London to Brighton

I like the look of that ditchling devil and might have a crack at it - thank you for that and it's very convenient for me.

There's always the Ditchling Devil for a smaller experience although further http://events.paudax.com/ditchlingdevil

You can give the cash savings straight to BHF or whoever.

Always wanted to do this ride & on moving to Brighton (well, the outskirts) many years ago, I finally signed up, and went on to do it several times.
It's a great ride, for a great cause, but the sheer popularity just put me off. I'm all for getting folks on bikes & raising money for charity, but every year it has got busier & busier, with more & more silly accidents, the only way to describe my last experience was to liken it to a cattle market.
People pushing & shoving. Far too many with absolute zero spacial awareness or any idea of how to ride in a group. People stopping with no warning to answer phones.
I was knocked off while stationary at traffic lights not far from the start, by a woman wearing toe straps, she'd done them up so tight she couldn't get her foot out, so used me to stop herself, Twice by people clipping my back wheel, once by a man who just veered into me. I never managed to cycle up the Beacon on any of the rides.
I decided that for my own self preservation that I might not make it out alive next time.
I had friends do it last year & were lucky enough to get in the first bunch of starters...and had no problems at all. So if you are going for it then get an early slot.

There are also other L2B rides, not just the BHF one.
I have done the Midnight ride once & Capital to Coast ride for the last 3yrs , slightly different route, but nowhere near as manic, It aslo has the advantage of multiple starting points, 1 in London, 1 in Esher, a halfway start near Haywrads Heath, or a Hove loop, still covering 60 miles but start & finish on the seafront...
Plenty of choices out there - Good Luck with whatever you decide to do

I'm glad to hear that you took the plunge. I have no doubt that you'll manage the ride with only a little work beforehand. If you can ride 30 miles in training, you can complete L2B.

If you want the cycling itself to be the highlight, I hope you seriously considered taking the advice about starting early (close to 6am) - Once out of London, a lot of the roads are too narrow to accommodate the volume of riders and EVERY small incline will bottleneck. Mostly this means just getting off and pushing or standing still for long periods.

Most importantly, I cannot emphasise enough how much you will need to keep your wits about you at all times. The majority of those taking part will not have much experience riding at all, let alone in a group or on crowded roads. No signals. No road awareness. Expect people to swerve radnomly into your path, stop suddenly in front of you without warning (particularly as the road starts to go up) or come off the bike completely on a fast corner. Be safe.

Ultimately, though, you'll not regret taking part. The camaraderie of so many people for a good cause, the challenge of climbing Ditchling, the fun of descending Ditchling(!), and being cheered to the finish line. Embrace it and enjoy it!

Very best of Luck to you.

The bastard steep offroad bit of the last hill made me very happy at my oh so astute fitting of a road cassette on my mountain bike. Honest.

agree on the off road - doing it tomorrow just for the sake of it !

I've done it once, last year.

Not again. Too many people, many of whom get off and walk at the first hill. It became very frustrating - I'm just a standard 38yr old slightly chubby chappy on an ally road bike and nowt special but I don't remember getting overtaken much, and I absolutely sailed past hundreds up hill and down dale. My main concern was that I was sharing road space with some pretty inattentive bike riders and gave them as wide a berth as possible.

That said, I saw my highest ever speed reading on the way down the big hill near the end when the crowd had dispersed - dangerous but fun and a cherished memory.

The offroad one ROCKS though.

I did it last year with friends, raising £500 or so for the BHF - that fulfilled an old promise.

Downside: too many cyclists for a serious cyclist to enjoy the ride! I'd trained hard for it and was prepared to do every hill, but I had to walk most of them due to the volume of riders blocking the road. Bi did ride Ditchling Beacon by shouting people to move over, but on other hills that was not possible.

Also, the 'traffic control'. At one point we were kept waiting 45 minutes, en masse, until a near rebellion broke out and they had to let us out! Mad.

Upside: riding down Madeira Drive to the applause of a large crowd. That felt great. Raising the money. Being able to say 'I've done it'.

I would recommend cycling the route another time if you want to enjoy what ought to be a great route, and then do the charity thing but don't expect a smooth ride. Other charity rides will be calmer.

Good luck!

It's a doddle; I did it a few years ago in a small team. It was the longest distance I'd done but I was pretty cycle fit as a result of commuting. We didn't 'hammer it' as for some people in our team it was a real challenge; as such it was quite enjoyable as we just went with the flow. Watch yourself for the first few miles but then people start to 'space out' more. Loads of refreshment stops so input will definitely exceed output. I did it on a hybrid but I was amazed at people with top-end road bikes pushing them up the hills. No pushing up Ditchling though (short and sharp), and there's a great downhill run into Brighton. A team meal in Brighton ends things off well. Logistics takes a bit of planning and a support van makes things a lot easier for getting home (make sure you read all the info on this as you can't take your bike home on the train for example). Only had one 'loony' trying to weave through everyone but came up to a bend shortly afterwards to find him sprawled over the road with first aiders round him. The year before I did it I drove the support van and, when I arrived in Brighton after a breakfast stop, the 'roadies' were finishing so if you don't want to hang around then be in an early start group.

Well enjoy the ride, is it June this year? I would recommend Nightrider for a second bike event. 65 miles through the night, very fun.

Personally I wouldn't touch the BHF ride with a bargepole - mainly for the reasons stated above

If you want to do a supported ride with signage, feed stations etc then there's lots of other smaller events. I got roped into doing this one with work a couple of years ago - much more manageable numbers and much more pleasant. Just note that it goes into Brighton from the Devils Dyke side (also a challenging climb) and not Ditchling Beacon
http://www.capitaltocoast.org.uk/

As an aside, the guys from work were all pretty much gym-bunnies boasting how easy they thought the ride they would be and how they'd have no trouble keeping up with me. One guy even showed up with his neighbour's £8k Specialized. I was first one home by about 1h15 without trying that hard

Edit: There's not usually any restrictions on bikes on trains back to London for the smaller rides. Obviously check with train companies before you go etc etc

As everyone else has said the only real challenge on the route is Ditchling Beacon and that comes close to the end, you have ages till the event so gradually build up the distance in training and you will have no problems.

Everytime I have done it there has always been a bunch of wannabe sprinters off the start, which normally get passed about mile 10 when it starts to go uphill - start slower and cautiously as its busy then pick up the speed when you get out of London - its too easy to copy everyone else's pace at mass events like this.

From experience I would advise to go as early as you can - a 6am start makes it a breeze and you can be in Brighton before it gets busy. The later you start the slower the ride, and the more chance you have of gridlock on the smaller climbs with people walking. Also every year there are crashes on the descents and you stand less chance of being caught up in it.

If you do start late and are being picked up I would advise cycling a couple of miles out along the promenade towards Hove. Its pretty much flat and its easier to get to by car if you avoid the town and way less busy.

I did the ride a couple of years back, it wasn't the longest i had done to date, but it was very challenging. Not really because of the route, or my fitness, but because of the sheer amount of people. The first 10 miles out of london is carnage, so very slow! I got thrown off my bike by a much heavier cyclist on a really busy incline. He was weaving all over and got tangled with me, sprained a wrist in the first 10 miles!! So be careful. Ditchling would be fine on its own, but with the amount of people, it takes a lot of concentration to get up there without stopping. People are walking on both sides of the road and sometimes getting off in the middle, ruining your rhythm. Overall the ride is a nice achievement and it feels good coming down the final straight, but its far too crowded. If you're going to do it, make sure you start early!

I did the LBR as my first long ride, starting at 7am it was still carnage getting out of London. I had my front wheel wrecked when someone fell on it on the first climb. I managed to finish and vowed never to do the event again, I switched to doing the Action Medical rides which are much nicer.
The train companies will not carry bikes at all on the day of the ride leaving lots of bewildered cyclists at the station. Traffic that day in Brighton is gridlocked and getting home can be a nightmare.
The route itself is enjoyable except for Ditchling Beacon which is fine to ride up on the day of the event as the road is closed, if you can get to it early enough then there are not too many walkers. At other times when the road is open it is not a pleasant climb because of the heavy traffic and twisting turns result in a lot of impatient drivers. Climb is best done before 10am on a Sunday morning if the road is open.

We have done the L2B ride for the last 5 years. The first year was a start time of 8 am and the ride getting out of London and on the hills was a nightmare. Now we leave at 6am and it's a wonderful ride. Thankfully we have somewhere to stay in Brighton overnight, so I can't comment on how to get back the same day.

I've done it overnight, and if you're not used to this kind of distance, it'll be tough.
There are a few testing climbs along the route, culminating with Ditchling Beacon. With 50+miles in your legs its is a big ask, but you've got plenty of time to get is shape, so go for it! The sense of achievement when rolling down to the coast is great.

I found this site a great source of information before I set out.
https://sites.google.com/site/cyclingroutes/

As for the number of riders, it depends what you want out of the day. If you want to give it your best shot, and challenge yourself on the climbs, then you need a VERY early start time (7am at the latest I've been told), as the sheer weight of riders who are walking up the hills will force you to walk too.

Alternatively If you want a fun day out and aren't fussed about walking up the hills a later start time will do.

London to Brighton is a lovely satisfying ride whichever way you do it (on or off road). The on road charity rides are very busy from what I hear and you end up walking up the hills due to sheer numbers. I have ridden it several times but never in a mass event (as in general they don't appeal).
If you are doing it as part of a small group then it will probably be more fun and in terms of training the BHF website has useful training plans. 60 miles is not a ride you just show up to but 6-8 weeks training should do you proud.
Enjoy !

I've never done it, but I do know that the numbers cause transport problems. To give an idea of the scale, if everyone, without their bike, wanted to get a train back to London, it would need about 30-40 12 carriage (maximum length) trains, in addition to the rest of the normal service which with it being a busy summer weekend is often packed any.

London to Brighton was the first 'long' ride I ever did, and I enjoyed it. That said, the reasons I enjoyed it were not really to do with the event itself: it was the sense of achievement of finishing a ride longer than any I had ever done before.

The huge amount of riders involved is the biggest setback. If you happen to ride, rather than push, up some of the bigger hills - you will have to weave between hundreds of people who are walking their bikes.

The route itself is not hugely challenging, but if you don't normally do much cycling then it will be quite hard work! Ditchling Beacon being the famous 'big' hill - not easy, even for a seasoned cyclist.

Basically, it is a well organised event for a great cause, but there are better ways to have fun on a bike