Ride London, 28 May 2023

My first attempt at a sportive and my first century ride!

A very early start (4.15am alarm!) was definitely not the best start but thankfully a smooth journey into London and down to Buckingham Palace to wait for the start along Embankment. Thankfully it was pretty mild as there was no bag drop and I really didn’t want to have to carry a jacket/layer with me. I went into the event with pretty low expectations with a plan to consider it ‘time on the bike’ as part of my Ironman build.

I started at around 7.30 and the sun was already shining. The first 25miles featured a few tunnels, some closed dual carriageways and a long climb up through Epping Forest. I spent most of it chatting to a fellow cyclist and the miles passed quickly. I was feeling good when we hit the first rest stop (they pause the clock for these) so decided I’d carry on until the next one. I got fuel in early and took on more solid food when there was some congestion around an accident which meant walking the bike for about 5 minutes. 

The next 25 miles again went quickly, there were several short climbs but nothing more than 6% and I found I was able to maintain a steady pace. The bikes had thinned a little by this point so although there was a constant flow, I was never hemmed in and had space to get past people when I wanted to! I took the rest stop at 53 miles as a chance to refill my water bottles (including some electrolyte tabs) and take on some more fuel. Lots of people were sitting down and enjoying picnics and food from various food trucks but I decided as I was still feeling good I’d get back out on the course.

I managed to get through the next 50 miles maintaining a solid pace and the legs felt good right through to the end which surprised me. The finish line crossing over Tower Bridge was an incredible atmosphere to finish a fantastic ride.

Ride London are keen to emphasise that the event isn’t a race (part of the reason they pause the clocks in the rest stops) but I was still happy with my final time of 5:34 (approx 6 hours including the time when clocks paused passing through certain areas and my 10min rest stop). Definitely better than I was expecting, especially as I didn’t feel I’d gone ‘all out’ and definitely the confidence boost I needed for getting out on the long rides!

Millie Rhead