London to Southend BHF Bike Ride (Sunday 17th July)

[Southminster_Shrimper]

Some of you may know, some may not but I took up cycling about 16 months ago now after being rejected by a Virgin Gym for being too unhealthy...well high BP actually. Seems they dont like unfit people joining their gyms.

Having done a few bike rides in the last year, including the london bikeathon (26 miles round london), the Foulness Island Ride for Thorpe Bay Round Table and the Burnham/Southminster Icycle ride I now plan to take on the London to Southend bike ride in July of this year.

This isnt a request for sponsorship (yet!) but more to highlight the event and also to see if any fellow cyclists would be interested to partner this old dawg along the 50+ mile route from london to southend in mid July.

Currently the event is listed on the bike events website for registration:

http://www.bike-events.com/Ride.aspx?id=270

it doesnt appear just yet on the BHF website.

If you are interested in registering and meeting up as a group then feel free.....I am no specialist lycra wearer and dont own a road bike so if your more than average then feel free to take part.

Maybe SUFC or even SZ might even sponsor us to advertise their name or put towards this good cause for our efforts in the close football season.

 

[Firestorm]

I have just got my old iron out of the shed and am planning to get back to some level of fitness, I will see how its going in early May as a 50 mile ride would be one way of celebrating my 53rd birthday a few days earlier

 

[Southminster_Shrimper]

I dont think you need too much fitness to be honest....two suggestions:

1. You need no more encouragement than being overtaken by someone who has a wicker basket on the front of their bike!
2. A fit filly clad in lycra in front of you is always an incentive to carry on despite the pain

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I'll probably do it this year.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Oooh, this has got me tempted! I did 'Palace to Palace' in late September, a 45 mile route from Buckingham Palace to Windsor and had a great time although having a chunky framed mountain bike with fat wheels made it tougher than it needed to be.

Went for my first bike ride since then yesterday and whilst a bit achey, it was great to be back in the saddle. Bring on the warm weather...

 

[chadded]

Although I've not done it for a few years, the London to Southend ride is good fun. Some will say Chigwell Hill and the hill in Hullbridge are hard, but they are nothing more than cheeky. Real men get themselves up Ditchling Beacon on the London to Brighton ride, usually on Fathers day every year.

Good luck though, I'm tempted to sign up for it myself thinking about it...

 

[Southminster_Shrimper]

Thanks folks....it seems it might only be a struggle for me then! lol

Anyway, there have been a few interested in registering in addition to those who have replied - ie SBH and the artist formerly know as Glasgow_Shrimper.

While a team registration would be best, we have decided to go as individuals due to the disparity of the entrees. Therefore, we plan to register ourselves for the London to Southend bike ride on 20th January. If you would like to be included in the chosen start time then let me know or alternatively SBH.

If we get a few people grouped together then that would be great. I dont pretend to be any good at cycling or particularly fit incase you are put off for these events. I am quite average tbh.

The decided start time will be posted before we register but if you would like to be included in the "team" beforehand then let use know before 20th January.

Thank you

 

[duncan bulgaria]

This is not a ' look at what I did ' post , but more of a bit of advise .

I done the Artemis Highland challenge in September , cycling 82 miles around the Scottish wilderness , with 30 miles off road ( a proper killer I may add ) , was a great experience and one i'll never forget ....the amount of times I wanted to give up was a surprise to me and its a lonely old place out on that saddle , so I welcome that fact that you should defo ' Buddy ' up .

Obvious one is to get some serious padding on the J-Lo area and to have as good a bike as possible , I done a 50 mile warm up last year on a Mountain bike and struggled , then I hopped on a road bike and was amazed at how much easier it is .

We got told to take Banana's , flap jacks for some good energy boosting .

And lastly good luck fella , I may opt to get involved in this ride but I vowed not to get back on a bike until training for Septembers Highland challenge again, as I was not happy at taking 9hrs 39 mins to do last years ....want to try and wipe an hour off that time.

 

[jstallan]

From when I did the London-> Southend ride a few years ago, I don't think they were too fussy about people's start time - I think we started at least 30 mins earlier than we had booked for, partially due to me eating the hot bacon sarnie very quickly!!

I did it with a mate and we mapped out some training sessions using the 'mapmyrun' website. Each session included the ride from 'The Shorehouse to 'Chalkwell Beach and then up past chalkwell Avenue to Kings Road and along through Leigh Broadway. The reason for this is that the bloody wind was always in your face and the last bit had a few gradients on it to get the heart and legs sapping the energy out of you.

Perhaps like yourself I'm not the 'lightest' person in the world, so carrying around the extra 'muscle' meant I worked a little harder than most.

On the day me and my mate had a great time. The change of tyres (not the one round my waist) from knobbly to general road type made such a difference. Hanningfield Reservoir was probably the killer point for me, but I made the end of the ride without getting off the bike once (apart from the 4 scheduled stops en-route) and when my wife and daughter met me at Priory Park I was on a second wind..

Double up on padded shorts is good advice (you can always take a pair off if needed).

The ride home from Priory Park was a little painful, due to the break we had with the family. The evening meal out at East in Southend was really uncomfortable and I wished I'd work my padded shorts there!

Anyhow, good luck fella and I might just join you in July....