Monday 16 June 2008

Well done and thanks to all our London to Brighton riders

A huge well done and thank you goes out to all of our 27,000 cyclists who took part in yesterday's London to Brighton Bike Ride!

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

Riders from all over the UK turned out to cycle from the capital to the coast to raise funds for us in the largest charity cycle event of its kind in Europe.

The 54-mile event is our biggest fundraising event, raising over £3.9m in 2007. This year we hope the Ride will raise even more to help continue our lifesaving work.

Cyclists really took the event to heart this year, with all places selling out weeks ago. And since we became involved in 1980, over £42 million has been raised for us.

Julie Sorrell, our Head of Events, said: “The London to Brighton Bike Ride is a major fundraising event for us, and thanks must go to all the Riders and sponsors for their support.

"The funds raised from this year's Ride will make a huge difference to so many people’s lives and will help us continue our lifesaving work.”

You can see photos from the Ride in our online gallery

Did you take part in the Ride? If so, please let us know how you got on by posting a comment below. Once again, thanks very much to everyone who took part, we really look forward to hearing from you!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

I took part yesterday and completed the ride in just under 6 hours. I had a fantastic day and was amazed to see some people doing the ride on downhill bikes. I saw one man climb over a fence and slip on to some barbed wire with one leg either side! Ow. A truly magnificent day. I think I have raised about £60. I will definitely be doing this again next year

Anonymous said...

This was my 3rd London to Brighton and Ditchling Beacon is no longer my nemeis. Yep... I made it up that hill in one go without a foot touching the tarmac. I also knocked 2 hrs of my previous time. It was a fantasic day, the weather conditions were perfect and thanks to all the organisers and marshalls who gave up there time to help us ride in safety.

Smonkey said...

We did it after 6 months training and a combined weight loss of 2 and a half stone we woke up at 5 am to make the 6 am start!!! We had a lovely day and although there were periods of " Oh my god I can't take any more", particularly on Ditchling Beacon it was enormous fun. We even saw Katie Price and Harvey as we wizzed by.We don't know what time we did it in but we stopped for two burgers at lunchtime at Turners Hill and were on the prom at Brighton for before 2pm.
We will be back next year after some more hill training.

Anonymous said...

Daniel Sung/Jimmy Saville from Shiny Media here. I've written a post with some gadgets and bike tech that may make next year's ride a little easier on certain parts of the body.

http://techdigest.tv/2008/06/top_five_gadget.html

Enjoy

Anonymous said...

Team Papillion took to the roads on a tandem with just a couple of months training. It turned into a fantastic ride, the stretch from Turners Hill to H' Heath was so fast that we ran out of gears and had to do some high speed coasting. The beacon was tough, the length, gradient and sheer weight of riders made it a very tricky climb, but Katherine palfrey and Will Clutton still managed it in one long grunt.

Anonymous said...

Woohoo I did it in 4hrs 35mins, a 18 hour day but it Im already looking forward to next year. I couldnt get over how many people can fit on one road. Saw some scary crashes but im sure loads of people woke up to some great battle scares today but well worth it. Cheers for a TOP DAY best of the year.

Ian Newbold said...

Glad to be part of the run yesterday. Was harder than I anticipated. Fantastic to see soooo many people complete the ride, even though it meant a very congested run at times.

Anonymous said...

Great day, my third attempt, i am sure some one put in more hills. thanks to all the marshalls enroute they were very encouraging, and helpful, as were all the services. i trust no one was seriously hurt in the number of accidents tht i saw.
Just one little moan could the rooler bladders please get out of the race, i thought they were dangerous and mearly caused a number of accidents.

Anonymous said...

This was my first London to Brighton and I had a really great day, I did it in just under 6 hours, stopping once at the half way point for a 30 min break. A very well organised event, I raised just over £1000 and will be back next year!

Anonymous said...

I had my first London to Brighton ride experience on Sunday. I started at 6am and finshed at 11:30am with an hour for stoppages at various well organised refreshment points on route.

I trained over a year for this ride and it was well worth it. It was a fantastic experience and I would recommend it to everyone i know. I cannot praise enough how well it was organised. Thanks to all the Marshals and Police from start to finish.

I am pleased to say that I rode up all the hills including the small mound that is Ditchling Beacon. Took me 10 minutes to ride up it and 5 minutes to get my breath back.

I have managed to raise £500 for BHF.

I was dissapointed to miss out on a massage at the finish..but the ice cold lager was more tempting

Anonymous said...

I did my first L2B event on Sunday and had a truly great time. I entered the event alone, but found plenty of friendliness and entertainment en route to keep me going, reaching the seaside in 4.5 hours.
I made it up Ditchling with my aching bottom on the saddle for the whole climb - a very painful experience only made worthwhile when I think about the £500 I've raised to help combat heart disease and stop it being Britain's biggest killer.
Well done everyone!!

Anonymous said...

As a London to Brighton virgin, it was my first time on Sunday and what a great day - did it in just under 6 hours. Surprisingly I am less sore/stiff than expected - thank goodness for padded shorts. Alas I could only tackle the Beacon on foot, but I'll get ya next time!! Well done to everyone - riders, Marshalls, Police and all supporters. See you next year

Anonymous said...

Cycling Psycho's
we all had a brilliant day sooooo much fun and really worth all the training,although i did walk up Becon hill/mountain !the rest biked it
We will be back with more family and friends next year
Thank you for all the support along the way marshalls etc

Anonymous said...

I did this to celebrate my 60th birthday. Wonderful, wonderful day - I enjoyed every minute of it. Even pushing my bike up 'that hill'!! My thanks and much love to my wonderful daughter who did it with me. Marshalls and police were excellent. I will be back!

Anonymous said...

It was an excellent day and very well organised. I will definitely be back next year and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about it to give it a go! If I could ban one thing it would be people without helmets - they are a bad accident waiting to happen

Anonymous said...

Had an absolutely great day. It is 20 years since I last did it, and finished faster in my 40's than I did in my 20's.

I had only one concern on the day, and that was the number of roller bladers. They swung wildly across the road, many using half a carriage width to themselves. This caused cyclists to bunch up behind, and several near collisions as we tried to get by. Sorry if this sounds grumpy on an otherwise faultless day, but it was an issue.

Come on you 'Bladers', organise your own event, and leave the cyclists alone!

Anonymous said...

This was my 7th London to Brighton and probably the best one yet, didn't seem as congested as previous years. I must echo the comments made in a previous about the roller bladers, they need to be banned as they make the ride even more dangerous. Did anyone see the two guys on the push me / pull you tandem - fantastic effort. I could only stand, smile and applaud as they passed me on the Beacon, well done guys. Not much entertainment at Clapham common this year or did I miss it by having a 6.00am start?
Looking forward to the London to Southend on the 20th July, another great ride.

Anonymous said...

My first London to Brighton. But not my last! Great fun; HARD work and a fantastic sense of achievement. Oh, and a tidy few quid raised for charity. Result!

Anonymous said...

When my boss (a keen cyclist) persuaded me to join our department team to do this event, he said "believe it or not when you finish this ride you will want more." I didn't believe him and I was fairly sceptical of my own ability as I am an avid gym non-goer. We trained hard for 3 months and finally the big day came.

The weather was perfect, the atmosphere was brilliant and all the marshalls and police did a great job. The ride was hard work, and there were a lot of hills along the way, but what goes up at least gets to go down the other side of the hill.

We had an absolutely brilliant day and I can't wait to do this again. Most importantly, although the final figures aren't in yet, our department team looks to have raised at least £4,000 between us for this really important cause.

Well done everyone.

Unknown said...

Thanks - first time, brilliant day and superbly organised.

One suggestion - a sign on some of the steeper climbs to encourage those walking up to keep to the left, so that those still trying to pedal don't grind to a halt behind them!

Anonymous said...

This was my ninth run over a 25 year span. Challeged myself to cycle back home to London this year and achieved it! 3hrs 20mins to Brighton, quick massage from a lovely young lady on the sea front then home in 4hrs 10mins. Met a few like minded souls on the way back too. 117 miles in total.

Big thank you again to all those who organised this event and well done to those participating.

See you next year.

Nicola said...

This was our 1st L2B. It was to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday. I must congratulate everyone that took part, the marshalls, St John Ambulance and all the locals cheering us on.

I was apprehensive when we first registered but have been in training. Alas, my husband and I only made it up the Beacon on foot, but our teenage daughter peddled all the way up. Oh to have youth on your side.

The welcome in Brighton was worth every mile and made us feel really good and pleased with ourselves for completing it.

Cannot wait until next year and have well and truly caught the bug for cycling.

Anonymous said...

This was my first L2B cycle ride and enjoyed it thoroughly. The atmosphere was fantastic as was the support along the way. Did anyone see the crazy guy with the piano at the start of the ride??

Anonymous said...

My first time, at 60 years old!
After major heart surgery last year (after a life very little Physical activity) I thought I'd better get fit in some way, this gave me a target & the oportunity to partly 'pay back' the many people involved in my treatment. After buying a bike & 6 months training, I still didn't think I was ready, but had to give it a go anyway.
In the end it took me 7 hours, walked up the beacon & a couple of other 'big' hills, BUT I MADE IT !!
Had a great day, although a bit sore.
Give it a go ITS NEVER TO LATE!
I'll be back next year.

Anonymous said...

what a fantastic day a big thanks to all the organisers and marshals and fellow riders it was a brilliant feeling to reach maderia drive see you all at clapham common next june !

Anonymous said...

Well done to everyone who took part!! If youre up for an even bigger challenge, visit www.bhf.org.uk/roses for our 100-mile Lancaster to York ride!!

Anonymous said...

My first L2B ,at 51yo. Wish I'd done it years ago. Plan to do it again next year , but will be walking up the Beacon again.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic day (as usual). Did it as a small team this year and we all had a great day. Still didn't get to cycle all the way up the Beacon but may be next year! Thanks to all the organisers. Only minor gripe would be to echo other comments - who invited the roller bladers? they got in the way and one of them collided with one of my team. Hopefully next year they can have their own event.

Anonymous said...

Hi

Sorry to be a wet fish but I cannot believe that people do this over and over again.

There was very little atmosphere from riders or supporters, I couldn't believe the complete lack of fancy dress, it was congested to the point of danger especially getting out of Clapham and utterly boring in many places.

The day was very well orgaised until the loss of our bikes for an hour after our return to Clapham.

I'm glad to have done it (and raised over £500 between the 2 of us) but it will be the London Triathlon for me next year.

Anonymous said...

My first L2B at age 67! A fantastic day out with near perfect weather. Also plan to do it again next year.

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic day and well worth all the hard work I did to prepare (losing 3 stones and getting fit by seeing a personal trainer 3 times a week). Stunned by the support I've recieved; over £2.5k raised so far! The day itself was really enjoyable and I was really chuffed that I managed to cycle all the way, with little rest and yes, I even made it up the last hill on the bike :-)

Thanks to everyone who has supported me!!!

by getting a personal trainerpreparation

Anonymous said...

Had a brilliant day yesterday, great ride; incredibly enjoyable and very well organised. And I rode the whole way up Ditchling Beacon! Then finished it off with a bbq on the beach, lovely! Well done everyone! x

Anonymous said...

first L2B as part of a team "warsashWAGS" i was reluctant team member, but had a fab day , and we think we have raised over £2500 so all worth it !

oh , and glad we decided to add tutus to our outfits, as we had lots of positive feedback on way round !