The first ever virtual Prudential RideLondon cycle challenge

The first ever virtual edition of Prudential RideLondon – the world’s greatest festival of cycling – will take place on 15 and 16 August to celebrate cycling and raise funds to help save the UK’s charities.

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), like many other charities, has been hugely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as fundraising events such as Prudential RideLondon have been either postponed or cancelled.

My Prudential RideLondon offers EACH supporters, of all ages and abilities, the opportunity to take part in a fantastic challenge and raise crucial funds for our charity.

It is an exciting, free event that can be done anywhere in the world. It offers people the chance to tackle a range of distances based on the events included in the traditional Prudential RideLondon weekend.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of Prudential RideLondon, said: “After the disappointment of the cancellation of Prudential RideLondon, we were determined to create something special for our riders, partners and the hundreds of charities that rely on the event for vital income.

“My Prudential RideLondon is building on the success of The 2.6 Challenge – created following the postponement of the London Marathon – which became the biggest collective fundraising effort in the world involving nearly 4,000 charities.

“Charities desperately need help to continue to provide vital services to every sector of society and fund critical research. In this socially distanced world, it’s also vitally important to encourage people to get on two wheels rather than use public transport. The My Prudential RideLondon campaign has been created to achieve both these aims.

“My Prudential RideLondon is completely free and offers a fundraising challenge for everyone, whether that’s an amateur rider doing 100 miles or a family enjoying a 1km bike ride together. It can be done wherever you are and at any time on 15 or 16 August. Whatever you do, we urge you to raise funds for a charity of your choice – and have fun!”

Emma Benstead, EACH Events Fundraiser, said: “We’re excited to be benefiting from the first ever virtual Prudential RideLondon. We’ve been delighted to see supporters coming up with creative and interesting fundraising ideas during lockdown, and we’re optimistic events like this can make a strong impact on our cause, too.

“As a result of the pandemic, like many other charities, EACH experienced an initial devastating drop in income. Thanks to the efforts of supporters, government funding and taking full advantage of schemes available to us, we managed to survive it and help support families at home by phone and online, having rapidly developed our knowledge and expertise in delivering services using virtual technology.

“Our loss of income is going to continue for some time, however, including a period of recovery over the coming months and years that carries huge uncertainty. Taking part in the virtual Prudential RideLondon will be a great way to help us continue provide vital care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions, and support for their families.”

How it works

My Prudential RideLondon includes four challenges for all ages and abilities that participants can do on a route of their choice, wherever they are in the world, on either 15 or 16 August:

• My Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100: 100-mile ride
• My Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46: 46-mile ride
• My Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 19: 19-mile ride
• My Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle: An event that allows you to set your own challenge (starting from 1km) on the wheels of your choice: bikes, push scooters, skateboards, trikes, balance bikes, roller skates, wheelchairs or anything that is self-propelled (e-bikes are fine too).

Participants who wish to ride for EACH need to register in advance and select their challenge at www.myridelondon.co.uk. The site will also provide a link to Virgin Money Giving where they can set up their fundraising page.

Once signed up, participants will be able to download the new My Prudential RideLondon app in event week. This will give every participant and supporter a unique ride day experience, including:

• A GPS function that enables friends and family to follow a rider’s progress on the virtual Prudential RideLondon route
• Creation of a personalised Prudential RideLondon certificate that shows the rider’s completed route and ride time
• Selfie frames to give riders personalised Prudential RideLondon finisher photographs
• Direct donation button through to each rider’s Virgin Money Giving fundraising page

In addition, every rider aged over 18 who registers will have the option of being entered into a fantastic competition that has 25 top-quality prizes available including a brand new Brompton Bicycle valued at more than £1,000, a HIGH5 nutrition bundle worth £250 and top-of-the-range cycling equipment including a SRAM groupset and Zipp wheels.

Participants are asked to follow current Government guidelines on cycling. For more information, click here.

Prudential RideLondon first took place in 2013 as a legacy event from the London 2012 Olympics. In its first seven editions, it has become the world’s greatest festival of cycling, with 100,000 riders of all ages and abilities participating in seven different events on traffic-free roads in London and Surrey. It has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take up cycling or cycle more often and a total of more than £77 million has been raised for thousands of charities.