Riders and supporters of The L2P 2010 were out in force for the recent Pearson 150 Sportive, we've got reports and photos from two of the ride captains who were looking after their groups on a long and scorching day out in the saddle. Many L2P riders were using the ride as preparation for the upcoming L2P at the end of June.
From Will Watt (Group 2 Ride Captain):
Pearson's Cycles could not have wished for a more perfect way to celebrate their 150 years. A beautiful day of weather and a great route through Surrey and Sussex downland down to the playground of the south coast and back.
All credit to Will and Guy Pearson and their team for such a well organised and supported event, and for allowing L2P riders the chance to use it as part of our training schedule.
It has been encouraging this year to see so many attend the spring pre-event training rides, come rain or shine, and Sunday was no exception. Group 2 rolled up to the line 30 strong.
With many riders timed and chipped, and a few others struggling with the early pace, it was going to challenging to hold such a large group together from the start and to meet the goals of each individual.
Pace from the line left little room for warm up, and following a few early navigational glitches our group settled into the ride with averages rapidly moving through 28kph to soon settle at 31kph.
A thank you to those Pearson riders who were familiar with the London to Brighton route and kept us on the right path. As we are used to, Group 2 pulled together plenty of riding experience, discipline and a great spirit.
Up in group 1 with Michael Attenborough as sole Ride Captain there were similar challenges in holding the group together, so Michael eased the pace back to allow Group 2 to catch up by Smallfield.
The two groups naturally joined to create a new Super Group 1.5, now with 2 ride captains. Average was kept at just below 32 kph for the day, on the slow side for group 1 and on the fast side for group 2.
As ever Ditchling Beacon threw up the challenge of the day to test us all. Given the need to respect those timed riders and given that those in the main group were functioning so well together, slower riders were allowed to drop off here to be picked up by Group 3.
The reward of the view from the South Downs down to Brighton and the sea will be a memory of this summer. Refuelled in Brighton with a fine spread, we hit the road for our return, leaving our Pete from Specialized and Jimmy from Sigma Sport to be tempted by the cafe culture and people watching!
Pace remained consistent for the rest of the ride, and with Ed making the break at Headley to split the group and Michael rolling in with the only puncture of the day we made it back to Sutton in just over 5 hours.
From Rachel Przybylski (Group 3 Ride Captain):
With the weather on our side and a great turnout of L2P riders, we kicked off with a few safety reminders from Capt K. We established a plan of holding good pace on the flats and work the downhills but easy tempo on the climbs to save the legs. It's a long way with many climbs to test the strongest of riders.
Apart from a slight detour to check out the 75km route all was going well. We picked up a few G4 riders after the detour and kept a very good pace all the way to Ditchling! I was impressed several times during the day by riders who wouldn't give in and used this training ride really see how much they could get out of themselves. We had a few punctures but G4 were not far behind to pick up anyone who has mechanicles or just found the pace a little too tough on such an undulating course.
The feed stop was top notch and perfectly timed. The second half proved tough for all, with our group getting smaller and smaller. As the temperatures soared we reminded people to keep hydrated and ride efficiently to get the group home.
Capt K and a few other riders in Group 2 helped keep an average speed of almost 28kmph.
I know Mine and Capt K's legs were sore. We hope yours were too!
Pleasure riding with you all.
Capt Zappy (Rachel)
PS: Two serious pointers, please make sure your bottle cages are tight (we lost about 3 bottles) and please ensure your bikes are fully serviced before the event.