RideLondon

g0g · 31-07-2016 5:23pm #1

Anyone watching this on BBC1? So interesting having a commentator out on a motorbike with the leader. You really get a feel for the pace when he's on screen!

funnights74 · 31-07-2016 6:08pm

Great in race coverage, rider cameras live and rider data, cadence and speed. Hopefully more of this in the future. The sportive this morning was terrific. 23,000 doing 2 distances. Would be good to do next year.

Eamonnator · 31-07-2016 6:15pm

Coverage not so good now. Only camera, that seems to be working, is at the finish line

SantryRed · 31-07-2016 6:18pm

Jesus this is a disaster.

murpho999 · 31-07-2016 6:19pm

SantryRed wrote: »

Jesus this is a disaster.

If this happened on RTE there would be some outcry!

Melodeon · 31-07-2016 6:21pm

It's like the traditionally shambolic TV 'coverage' of a one-day race in the Basque Country

Ironically, the San Sebastian coverage yesterday was pretty excellent!

Eamonnator · 31-07-2016 6:22pm

I'm away to watch the F1 highlights

godtabh · 31-07-2016 6:24pm

Did this happen last year too?

velo.2010 · 31-07-2016 6:28pm

Poor coverage all day. The 'on the bike with Miller' thing was a gimmick to keep new viewers watching.. They ended up missing most of the attacks and you got the feeling the commentator wanted to go back to the action but the director was having none of it.

Well done to Boonen!

Melodeon · 31-07-2016 6:33pm

Anyone know who supplied the TV coverage?
It was on both Eurosport and the BBC, so I'm surmising that the Beeb were the host broadcaster.
Or would some independant outfit have done it and the BBC took the feed the same as Eurosport?

Anyway, someone needs to have their arse kicked up over their head for a hat!

TheBlaaMan · 31-07-2016 6:36pm

The TV coverage was a complete shambles in the last 20-15km especially. I was watching on BBC1 and - apart from the partisan nonsense when Tomas struck out solo with 50km to go "he's gonna win.." etc - no time gaps and no images at all (apart from spectators banging the hoardings) a I gave up and had dinner. Utter sh1te coverage and in the middle of London? Tosh.

neris · 31-07-2016 6:37pm

the french can broadcast live images from the top of a remote mountain and the brits cant even broadcast from the centre of london

MPFGLB · 31-07-2016 6:47pm

coverage of the Irish nationals was better !!!

You think the Beeb were biased ...Even after Thomas had a gap and was going for the win Kirby was saying it was all for Froome who was going to win the race (no matter that Stephens told him several times the course did not suit Froome).... he also said Froome was going to win double gold in Rio :eek:

Melodeon · 31-07-2016 6:48pm

This race needs some sort of ludicrous hat to give the winner, something like this perhaps:

Also, their own weight in traditional local foodstuffs:

MPFGLB · 31-07-2016 7:03pm

godtabh wrote: »

Did this happen last year too?

Can't emember last year but it happened this year at Tour of Yorkshire....for a whole day

So I'd say the Baque races can point the finger at England

velo.2010 · 31-07-2016 7:03pm

MPFGLB wrote: »

Even after Thomas had a gap and was going for the win Kirby was saying it was all for Froome who was going to win the race (no matter that Stephens told him several times the course did not suit Froome).... he also said Froome was going to win double gold in Rio :eek:

That's a new low for Kirby if that's what he said. He was insufferable during the Tour. What was innocent and somewhat infectious enthusiasm when he first got the Eurosport gig has turned into self important jingoistic nonsense now.

Rob Hatch, Matt Keenan and even the Beeb guy today are all pretty good.

MPFGLB · 31-07-2016 7:08pm

velo.2010 wrote: »

That's a new low for Kirby if that's what he said. He was insufferable during the Tour. What was innocent and somewhat infectious enthusiasm when he first got the Eurosport gig has turned into self important jingoistic nonsense now.

Rob Hatch, Matt Keenan and even the Beeb guy today are all pretty good.

Ned Boulting is not bad...I like Stephens & Llyod but they are directed by Kirby
Wish they'd give Llyod main comms sometimes
Hatch is fine if you tune out the over exaggration of accents...but he knows his stuff and is fair

Beasty · 31-07-2016 7:16pm

Coverage out on the sticks was fine and the Miller thing on the back of the motorbike was novel and added to the coverage in my view.

I think there were similar issues with coverage within London last year. It would be surprising if it's the BBC who are responsible as they cope with the London marathon every year quite easily. What they do not do though is relay stuff from motorbikes which gets me wondering if someone else was brought in for the TV coverage.

godtabh · 31-07-2016 7:33pm

MPFGLB wrote: »

Can't emember last year but it happened this year at Tour of Yorkshire....for a whole day

So I'd say the Baque races can point the finger at England

Maybe that's what I was remembering. The women's race was ruined and only got to see some of the mens race

CrowdedHouse · 31-07-2016 8:06pm

https://twitter.com/adamtranter/status/759802125320724480

Beasty · 31-07-2016 8:18pm

godtabh wrote: »

Maybe that's what I was remembering. The women's race was ruined and only got to see some of the mens race

IIRC that was down to the helicopter relaying images being grounded

dahat · 31-07-2016 8:57pm

When does the entry open for 2017? Is it a difficult one to get an entry for?

funnights74 · 31-07-2016 9:27pm

dahat wrote: »

When does the entry open for 2017? Is it a difficult one to get an entry for?

The organising chairman said on the bbc earlier that the lottery for next year's cycle opens on the 8th of August. Not sure about fees criteria etc.

Beasty · 31-07-2016 9:46pm

There were 2 very serious accidents (each involving air ambulances being called). The idea of closed roads is appealing but I suspect you will still find the roads very crowded and there is a risk of many inexperienced cyclists trying to race around the course (even the BBC were referring to the sportive as a race)

neris · 31-07-2016 10:11pm

Beasty wrote: »

There were 2 very serious accidents (each involving air ambulances being called). The idea of closed roads is appealing but I suspect you will still find the roads very crowded and there is a risk of many inexperienced cyclists trying to race around the course (even the BBC were referring to the sportive as a race)

So was carlton on eurosport

neris · 31-07-2016 10:14pm

From twitter @ukcyclingexpert

One of the Barmy Army riders was doing well for a while but Essex Kwik Fit have won it with Tom Boonen!! Another great win for UK cycling.

funnights74 · 31-07-2016 11:22pm

Beasty wrote: »

There were 2 very serious accidents (each involving air ambulances being called). The idea of closed roads is appealing but I suspect you will still find the roads very crowded and there is a risk of many inexperienced cyclists trying to race around the course (even the BBC were referring to the sportive as a race)

After seeing the elite race and some of those roads were also used by the sportive, jeeze you could barely fit 2 bikes on them they were so narrow. I'm surprised there were only 2 bad accidents. I believe there were 23,000 in the sportive.:eek:

WinnyThePoo · 01-08-2016 5:53am

Good win for boonen!. I had my money on Mathews!. Good strong ride from Thomas. Not much to say. The smaller teams had a go. With standard and Thomas in the break made it a real interesting day!.

oconnpad · 01-08-2016 12:58pm

Just seen the cyclist died involved in the incident. RIP

Lumen · 01-08-2016 1:17pm

oconnpad wrote: »

Just seen the cyclist died involved in the incident.

From a heart attack rather than a crash, judging by the coverage.

http://road.cc/content/news/199400-ridelondon-surrey-100-cyclist-dies-after-heart-attack

I suppose it's to be expected with that number of people. Mortality rate for a group of 27,000 50 year olds is approx 0.25/day.

gaffmaster · 01-08-2016 1:26pm

I did the sportive RL 100 yesterday (did it last year too).

dahat wrote: »

When does the entry open for 2017? Is it a difficult one to get an entry for?

Entry: It's a ballot system - I have entered twice from my UK address and once from my Irish address and only ever won an entry with my Irish address. To enter from abroad, the fee is £85 for a place. The fee from within the UK is £58 (I think you can see what I'm implying). Last year, I got a charity place, whereby you agree to raise a certain amount for that charity in exchange for an entry - you wear the charity jersey etc.

Beasty wrote: »

There were 2 very serious accidents (each involving air ambulances being called). The idea of closed roads is appealing but I suspect you will still find the roads very crowded and there is a risk of many inexperienced cyclists trying to race around the course (even the BBC were referring to the sportive as a race)

"Race": I have done a handful of Sportives in Ireland (ROK, WW200 etc) and the UK and this one is by far the most competitive feeling one I've ever done. I quite enjoyed that element, as it really pushes you to try your best - I'd imagine a marathon would be like this.
The closed roads really enable maximum effort and the crowds/barriers/banners/cheering etc help it feel like a pro race off the telly! So, a lot of people do call it a race, and I'd imagine they're referring to achieving Personal Bests, rather than actually beating those around you.
I saw the aftermath of a few bad crashes - it's impossible to know whether they were caused by this 'race' attitude, or any other element. Having said that, there were some people riding outside of their ability and taking big risks, which made them liabilities on the road. Especially on the descents; some of which are tricky and poorly lit due to tree cover. You get riders like that at every sportive, but with the sheer number of riders at the Ride London, they become more dangerous. I'm all for pushing yourself, but putting safety first always. The vast majority of riders were well mannered and courteous.

funnights74 wrote: »

After seeing the elite race and some of those roads were also used by the sportive, jeeze you could barely fit 2 bikes on them they were so narrow. I'm surprised there were only 2 bad accidents. I believe there were 23,000 in the sportive.:eek:

Route: The lanes referred to as being too narrow above weren't on the route for the two sportives. They were part of the "Ranmore Common" loop that the pros did a number of times. Having said that, there was one stoppage (entering Kingston Market) where the entire field were halted as the road narrowed through the town of Kingston. I think it was a traffic calming exercise, which possibly prevented accidents, so kudos.

I really enjoyed it again this year, and I'll enter it next year. It's worth it just for the traffic free ride out of London at the crack of dawn.

RideLondon

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