00:15We're here at Hearn Hill Velodrome today and we're going to ride to the Lee Valley
00:21Velodrome in London, two iconic London cycling destinations to show you the
00:26merits of riding your bike in the city. Now to take on this challenge I'm using this
00:31the beautiful Rivel Hybrid ALE, something with a little twist because it does use a
00:37little motor. And I've chosen Cannondale's Topstone Tiagra as my bike of choice here
00:42and we're going to be using Komoot to plan our route from Hearn Hill all the way
00:45to Lee Valley. Well we'd better go on with it really haven't we? Hang on.
00:51What are you doing here? There was a memo last night did you not see it?
00:55The boss said we're going to spice this video up and make a race of it. I'm
01:00going to use my two legs and you guys are going to use your two bikes and we're
01:03going to see who gets to the Velodrome first. There is a catch though. The memo
01:06clearly stated that you guys have to go via the third most iconic cycling
01:10destination in London, the Mall. Alright well that's not fair because that is so
01:14out of the way. To make this fair again you have to take three different types of
01:19public transport. Okay alright you're on. Sounds fair? Sounds fair. Three, two, one, go.
01:24Oh, he's got a headstone. Oh, he's got a bit.
01:32Andrew, come on, we've got time. Let's do it.
02:01do, he's got fun.
02:17so we've just arrived at hern hill station just checking the live tracking here they're
02:22already about to cross the bridge so they're getting really close to the mall we've got
02:26about 10 minute wait here before we get going up to london bridge so i think this could be
02:29a tight race for today's challenge i've chosen to give myself the best chance of winning as possible
02:43by using an e-bike this is ribbles hybrid a l e and it looks like a beautiful sleek hybrid
02:50bike but
02:51with a difference it uses an e-bike motion system that's tucked in the rear hub of the wheel now
02:58that gives me 250 watts of support in three different levels which means you can tune the
03:03ride to exactly how you want it to be comes with all of the other fittings that you would expect
03:09on a commuter bike including mudguard mounts on the front and rear a pannier rack to carry
03:14all of your goods and wide tyres the ribble hybrid a l e is going to give me that lick
03:20of
03:20speed i need to win today's race
03:39well james we've just crossed over voxel bridge which is just over there past the mi5 building
03:44oh very exciting it is and uh we're about to go through parliament square um beautiful but
03:52notoriously a very difficult place to cycle yes however we've got this really cool blue super
03:58highway can't miss it can you no we've just been on cs5 which has brought us down from herne hill
04:05yes and then we've ridden that through voxel and now we're on to this one going through parliament square
04:38yeah
04:47James where are we? Well I think this is quite a famous building here on the left, Buckingham
04:54Palace. Well we're here, we're at the Mall. Main to the Mall, so the third iconic cycling
05:06landmark of London. So we've achieved our challenge, now it's just time to crack on,
05:12but what a journey we had down here. Pretty good actually, you know obviously riding in London
05:17is quite an experience anyway, lots of traffic, but the cycle highways are so good. They're just
05:24really well marked out and actually navigating was good and we saw some great sights as well.
05:29Hang a minute, what's that? I've got a message from Will. Oh yeah? Yes. Where is he? Hi boys,
05:37you can see him at the Tube, second mode of transport. Where are you guys at? I think I think
05:44I'm in the
05:44lead right here, he comes to my train. Oh he's on the Tube. So Elephant Castle, he's quite far along.
06:14Could there be a more perfect bike to take on the streets of London than Cannondale's Topstone Tiagra?
06:19It is a gravel bike, but it's way more than just that. A gravel bike is actually perfect as a
06:24commuting weapon, purely because it's got such great versatile features. The first feature that
06:30makes it great as a commuter is the riding position. It gives you a much taller, much more commanding
06:36position when you're riding in traffic and it's also got what Cannondale call their out-front geometry,
06:42which puts the front wheel further forwards than on a normal road bike, meaning it's way more stable.
06:48Now with the road surfaces that we have around here, that is definitely a plus point. Then
06:53going hand in hand with that geometry, you've got those tires. There's big chunky tires on this bike.
06:59They're still fast rolling, but they'll take on the potholes and all of the cracks and everything
07:04that the roads can throw at you. With the DNA of a road bike, this bike is definitely fast and
07:10nimble,
07:10and we'll make sure that today we will come out on top.
07:31Right, so we've made it to London Bridge. I've got to find another mode of transport, but I've got an
07:36idea. Come with me.
07:37Okay, so...
07:41Yeah!
07:44Okay!
07:50Yeah, so...
07:55Yeah, so...
07:58Yeah, I've got to find another one here...
08:02Yeah...
08:02Yeah!
08:02Yeah!
08:04Yeah!
08:05Yeah!
08:06Yeah!
08:20Dower Bridge!
08:21We were coming by and we just
08:23felt like we had to stop really
08:25Yeah it's not an iconic cycling spot
08:27but it's an iconic spot altogether
08:29It is isn't it? Oh hang on
08:32I've got a text
08:35Hi boys, hopefully you can hear me okay on the boat
08:37I think to level the playing field
08:39you guys should take on another challenge
08:41you keep banging on about how good your commuter bikes are
08:44and how they're so versatile
08:46how about you try some off-road on the way to Stratford
08:49let me know what you think
08:50So we need to hit some off-road
08:52before we get to the velodrome
08:54Some off-road? In London?
08:56Is that possible?
08:58Yes, on the canals
08:59So East London's full of canals
09:01I see the Zurich Tower Bridge
09:03We should be able to
09:04We're pretty close
09:05We can cut up through Limehouse
09:07I would have thought
09:08and onto the Regent's Canal
09:09Cool, program it in mate
09:11Let's plot it in
09:13We're just coming down the Tower Bridge
09:14I've got a sneaky suspicion on the live recording
09:17they're just over there
09:20There they are!
09:30That's so funny!
09:33We've just seen them go by on the boat
09:35we better get going
09:36Yes
09:43Go James!
10:10I think we should go and ask the captain if he can put his foot down
10:20I think the captain got a message
10:24Full gas!
10:25Full gas!
10:26The captain got a message
10:29And it's the last one
10:48I'm going to play a message
10:49We couldn't hide
10:50I do
10:53And the captain got a message
10:55And the captain got a message
10:55I think so
11:04All right, we're almost there, so literally just there.
11:26I think he's just round the corner. He's coming round the corner. Look, there he is, so there's us. And
11:34he's right there.
11:41Welcome! Easy! How did you do that? How did you do that?
11:45We have these. Bicycles, my friend.
11:48We don't have to then rely on other forms of transport to get here. We could do it all ourselves.
11:54London Transport's like the best in the world. No doubt, but no transport is more efficient than the bicycle.
12:01Well, well done, gents. Fair and square, I'll give you that. It was a good challenge.
12:06It's not bad, you weren't too far behind, but it was still second place, first loser and all that, isn't
12:13it?
12:13Thanks, guys.
12:15Well, sorry, Will. It was a good challenge, but here we are, iconic Lee Valley Velodrome behind us.
12:22And that was a good challenge.
12:24It was. And I think the one thing that stands out more than anything else for myself is just how
12:29small London becomes when you're on a bike.
12:32Definitely.
12:33Everything is just so close. All of a sudden, one minute you're like, oh, we're here!
12:37Yeah. So good.
12:38So I've just been thinking the cost of this trip versus what you can get one of these bikes on
12:42the cycle to work scheme.
12:44It's really quite impressive. I think within, you know, say you're commuting five days a week, within six months, you
12:48could, you know, you could get your money back, really.
12:50It's really impressive.
12:51Easily, yeah.
12:52But that does end this challenge and what a challenge it has been. But if you've enjoyed it, then please
12:58do like and subscribe to the Cycling Weekly YouTube channel.
13:01And if you have any tips for riding in the city, do let us know in the comments section below.
13:06And likewise, if you're interested in the route that we took across London, we'll be putting a link to that
13:11in the description box underneath this video.
13:13But until next time, we'll see you then.
13:16I'll have to get a Boris bike.
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