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2014 RideLondon sportive ballot full after just 27 days.

We told you you'd have to be quick...

All 80,000 places in the entry ballot for the 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 are full and less than a month after it opened the ballot is now closed, organisers have announced.

There’s still been no word about just how many riders will take part in next year’s event, but applicants will be notified in February whether they have been successful.

Last year’s event took five months to reach 50,000 entries, a mark that this years ballot passed in 24 hours.

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 will be part of the second Mayor of London’s annual festival of cycling and will be run on Sunday August 10 2014. It will be preceded on Saturday August 9 by the RideLondon FreeCycle, a family event on closed roads around Westminster; and the RideLondon Grand Prix circuit races for women and juniors on Saturday evening. After the sportive riders have finished, the road course will be given over to professionals for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “An eclectic cast of cyclists has registered to enter next year’s Prudential RideLondon festival, which promises to be bigger and better than ever. London will once again be transformed as tens of thousands of people test their two-wheeled mettle on the capital’s streets.”

David Hodge, Leader of Surrey County Council, said: “It is fantastic that so many people have signed up so quickly to cycle once again through Surrey’s glorious countryside. We look forward to welcoming thousands of people to next year’s celebration of pedal power, and this underlines Surrey’s prime position as a top cycling destination.”

More than 15,000 amateur cyclists finished the first Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on Sunday 4 August 2013 after cycling 100 miles from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, out through the capital and into the Surrey Hills before returning to a hero’s welcome on The Mall in central London.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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14 comments

Avatar
chadders | 10 years ago
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Welcome to the world of us who have tried for years to get into the London Marathon. Very similar set up, ballot then leaving you hanging for months.
They say that giving your fee up for charity helps your application, believe me it doesn't have tried that several times!!!

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Nick T | 10 years ago
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I'm hoping I get in on the main ballot because I don't think I can deal with the grief of raising money for any of the charities.

"So what you doing then?"

"riding a bike."

"Don't you do that every day anyway?"

"Ahh...Yeah....."

Avatar
Leviathan replied to Nick T | 10 years ago
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Nick T wrote:

I'm hoping I get in on the main ballot because I don't think I can deal with the grief of raising money for any of the charities.

"So what you doing then?"

"riding a bike."

"Don't you do that every day anyway?"

"Ahh...Yeah....."

Well there should be charity slots going right up the the event if it is like this year.
Your choices are:
1. Pay £500-700 for a slot, then claim a rebate from your family and friends cause you can't actually afford that.
2. Pay yourself then collect even more for charity.
3. Just pay then don't bother collection, that is a lot of money for a sportive ticket.
4. Buy wheels instead.

Having charity slots is wonderful but how many of the 5000 empty slots were charity spaces and why where they not put back into the pot?
Good luck in the ballot.

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mickcee | 10 years ago
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Yep you paid money upfront only if wanted to, you get a jacket if unsuccessful if I remember rightly!

I never paid upfront this year but have this time as didn't get in not paying, I know its a ballot so everyone has the same chance but hoping that makes a difference. Fingers crossed!

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Orbea Mike replied to mickcee | 10 years ago
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Unsuccessful applicants who've paid up front get a rain jacket. However I think they also get entered in a second ballot for 1000 "extra" places and also chances to win Etape de Tour entry.

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Gkam84 | 10 years ago
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I didn't pay any money upfront, you only do that if you want to donate the cash if you don't get into the ride.

I just hope this review they are holding let recumbents in

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cidermart | 10 years ago
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Convince her of a weekend break away in London  3

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farrell replied to cidermart | 10 years ago
0 likes
cidermart wrote:

Convince her of a weekend break away in London  3

I was thinking somewhere more romantic, like Lake Como...

*Cough* Madonna del Ghisallo *cough*

 3

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cidermart replied to farrell | 10 years ago
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farrell wrote:
cidermart wrote:

Convince her of a weekend break away in London  3

I was thinking somewhere more romantic, like Lake Como...

*Cough* Madonna del Ghisallo *cough*

 3

Genius  41

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farrell | 10 years ago
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I will probably be selected as I've entered the ballot only to realise that the day of the ride clashes with my wedding anniversary.

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othello | 10 years ago
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You don't have to pay the £48 up front, only if you want to donate your entry fee to charity if you don't get in.

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zanf | 10 years ago
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So 80,000 have applied for unspecified amount of places (This year was 20,000 with around 5,000 DNS/DNF).

You have to pay out £48 to enter and you find out in February if you have a spot so they sit on £3,840,000 for 5 months and then if you dont get a spot, do you get a refund?

I think I'd rather pay the £25 - £30 for open road sportives and know that I definitely have a place.

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Angelfishsolo | 10 years ago
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Well my name is in there somewhere.......  16

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cidermart | 10 years ago
0 likes

In but not holding my breath  1

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