It's the final week of your Ride London training, and the nerves will be starting to build.

Unless you started panicking as soon as you got your acceptance letter, in which case this is your normal state now!

But I am here to tell you not to worry. Easy to say I know, and such a throw away statement might not help you right now, but hopefully the below final tips might. 

I've completed the ride 3 times, and Dirty Wknd has helped a few hundred members to smash the ride too, so hopefully we can help you too. 

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With just a few weeks to go now until Ride London Essex 100, riders thoughts will turn to final preparations and tapering ahead of the big day.

If you’re an experienced cyclist or Ride London regular then you might be thinking about beating your 100 mile PB on the flat(er) course and wide open Essex Roads.

However if you’re a new rider or Ride London debutante then you might be filed with anxiety and worry, with around 1 million doom filled scenarios running through your head.

One of them being finishing within the time cut.

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On the 24th February, Russia invaded Ukraine. The events that followed sent ripples of distress and anxiety through the Ukrainian community. I disengaged with the news just as I usually do with tragic world events. We’ve always been in conflict with Russia. Besides, if I can’t control it, why worry about it? 

On March 1st Mum delivered my Birthday cake to work. We sat together in her car as she cried in despair over what was unfolding at home. The rain ran down the windshield as it sank in that this isn’t just news, this is hurting my mum, my family and my people.

My 78 year old Grandma Nina lives in Ukraine. We tried to work out if and how we should evacuate her to come live with us in London. On one hand civilians were being indiscriminately killed in the conflict.

On the other hand, Nina’s entire life was in that small village home. Her animals, her neighbours, her memories. Also the long journey was complicated and dangerous, especially for the elderly. She ultimately decided to stay home and support her country the best way she could.

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Can you feel it in the air? The snow has melted, the wind slightly less biting. The sun is rising before 8am. It's definitely getting warmer, and that can mean only one thing - the coming of the Classics season. 

Venerated above (almost) all other bike races, especially in Northern Europe, the Classics are a couple of months of pure pleasure for bike fans. It really is the best time of the year!

From the opening race of Omloop Het Niewsblad (this weekend FYI), through the first Monument (see below) to the crescendo of 'Holy Week', the cycling world goes gaga for mud, dust, dirt, cobbles, impossibly steep climbs and more impossibly strong beer.

But why? What are 'The Classics' exactly, and why are they such a big deal? Read on for our beginner's guide to the Classics, and bask in the next 2 months of cycling bliss, dropping Classics wisdom on your next group ride.

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Gone is the Olympic Park start; no more Newlands Corner. Bye bye Box Hill, the Ride London masses will not only return to the capital from an entirely different direction in 2022, but they'll finish in front of a different landmark too.

The 2022 Ride London 100 route is out, and it is about as different from the 'old' Surrey version of 2013-19 fame as it can get (whilst still being in/near London).

The new route starts at the River and heads out east through the Docklands and Stratford (the only bit that's included from the old route), before catching the Epping New Road express way into Essex.

Returning via the same way, for a big photo finish in front of Tower Bridge. Loads to pick over, but let's break the route down into segments and see what's coming up.

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So, you've just found out that you've got a place in the 2022 Ride London via the ballot, and you're probably panicking about the thought of riding 100 miles at the end of May?

Or maybe you managed to get a place in the pre ballot sale, and, you know, actually wanted to take part in the event! Either way have no fear, whilst you don't have 'nothing to worry about' (100 miles is 100 miles), we can certainly help you to prepare and train for the event.

How, I hear you ask? How, can you possibly know what I can do? You've never met me, and you can't possibly know how slow/unfit/underprepared I am!

Well, actually I do feel very confident in telling you that not only will you be able to complete the ride, you'll do it much more quickly than you think and *whisper it* you'll actually really enjoy it.

I know this because we've been helping hundreds (maybe even thousands) of cyclists to train for Ride London over the last 6 years, and almost everyone has had the same concerns and worries before the ride. 

And guess what? They all smashed it, completing the ride way faster than they had predicted, and (mostly) they loved every second of it. I say mostly, no one actually 'likes' Leith Hill, but you know what I mean!

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