Last weekend I took part in the Ride the Night 100km bike ride event. This event is also known as the Women V Cancer bike ride and is a female only bike ride through the night. The ride starts from Windsor Racecourse and goes out to London and back to Windsor Racecourse.
The event is a charity ride raising money for:
I was taking part as a Ride Angel at this event rather than as a participant. A Ride Angel is someone who is a competent cyclist who is there to support and encourage the riders around the route. I was a Ride Angel with my two lovely friends Laura and Helen.
At the start of the ride the ladies went off in waves and every few waves a Ride Angel would follow along with a staff member/chaperone. As Ride Angels we rode with people, gave support when needed, stopped to assist with punctures, provided help with gearing and also reminded some riders of the Highway Code!
The ride starts in waves from 9pm to 10.30pm and so pretty quickly it is very dark, aside from a sea of bike lights, ladies in pink, and other flashing lights such as tutu’s, bikes covered in fairy lights, flashing crowns on helmets and many more.
The whole event was truly humbling and I found myself shedding a tear or two. In my role I was chatting to people and spoke with a lady who had battled cancer and was in remission and this was her first bike ride in support of Breast Cancer Care. I also spoke with another lady who was still undergoing chemotherapy. And many more! These ladies were amazing!
I have cycled down the Mall twice now at the end of the Prudential Ride London and as last weekend saw both the Westminster Mile and the Vitality 10k taking place the road was closed again and so cycling down there when closed was good and always a great feeling approaching Buckingham Palace.
I also got to meet Susie Dent who was taking part in the event, which was very exciting as I had only been watching her on tv the night before on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
The atmosphere at this event is amazing and cycling out when dark and returning as the day breaks into light is also amazing and to do so with ladies brimming from ear to ear as they smile crossing the finish line made it even better to be part of it and help in some small way.
There are already ladies signed up for next year if you are interested do so too!
[…] At the weekend I took part in the Women V Cancer Ride The Night 100km event. I have done this ride before as a ride angel, that you can read about here. […]