Bigger than my Wheels
What happened when I (finally) did London to Brighton... on a Brompton.
I can say with my whole chest that my days of regularly participating in major cycling sportives are over.
It’s not because I dislike them; if someone offered me the chance to ride L’Eroica Gaiole again, I’d be back in Tuscany in a heartbeat! However, as my relationship with road cycling and all its wonderful quirks has waned over the years, events like those are no longer a constant ‘I’ve got to do this!’ fixture in my diary.
2024 marked my 14th anniversary in the cycling industry… and for 14 years, I skillfully resisted taking part in a sportive that some call a rite of passage for every road cyclist: London to Brighton.
It is almost impressive how I managed to dodge it for so long. I had become the Queen of Lame Excuses, which I’d throw at well-meaning bike buddies when they suggested I join them for a long weekend spin. For others, it might just be a juicy leg-burner on a Sunday morning that ends with a well-deserved pint at the beachfront in the afternoon. Still, the thought of doing it, especially with a large group of experienced riders, no matter how friendly they were, filled me with dread.
Illogical fear was the root of my reluctance to do it. This sounds crazy when I consider other big rides I’ve undertaken and loved, like pushing myself to the limit—and bonking1—on the rocky roads of Limburg or getting pleasantly puffed out on several occasions climbing the rolling hills of the Peak District.
Being mentally or physically fit enough to take on London to Brighton felt like it was never on my bingo card. From the (unintentional horror) stories I heard from mates who had done it numerous times with varying degrees of success, I thought the whole thing would destroy me before I even caught a glimpse of the beachfront.
But last spring, an unexpected email from one of my favourite neighbourhood restaurants inviting Ian and me to do a big ride with them turned the whole ‘I’m never doing London to Brighton’ discourse upside down.
Since 2020, Top Cuvée (also known for its natty orange tote bags, which you can spot on the arm of many East Londoners) has organised a self-supported London to Brighton ride, the Tour de Cuvée, starting from its wine shop (a.k.a Cave Cuvée) in Bethnal Green.
Top Cuvée’s take on LDN-BTN had always secretly appealed to me because their approach to the ride is similar to that of their restaurant: playful, laidback, and not too serious. I say secretly because I never felt confident enough to say the loud part (“I’d be up for doing this!”)… out loud. In the past, that illogical fear weighed too heavily on my mind to go for it.
As the cycling gods would have it, the fourth year of the TdC happening and Top Cuvée contacting me about taking part coincided with my rediscovery of Joy in Movement. Perhaps my workout sessions on Apple Fitness+ and riding around on Prince (my electric Brompton) altered the “Are you joking, Jools? This is not happening” chemistry in my brain because instead of finding the best/worst excuse to get out of it, I said yes, and got back into a pair of bib shorts for the 2024 Tour de Cuvée.
I was surprisingly enthusiastic on the morning of the ride, and the vibe when we arrived at Cave Cuvée fed into this. I guessed that our choice of bikes would raise a few eyebrows, but the reaction from other riders when they clocked our electric Bromptons during registration was priceless!
Highlights of those reactions2 included:
“Are you going to be okay with such small bikes for the ride?!”
“Will your batteries last for that long?”
“I take my f*cking cap off to you both for attempting London to Brighton on those!”
I realise we are not the first to do London to Brighton on Bromptons, and I know there are people out there who have taken their Brommies to absolute extremes. Still, instead of thinking this was a terrible error (especially as no one else there was on a Brompton - you know, I thought I might have seen at least one other?!), I felt more motivated to do it. The feeling wasn’t about proving doubters wrong - but if we could make it to Brighton on our little wheels, I knew it would put the biggest smile on my face.
Now, this will probably make me sound like not much of a team player, but one of the things I really enjoyed about the day was not having to be part of a massive peloton3. It was nice to encounter fellow Top Cuvée riders along the route (the trademark TC orange casquettes and musettes made them easy to spot) and cycle with them for a while, but when they respectfully signalled they needed to go faster and ride ahead, I wasn’t offended. It was a relief not to feel pressure to keep up, and I could ride my own LDN-BTN with Ian at a pace that made us happy.
Although I was having a brilliant day, and the vibes were lovely, I won’t lie: there weren’t always big smiles throughout the ride. Although physically, I was in a better place than I had been for a good while (that whole long-term illness thing did a number on me), my body was more than willing to remind me that it was taking on a 60-odd-mile ride with climbs I’d never done before!
I was beyond thankful for the pedal assist on my electric Brompton, but my legs still had to work to turn the pedals and spin those wheels. Were there moments when I screamed to Ian that I needed to stop, take a break, or walk for a bit? Of course! And you know what? That’s precisely what I did. The ride wasn’t a race, and I wasn’t competing with anyone - not even myself.
I may not have done London to Brighton as quickly as other riders, but the moment Ian and I arrived at the finish line (UnBarred Taproom), the feeling was magical. Most of the other participants had got there hours before us, but the best thing was the applause and cheers we received from people as we wheeled our bikes into the beer garden…
“You both actually made it to Brighton!”
“Well done on doing it on those Bromptons!”
It’s funny - London to Brighton is a bike ride I never thought I would or could do - especially on something as small as a Brompton, but it happened. Would I do it again? In all honestly, although I was smiling at the end, I feel like I can mark it off my cycling bingo card as ‘done’.
It was an experience that made me realise that I am bigger than my wheels. Let me apply that mindset to the rest of 2025 and see where my determination can take me.
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No, not that kind of bonking! It’s the condition caused by depleted glycogen stores, which generally results in sudden energy loss and/or fatigue. Make sure you fuel up before and during a big ride, friends!
BTW - absolutely no one was an arse towards us: everyone was lovely, and people were genuinely interested/invested (and perhaps a tad concerned) about how our ride would go.
I need to write a VeloMail about me and group rides.
I had a feeling you hadn't tried audaxing yet which is why I mentioned it, because I think you'd really like it! It is laid back, it is super friendly, it's the kind of thing where you see lots of different types of people on different types of bike - you'll see Bromptons and recumbent bikes alongside old steel touring bikes, and while there is an element of timekeeping (there are windows where the control points are open), it doesn't promote head-down super fast slogging, it promotes chatting and enjoyment. And what's even better, it has an element of treasure hunting about it that I think is so fun. It's not all signing in at a checkpoint, sometimes you need to find a piece of information about a town on the community notice board to answer a question and prove you've been there, there's so much variety, and it's honestly one of the nicest and most welcoming areas of cycling that i myself need to get back into!
Well done Jools, this sounds like an immense day out! I'm always impressed when I turn up to events and see a random person with a Brompton- more power to them!
This description:
"one of the things I really enjoyed about the day was not having to be part of a massive peloton. It was nice to encounter fellow Top Cuvée riders along the route (the trademark TC orange casquettes and musettes made them easy to spot) and cycle with them for a while, but when they respectfully signalled they needed to go faster and ride ahead, I wasn’t offended. It was a relief not to feel pressure to keep up, and I could ride my own LDN-BTN with Ian at a pace that made us happy."
... made me think of audax riding, because they're exactly like this - you go at your own pace and often wind up chatting to people for a bit until your speeds start to differ and then you just part ways.
Have you done much audaxing?