"Ludicrous": Disappointed RideLondon cyclists learn safety car will set 22mph pace limit

Good news everyone.  RideLondon have released an announcement backtracking on the 22mph speed limit.  The safety car will travel according to "conditions on the road" (in other words, will stay ahead of lead group).

This is a welcome development and credit due to them for clarifying and apologising.  I think it's important to make people here aware, so that fast riders do not head back into wave Z and create unnecessary friction and congestion on the day.  See you near the front!

Only experience of these sort of events was London to Brighton many years ago.  I drove a support van first year and noticed that anyone wanting to cane it down to Brighton were in the lead groups.  Took part the following year with a relatively slow family group that started at a sociable time; was immediately apparent that due to the mass of riders you just had to go with the flow.  Sense that Ride London has developed the same way; anyone wanting to hammer it round the course (like the earlier years of the event) should go elsewhere.  Guess they could let the lead groups go for it but then if everyone behind can't behave themselves (ie go with the flow) then it'll just attract bad press.  Victim of it's own success perhaps, depending on your perspective.  A mass participation/celebration of cycling isn't a race.

Twitter Pete Smart

"This has got me thinking. Why don’t we have orange safety cars permanently driving around at or below the speed limit? 20 in urban areas, 70 motorways etc. Illegal to overtake them. Save lives, reduce stress. I’m going to patent it. (Wouldn’t apply to closed road sportives!)"

I would seem the ban hammer has come down - is John Stevenson in the building?

Totally ignoring the  merits (or otherwise) of a safety car, and by extension a speed limit, it strikes me that this is a material change to what was advertised. With that in mind, if those who have entered aren't happy about it, I think they'd have reasonable grounds to ask for a refund.

Seems like some of the Essex locals arent so keen on the event happening either,not exactly confidence inspiring that they are still having access conversations like these only 2 weeks from the event maybe this is the issue trying to minimise the total time closures are in place https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0c72tqp

plus parts of Essex get 3 days of various road closures to cater for the Ride London classique taking place.

It really isn't worth entering closed road events like this in the UK. Almost any event on mainland Europe will be better, easier to enter and get a place in and not milked for all they are worth by the organisers flogging charity places.

Pure speculation but I wonder if the reasons for the speed restriction are more to do with public perception of the event being safe, so it can continue yearly, rather than any faux safety concerns. Essentially it's an event run by an events company that will be making a profit. Any event like this attracts huge public criticism for inconvenience caused, so it's probably more important to appease the Essex councils and residents rather than the entrants (the majority of which the speed restriction will cause no issues). Wonder if this restriction was always intended but not publicised so it didn't scare the faster entrants away.
I feel for those who want to ride fast and set times, but there are 100mile time trials if you want to do it properly, where you don't benefit from the draft. It is essentially a participation event aimed at people to complete, not race.

When did Kermit and Miss piggy invade the comments section?

It really seems like this is a poor choice. 
 

even if they want to limit the speeds, then choosing 25 or 26mph would have affected only a few riders, while making little difference to the safety of the riders, marshalls, pedestrians.
 

After all the vast majority of our road network is apparently safe at 30 for all users. 

22mph isn't particularly fast. Frankly, on a flat course like this I would be expecting to be averaging comfortably over 22mph even if the road's weren't closed once out of London. That wouldn't even be pushing particularly hard - just comfortably a comfortably fast easy century. With closed roads the usual factors slowing people down are removed, so even the London sections will be fast. 22mph is open road club run pace for many. 

It would be interesting to understand how the 22mph limit was determined. It's slow enough to be well within the capabilities of a large portion of the riders who will be taking part even on open roads, which makes me think that they haven't really put much consideration into it.

Thing is I don't get what's changed. They managed to successfully run the Surrey 100 for 10 odd years with no 22mph safety car and a bag drop.

What's changed?

IMO the risk sits with the less experienced slower riders, not the more skilful faster riders. The team of 100 safety marshals will never address where the risk truly sits. The several detrimental effects on rider safety and the reasons are really well set out here in the comments. As the organisers asked entrants what their expected finish time would be (sub-4hrs was an option) and informed us 2 weeks before the event about the speed cap, I'd say this is grounds for getting your money back.

On a serious note, I'm guessing the average speed limit is almost certainly an insurance requirement. A 20-30,000 person open entry cycle event where a number of people have died or suffered life changing injuries in recent years is going to be prohibitively expensive to ensure unless you can demonstrate you are doing everything you can to reduce dangerous behaviour. Not great but if you want to race or take part in a time trial this sort of event isn't for you.

Please take a moment to complain to the the organisers:

Online - https://www.ridelondon.co.uk/help/contact-us

By phone - 0207 902 0200

and on Twitter (@RideLondon)

They need to hear the widespread concern about just how dangerous this well-meaning but deeply idiotic proposal is.  They haven't thought through the unintended consequences of riders who quite understandably will take matters into their own hands by the hundred. Word is spreading rapidly, it will spread further in the pens on the day, fast riders will just move backwards into later pens or dawdle at the start line. This will exacerbate congestion (already a concern), which will make crashes and injuries more likely. 

"It's not a race" is a tired and irrelevant line. You don't need to be in a race to ride quickly, for many that is the whole point of closed roads events.  Training rides aren't races but you don't set arbitrary speed limits on those.  22mph is painfully slow for a flat route.  I know the organisers want to encourage non-cyclists, women etc and discourage trained club riders from taking part in Ride London, but they need to be realistic and accept that quick riders will slip through the net and get places anyway. Endangering them on the road is not the solution. 

Vélo Birmingham had its problems, but they nailed this aspect.  Two motorbike escorts plus a lead police motorbike out front, letting the front group set the pace, which was around 25mph on a rolling course.  No problems, no dodgy moments.  Where were the crashes and the fatality?  Way way back in the congested middle.