This is the second time I have completed Ride London so I can compare them against each other. it was nice to see a few changes to last year like moving some of the feed/water stations on to the left side of the road and better management of pedestrians and cars from locals trying to move about.

I couldn't make it to the expo last year and had someone else pick up my rider infrmation but I made it this year. Registration was incredibly straight forward and I was impressed at the amount of stalls and things to see and spent a bit of birthday money while I was there, but it probably wouldn't be as exciting for a second visit. There were funny and informative shows on the main stage throughout the day with very useful tips for the ride and lot of safety information. I even saw interviews wth Heather Stanning and Martin Johnson! I also stopped by the TfL stall to sort out my train plans for Sunday and was wowed by the Action Sports Tour show.

With 28,000 riders taking part, you do have to be prepared to do a lot of waiting around at the start and finish and have to put up with using the London transport system - and to someone who uses it once a year, it can be pretty stressful. However, the organisers do all they can to help with planning your journeys throughout the weekend. The only real grumble I have about getting around is that it stated in the magazine that you could ride the Air Line for free if you were taking part, which was OK in the morning but when I tried to get on at the end, I was told that the free offer stopped at 9am. The wave colours at QEOP are clearly marked with plently of loos and coffee stands to keep you going while you wait and the MC at the start line did a great job at getting everyone pumped up.

I know that everyone will have had different experiences of their ride and different times of the day, but with my reasonably late start time of 8:44, I had a pretty clear run all the way round and only had to stop for congestion once at the bottom of Leith Hill. I'm not fussed about how long it takes me to complete, so this was a non-issue for me. The course is pretty flat for the first 33 miles until you hit the Surrey Hills, which are challenging and enjoyable at the same time. The main hills are hard going and lots of people got off to walk, with some people ignoring the very clear signs to walk on the left. This did cause a few slow moving falls and a few choice words being thrown about. Once the main hills are out of the way, it's plain sailing back to London.

The Hubs and water stops are well managed with racking, loos, medical help and mechanical teams sread the whole length of the course. However, with my start time, I found that lots of the food was starting to run out. All of the Clif bars had gone and we were left with the dregs of the Graze boxes, however they all had a plentiful supply of water and hydration tablets. Some places had food to buy that supported local villages, so I spent £3.50 on a massive bacon roll at the top of Box Hill which was delicious!

The marshals and supporters were incredible all the way round with loads of smiles and encouragement, which certainly helped through the towns later on in the course when everything was starting to hurt.

I found that it was much quieter at the finish line this year, despite finishing at roughly the same time. There were less spectators but there was much more room to move in the finish area which made it easier to take photos and collect your medal. There was no goody bag at the end but you did get a bottle of water, however everythng that was in the bag last year could have been collected from the expo instead. I found that this actually made it easier to carry my stuff around while I organised myself to get back to my car.

I didn't take advantage of the kit bag but the lorries were very visible at the end by Green Park so it would have been very simple to find your things. I also didn't go to the festival in Green Park as I just wanted to get back to the car, but there was a great live band playing and people sounded like they were having a great time

I've seen a lot of critisism about Ride London on social media over the last couple of years, but in my opinion, this is a fantastic event that should be tried at least once. Well done to the organisers!