It’s 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning and I’m standing in a deserted supermarket car park in Balham. There’s a slight chill in the air but I’m dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, to be precise I’m wearing padded cycling shorts and a t-shirt because I’m about to take part in my first London to Brighton Bike Ride.
I decide to grab a coffee; in the coffee shop I meet up with Kate Brocklebank. Kate has arranged our team entry and organised our sponsorship for the ride. We’ll be cycling under the name the Brockettes, and much like most of our team, Kate has never done the Bike Ride before. I ask what made her decide to do this: “I’ve lived in Brighton for a few years, so I’ve been aware of it for a while, it’s just something that I wanted to do,” she says. “The fact that we are also able to raise money for the British Heart Foundation makes it even more worthwhile”
The British Heart Foundation has been involved with the annual bike ride since 1980 and in that time has raised more than £40million to fund pioneering research, patient care and provide information on prevention and care. This year an estimated 30,000 cyclists will be taking part in the event which covers 54 miles and includes the feared Ditchling Beacon – a one mile climb with a gradient of 1 in 10 which has to be tackled after 50 miles.
Back in the car park the van has arrived with our bikes and gradually various members of the Brockettes arrive from all corners. Everyone is a little nervous as the realisation dawns on each of them that it is a long way from London to Brighton. However, what is most obvious is the sense of camaraderie that events such as these bring out in people. We carry out our last checks on our bikes and make our way to Clapham Common and the start line.
The sight that greets us at the start is incredible. We’ve opted for the 9.30am start and it seems that so have most of the 30,000 participants. We make our way to the start line, get our cards stamped, and we’re off. It’s slow work as the thousands of people try to make their way through the streets of South London. At this point we’re travelling at such a leisurely pace that it’s difficult to imagine that there could be any challenge involved. I’m cycling next to Simon Green, 29, from Hackney. He’s riding what appears to be a 1980s racer-style bike, which he borrowed from a friend. “I have my own bike”, he tells me, “but it only has one gear. It’s fine for getting me to work but it won’t be much good for the hills we’re going to tackle later”. It’s clear that that Ditchling Beacon is on most people’s minds even at this early stage.
It takes forever to escape the confines of South London and you can sense that competitors feel they have achieved something when we realise we are about to pass under the M25 and cycle bells ring out in the acoustics of the tunnel. However, this joy is short-lived as we realise that we have hit our worst queue yet. I ask Kate whether, in light of these queues, she feels the event is organised well enough. She tells me, “You just have to relax, there’s no point in being stressed about these things. I don’t think that the event is badly organised but there are a lot of people who have started at the same time. In hindsight, we should have started earlier.” This view is reinforced when we meet up with Linda, another of the Brockettes: “I’ve just spoken to my friend in Brighton and she’s seen cyclists already finishing the ride.”
We stopped for lunch at the halfway point. An official rest stop had been created in the car park of a pub which offered a barbeque and cold drinks. Refreshed and rehydrated, The Brockettes exchanged notes on the journey so far. Simon and fellow Londoner Andy Brunskill, were keen to push on and limit stops for the remainder of the journey: “We’ve gone so slowly that we’re going to keep going, we’ll stop just before the Beacon for a rest.” It was agreed that we would meet at the official stop just before the Ditchling Beacon.
As we headed out for the second half of the ride the congestion had eased and it seemed that little, other than the Beacon, stood between us and our journey’s end. There are two things that stood out clearly about the experience of London to Brighton Bike Ride; the moments you find yourself cycling alone with time to reflect and enjoy the countryside, and the accidents. The sight of ambulances squeezing past cyclist on overcrowded lanes is a daunting one. Approaching Turner’s Hill our groups luck ran out as Kate spectacularly crashed. We continued as best we could to the next St John’s Ambulance centre where Kate was checked out by first-aiders. After receiving treatment I asked whether she would be able to continue: “I’ll be fine but I’m not sure I’ll get up the Beacon now. I’m just really disappointed if I can’t, it was something I set out to do.”
As we approach the village of Ditchling and the final stop before the steepest climb of the route I catch up with a few of the Brockettes. Most of the group have gone ahead while we were waiting for Kate to receive treatment. The congestion from earlier in the day has resurfaced as cyclists dismount to take on energy drinks, bananas and breath before the climb. We’ve heard from an earlier group that it is almost impossible to cycle up the Beacon due to the sheer numbers of people walking. We take a deep breath and begin the assent.
I make it about a third of the way up before I’m defeated by my lack of will power. I walk the rest of the way and meet up with the rest of the group. They mostly fall into two categories; those that admit they couldn’t do it and those that claim it was too congested to cycle to the top. There is one exception, our bloodied and bandaged team leader, Kate, has cycled to the top. She’s standing with her brother James when as she tells me she made it. “You just have to keep going,” she says, “It was tough but I was determined to do it.
As we enjoy the final ride into Brighton and bask in the cheers that we receive from sides of the road, I find a moment to talk to James, Kate’s brother: “I’m really proud of Kate getting up that hill, it is amazing really. I just got to a point when it seemed easier and quicker to walk, walkers were overtaking me.” I ask James whether he will do the ride again. He’s cautious in his response: “Maybe, it has been an amazing day, some of the scenery was spectacular, but it’s hard work. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”
The Brockettes raised over £2,000 for the British Heart Foundation.
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