faster riders off first to get them out the way.
We could put a slower anticipated time but would then be in with slower groups. That would probably suit Stevie and myself this time though. I suspect it was fairly random last year anyway as most of us way over estimated how long it would take which was probably the same for many others.
It depends what everyone is riding for and how important going for a fast time is.
Mark.
Definitely the other way same as VL Marathon. Faster off first for safety.
Stuart
Okay then, I am going to stick with the 6hrs-6hrs09mins estimated time on the basis that it wasn't an ultra early start and you could still avoid being caught in the "less fast"riders?
Last year, my expected ride time was the same as the CCA team riders ERT (and I think most of our other members who got places in the main ballot also set their ERT to be the same), but I was given a later start time than the CCA team. Having seen the range of riders and the results from last year, definitely the stronger riders were sent off first ... though their system did also seem to send team riders off earlier than individual entrants (even if they were clearly from the same club).
In this event, there's enormous benefit to be had from drafting, so if your goal is a fast time I suggest you put a really fast ERT on the form. That way you'll start with strong riders who also know how to work together. On the other hand, if you don't want to get up at crack of sparrows, put a longer ERT. Just bear in mind that there will be a lot of people riding for charity who won't necessarily have well-honed group-riding skills
I'd really like to join a CCA team, so please let me know what ride times you decide on and if you'll have me, I'll try to bolt myself on
I would like to aim for <5hrs (based on my effort last year) and was hoping to start with an earlier (faster) group.
Vicky
Official ride time was 5hrs 14mins 50secs.
Garmin stats:
Distance covered 101.6miles
Moving time 5hrs 5mins 03secs
Av moving speed 20.0mph
Max speed 43mph
Elevation gained 3901ft
I stopped twice and wasn't really rushing at the stops. If I'd known I could have got close to 5 hours, which was beyond my wildest dreams for my first century, I would have gone for it!
John
Last year it was possible to pick a different time from the others in the team.
But... as the start time allocation is so opaque I'd say that you putting a quicker anticipated time down is no guarantee of an earlier start.
Maybe Jane could add this to her questions to ask the organiser
Last year, they just kept saying 'start times are allocated according to your expected ride time' ... and that went on and on ... even after I'd been given a different start time to all our team riders - with the same ERT as me! Fingers are crossed that the process is a little more transparent this year and the helpline staff try to be more constructive
As you'd expect, they said start times are worked out according to expected ride times. I couldn't get a date out of them, but they have said that you can change the ERT on your entry form anytime during April, because they won't start allocating start times until 1st week in May
Don't take this as gospel though - probably safest to get your ERT right by 25th April, (just in case they go off-plan and fix start times earlier than the helpline staff have been told)
Anybody aiming to come in under 5hours? I'm thinking 4hr 50 - 4hr 59 ...
Would it be worth collating ERT and adapting teams that way perhaps if there's a chance it could split people up? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
Anyway, for what it's worth I will be aiming for 6 hours if being realistic!