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This Sunday | Start time etc

Some people have asked what the start time is and where to go.

We’ll be signing people on from 8:30am on Sunday at upCYCLE LDN, our new start venue, very close to the location of the old Brixton Cycles Cooperative (RIP). It’s great to be able to support them and it’s a great privilege to be invited to use their site.

There will also be coffee courtesy of Volcano Coffee Works.

Sign-on closes at 11am and we’ll shuffle across south London to HHV. If you want to start later feel free to come and sign on then, but bear in mind the track is only open for the Paris-Roubaix style velodrome lap from 1-3pm.

We will have the clubroom at HHV until 4pm, with refreshments at the finish from Jan’s Cafe.

There is more than ample parking around HHV for bikes but we advise you to bring a lock of some description anyway.

We’ll have the raffle after the racing has finished or from 3.30pm, whichever is sooner. There are various options around Herne Hill to decant yourselves to afterwards if you want to keep the vibe going.

That’s it! Pump your tires up, oil the chain a little and brush off the hangovers! Glory awaits all those who conquer the course!

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Thank you to the supporters of Cobblemonster 2024

A crowd of cyclists are sitting in the HHV cafe reacting in shock to something happening during the men's Paris Roubaix race on TV.

In true Cobbleadmin-style, we never actually wrote to you all after the 2024 event, but as we prepare for the 2026 edition, cast your eyes below…

Thank you for supporting Cobblemonster 2024!

We’ll say it again. Thank you. Thank you for riding, for donating, for your good graces and humour. We hope you had a wonderful day out on the cobbles and up in the relative altitude training of South London after refreshment stops in Deptford and Greenwich.

This was either the 12th or 13th edition of the Cobblemonster since we returned post-pandemic, and your continued support of our event means everything. We think it was a truly excellent day, and we hope you agree. You helped raised over £3700 for the Evelina Children’s Charity, which takes us to over £50k (at least) since we started back in 2009/10, an absolutely bike-rattling amount and I know the Charity will be very grateful for your generosity, as they are every year.

We started from Herne Hill Velodrome for the first time, and we think it went pretty, pretty well. Thanks for bearing with us at the start while we set up, we hadn’t got much sleep in-between signposting the route and arriving to open up…

Now that the signs are away, the reusable (!) zip ties have been counted and the podium ceremony is over, it’s time for some more gratitude and shout-outs.

Thank you to Herne Hill Velodrome, and in particular, Katherine Potsides, for hosting us and running a smooth operation, we are so thrilled to offer you the South London equivalent of the Roubaix experience and Cobblemonster remains second only to the South London Grand Prix (a UCI event no less) for historic bartakings at HHV…

Thank you to Brixton Cycles Club for their continued support, their commitment to Cobblemonster, and its roots in the cycling community, is historic and much appreciated.

We also want to thank the club members who gave up their time (some on both days) to make sure that the route was signposted, the sign-on desks were manned and fast-flowing, the track was marshalled, and the cafe kept the refreshments flowing.

They are all eternal members of Les Amis de Cobblemonster.

We salute you!

Andreas Lowe, Andy Davies, Andy Smith, Ari Panzer, Becky Mursell, Chinthika Piyasena, Elliot Merrony, Jamie Steere, Kurt Jameson, Lisa Okawa, Marc Elker, Michael O’Neill, Mollie Little, Oliver Gin, Pete Noble and Wayne Blythe.

It’s with a heavy heart that we say thank you and goodbye to Captain Cliff and Coral, who are hanging up their aprons and tongs for the final time. Cliff said: “I would like to say a special thank you to all the riders, organisers, non-riders, and helpers over the years for giving us so many great memories. Chapeau to you all!”

Finally, my everlasting gratitude to Lucy Kerrigan, without who this event simply would not happen, and to Dave Mullarkey, who had the genius idea to put on a London tribute to the cobbled classics back before most of us (well, definitely me) knew there was such a thing as a cobbled classic. The trust placed in us to continue to organise and maintain this event is a privilege and we hope to continue for many years to come.

Ride well, and see you next time.
DS BMT & Team Cobblemonster

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There will not be a Cobblemonster 2020

We’ve taken the decision not to run an event in 2020. There are many reasons for this that are too long and boring to go into here.

Instead lets mention that over £45K for Evelina London has been raised from rider donations in the 9 years we’re run – which is an outstanding achievement.

We hope that Cobblemonster will return in 2021 with a new look and a different twist on an old idea. In the meantime we salute you, the riders for making what happened, happen.

The Cobblemonster team.

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Start time and other guff

Some people have asked what the start time is and when we pack up signing people on.

We’ll be signing people on from 8am  on Sunday at Brixton Cycles, 296-298 Brixton Rd, London SW9 6AG. The shop should be selling some coffee and other bits, as well as spares or even bikes (one guy bought a new bike last year!).

After 10am the shop will shut and we’ll shuffle over the road to JAMM. If you want to start late feel free to come and sign on then, you might be meeting some of the early birds coming back however by 11am.

Paris-Roubaix will be on the tellybox from 11am in JAMM.

Food will be available from approx 12:30-1PM – as usual it will be Spicy BBQ fare and a vegetarian option from the great Cliff and Carol.

There should be ample parking outside JAMM for bikes but we advise you to bring a lock anyway.

We’ll have the raffle after Roubaix has finished. Unlike last year JAMM is going to remain open well into the night for those that want to stick about and toast themselves for an excellent ride.

thats it! Bump your tires up, oil the chain a little and brush off the hangovers! Glory awaits all those who conquer the course!

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The 2019 route

The 2019 Cobblemonster route is here:

2019_route ver 1.1

The 2019 route features 30 pave sectors (30!) and 5 lung busting hills.

New for 2019 is Charterhouse Square EC1.

We’ve measured the route and reckon its ‘about 38 miles.’

Thanks to all that have created maps / GPX files and the like. Quickest off the draw was Tony with this version:-

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29657952

thanks also to Andrew and Ben for submitting theirs routes.

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Its…its….its a Crosscheck!

We can confirm our main 2019 price is a brand spanking new Surly Crosscheck frameset in 56cm size courtesy of Surly and Brixton Cycles.

£400+ worth of over engineered swiss army knifeness for any cyclist. You don’t need a ‘gravel bike’  – you need a Crosscheck!

One lucky rider who buys their (still £1!!) raffle ticket come the 14th is going home with this frame. We’ll even throw in a free box!

Of course, we’ll have a number of nice things to raffle off on the day – stay tuned for more details.

 

 

 

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Cobblemonster raffle – why break with tradition?

We’re delighted to confirm that our friends at Surly have given us another of their fine frames to raffle off this year. As ever the chance to win £400+ of rugged steel ‘real world’ frame is your for the princely or princessly sum of buying a £1 raffle ticket on the day.

As ever we’ll have a selection of fine cycling bits to raffle off – more to follow shortly.

 

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A Cobblemonster Announcement

This years Cobblemonster will be the last for the foreseeable future.

 

There are many reasons why we’ve made this decision and they are too long and too boring to go into here. All we know is its better to go out somewhere near the top than drag things out. There might be something similar in the future, maybe from us or maybe someone new. Who knows, never say never and all that.

 

Don’t be sad – instead get ready for the last tango on the pave on April the 14th!

 

With this in mind we’re advising all riders to spread the word and shake out all those people you know who said they might fancy riding the Cobblemonster – this might be their last chance! If you know anyone interested get them to sign up here .

 

Given the occasion we’ll be offering up the classic route with a a few surprises and route twists. We’ll also be trying to bring you the best range of raffle prizes we’ve ever had for the post ride festivities at JAMM. And we’ll have Paris-Roubaix live on the big screen as usual.

 

All we need now is great weather…and you!