Ride 28/05/2023 Ride London 100

Well what can I say, I’m so happy that I was able to finish the ride this year but also within the 5 hour limit that I had set for myself. The day started at 04:00 in the morning and driving into London to my booked parking slot. Bat just like last years event even though I was there by 07:00 it took an hour and half to get through all the crowds and queues to the start of the ride So I was looking for a train to get on today, as I would need that to get anywhere near my time challenge. I got to the first feed station at mile 25 to grab some water, but I had got their alone. To keep to the time limit I was going fast trying to get that 20 mph avg or better. By chance as I was a few miles out from the first stop I saw a 3 man train and tagged on as they were going very fast, over 25 mph or more. My aim here was to keep with them as long as I could, either until I blew up or got to then end of the ride. The 3 riders were the Kenilworth wheelers, there was no way I could pull a turn, I was flat out just keeping up with them, and would only slow them down if I did. But this afforded me the opportunity to get some lead in my overall time and thus allow me some spare time towards the end of the ride if I did blow up. I managed to stay with them for 68 miles non stop which is just awesome for me but I had to pull off at the last stop at 87 miles which incidentally the same place I broke down last year and had to abandon. I was out of water at this point so had to stop or risk having no water until the end of the ride. But I only had 15 miles at this point and I still had a working bike so I soldiered on at my pace, still close to 25 mph as most of the road was downhill back to London. So over all I had a fantastic day and clocked up 102 miles at just shy of 22 mph average, which meant I finished the ride in 4 hours and 40 mins, well happy with that as I probably will never again get close to or beat that