It's a day late, but I didn't get round to it yesterday. Shamelessly borrowing a format from my colleagues in sport, here's ten somewhat arbitrary thoughts about Sunday's Ride London-Surrey 100, as well as the wider weekend of cycling events in and around the capital. I'd be fascinated to hear yours, whether you took part or not:

1. Despite the London name and base, this was significant for cyclists around the country

Aside from the fact that riders from all over the UK took part in Sunday's 100-mile sportive (with many bringing family along to take part in the even bigger, 50,000 strong Freecycle event on Saturday) this was something of a statement of intent about cycling. There is now an annual event which will see large parts of central, east and west London closed off to all but the two-wheeled, designed to be an equivalent to the hugely popular London Marathon. It would be great to think other cities will follow suit with mass-scale closed-roads events.

2. The Sunday event was both very little to do with everyday cycling and everything to do with it

Taking part in the 100-mile event was to be enclosed in a sea of bright Lycra and mutedly shiny carbon. Club jerseys and posh road bikes were the norm. This is a long way from the stated ideal of Dutch-style urban cycling, with people in everyday clothes on everyday bikes. This was largely a necessity of the event – 100 miles is a long way, and pootlers and trundlers were catered for by the Freecycle event – and partly deliberate organisational policy. The race director, Hugh Brasher, said he was keen in the first year to limit the number of novices to make sure most people finished in the nine-hour limit, something which will change in future years.

And yet the event showed cycling a long way is not absurdly difficult. As the most photographed participant, Boris Johnson, pointed out after he'd finished the course, if a 17 stone, middle aged, not very fit politician can do it, anyone can. Which takes us to...

3. Is Johnson currently the UK's most effective cycling advocate?

I've had my worries with London's mayor and cycling before, not least his absurd (and invented claim) that almost two-thirds of serious injuries among cyclists were found to be the riders' fault. But overall he is a hugely effective and very public communicator with a simple message: cycling doesn't have to be a faddish pursuit. It's simple, anyone can do it. It was arguably quite brave for him to commit to riding the 100 miles.

Johnson's cycling vision for London has been slow to take shape but has ended up being hugely ambitious. If his plans, outlined last year, come about they will reshape urban transport in London and act as a model for the rest of the UK.

He's still light on details, mind. Addressing the crowd over the PA after finishing on Sunday, Johnson said Britain had won more Olympic cycling medals per capita than any other country, adding with a grin: "This is a statistic I have never checked but I know must be true."

4. Cycling remains very male, but at least some people are trying to change this

There are many reasons to worry about the relatively small number of women who ride bikes. Glynis Francis, who set up her own women's cycling club in south Manchester in 2011 told me last week that British Cycling are "appalling" at assisting female riders, while the Evans store within the National Cycling Centre in Manchester has a "pathetic" range of women's gear. The London-Surrey 100 had 23% female participation, Hugh Brasher told me – still not as high as organisers would like, but a bigger proportion, he said, than any similar cycling event in the world. He also noted that when the first London Marathon took place 33 years ago, of the 6,000 runners a mere 300 were women. It's now 38%.

5. This type of cycling is a very, very white pursuit

More expert people than me have discussed the possible reasons for this, but it did strike me riding the course. I must have seen several thousand riders over the day, and saw no more than two or three who were not white.

6. It's possible to spend a lot of money on cycling, but you don't need to

There were a lot of very posh bikes on show during the 100-mile event. Carbon was the norm, and deep-rim carbon wheelsets, not so long ago the preserve of pro teams, were not uncommon – you could hear their distinctive rumble as they approached from behind.

And while there's no reason why people shouldn't, say, spend £1,500 on a bike they use most weekends, it's not the only way to do it. My bike cost £300 second hand a few years ago. A Times reporter who completed the course did so on an even cheaper vintage road bike he's bought from eBay just a couple of weeks before, after his original bike was stolen.

7. Cycling on closed roads is fantastic

More or less everyone I spoke to said this was a highlight of the event. No cars on the road! No traffic lights! Being able to use the entire width of the highway! I could get used to this.

8. It was extremely well organised

I can admit now to some pre-event worries about whether 16,000 cyclists could spell long waits and lots of petty officialdom. In the end, everything was astonishingly smooth and well run. A lot of credit must go to the huge number of officials and volunteers who did everything from organise the vast mass starts to manning drinks stalls and standing on mid-road traffic islands with whistles and flags to warn riders.

9. With that many riders it's very easy to get carried away

I left the Olympic stadium at the ungodly hour of 6.30am hoping to beat seven hours and secretly hoping for six-and-a-half. After getting caught up in a series of big groups of mainly club riders going considerably faster than I usually manage, I passed the 45 mile point without stopping once in little more than two hours. This was never going to last, and as my knees started creaking over Leith Hill, the pace dropped and I dug into my pockets for the caffeine gels. And yet I still finished much, much faster than expected (5h 20m). Lots of other riders told me the same thing.

10. On a long distance ride the mental is as important as the physical

The thing that most helped me as I started to really feel the pace around the 70 mile mark is that I'd done long-distance cycling events before. I knew that despite the pain I could, and would, keep going, however my legs protested.