The London Bikeathon is London's largest annual charity cycling event [1] with 5,000 riders taking part in 2012. [2] The event first took place in 1997 and has been held every year since. The ride is the flagship fundraising event of the UK charity Blood Cancer UK who fund scientific research focused on finding causes and improving diagnosis and treatment for blood cancer patients.
The event was founded in 1997 on the suggestion of Tony Carter, a volunteer at the charity's Woking Branch, who had been inspired by the success of the London Marathon and wanted to replicate the concept with cycling to help raise money for the charity.
Set over a largely flat course, the original London Bikeathon had two routes, of 13 and 26 miles, both starting and finishing in Battersea Park. The event took months of planning with Gary Lineker heavily involved and later becoming the event's official patron. [3] Lineker was also among the riders who took part in the 2003 event.
The first London Bikeathon took place in September 1997. Former England Rugby Captain Will Carling set the riders on their way, returning at the end of the race to present the medals to the participants. The inaugural ride raised £124,000 for Blood Cancer UK (then the Leukaemia Research Fund). [4]
In the years immediately after the inaugural London Bikeathon the number of participants grew steadily. By the 2003 event, the number of participants had reached 2,500, raising £215,000. [3]
In 2012 more than 5,000 riders signed up for the ride, making it the largest charity cycling event in London. In 2013 more than 7,500 cyclists registered to line for the event, which was expected to raise £750,000 for the charity. [5]
The routes and distances of the London Bikeathon have changed several times since 1997. Ham Common, Thames Barrier Park and the Royal Chelsea Hospital have since all been start points while a 75-mile route option was added in 2012.
The 2013 course saw further changes to incorporate three new 26, 52 and 100 mile routes, each starting and finishing at the Royal Chelsea Hospital. The 13 mile route has also been removed for the 2013 event.
The London Bikeathon currently has three separate routes of 26, 52 and 100 mile distances. In 2013, these started and finished in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The 100 mile route was a new addition for 2013, expanding upon the charity's 75 mile route introduced in 2012. The extended course takes riders out further into the Surrey hills and up and over Box Hill before looping back to the Royal Hospital Chelsea via Wimbledon Common.
The 26 mile course takes riders over the river, around Richmond Park and past Ham House on a largely flat route while the 52 mile route incorporates some of London's most iconic landmarks and has a total elevation gain of 762 metres. [6]
The 2014 100 mile route started and finished at Ham House and took riders through several categorized climbs throughout the Surrey Hills, including Box Hill. The 26 and 50 mile routes both started at Coram's Fields and took riders through London, with the 26 mile route turning at Battersea Park, while the 50 mile route turned at Ham House. [7]
More than 5000 riders, consisting of current and ex-patients, family members, supporters and cycling enthusiasts, participated in the London Bikeathon in 2012, raising £735,000 for Blood Cancer UK.
A number of celebrities have been involved with the event over the years. Ex-England Rugby Union captain Will Carling started the inaugural London Bikeathon in 1997 while former Tottenham Hotspur FC and England striker Gary Lineker was among the riders in 2003. In addition, Alastair Campbell, the former Director of Communications for Tony Blair, has also taken part. [8]
ITV presenter Sir Trevor McDonald started the race at Ham Common in 2008. Former Arsenal FC footballer and current radio presenter Ian Wright will be among those cycling the 2013 ride.
The London Bikeathon is the flagship fundraising event for the UK based charity Blood Cancer UK. The charity funds scientific research focused on finding causes and improving diagnosis and treatment of all types of blood cancer including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Wandsworth is a London borough in South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town.
London to Brighton refers to a variety of races, tours, charity bicycle rides and rallies that take place between London and Brighton in the United Kingdom.
Young Lives vs Cancer, the operating name for "CLIC Sargent", is a charity in the United Kingdom formed in 2005. Young Lives vs Cancer is a leading UK cancer charity for children, young people and their families. Its care teams provide specialist support across the UK.
Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It manages and recruits donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, which is part of an aligned registry that also includes the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry, NHS Blood and Transplant's British Bone Marrow Registry and Deutsche KnochenMarkSpenderdatei (DKMS) UK. This aligned register is known as the Anthony Nolan & NHS Stem Cell Registry. It also carries out research to help make bone marrow transplants more effective.
The Dunwich Dynamo is an annual semi-organised, through-the-night bicycle ride from London Fields park in Hackney, London, England to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. The distance is approximately 112 miles (180 km).
Lloyd Scott, MBE is an English former professional football goalkeeper and charity fundraiser, best known in the UK for his charity marathons. He is notable for competing in the 2002 London Marathon in a deep-sea diving costume. In 2003 Scott also completed the world's first underwater marathon in Loch Ness and in 2004 cycled a Penny Farthing across Australia. In 2020, between Covid-19 lockdowns, he completed the 3 Peaks Challenge wearing his deep-sea diving suit.
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term Gran Fondo is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and some other English-speaking countries.
Land's End to John o' Groats is the traversal of the length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities, in the southwest and northeast. The traditional distance by road is 874 miles (1,407 km) and takes most cyclists 10 to 14 days; the record for running the route is nine days. Off-road walkers typically walk about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) and take two or three months for the expedition. Signposts indicate the traditional distance at each end.
Geoffrey Robert Thomas is an English former footballer, who won nine caps for the full England team and captained Crystal Palace to the FA Cup final in 1990. He is the Founder of the Geoff Thomas Foundation, a charity that raises funds to fight cancer, a disease from which Thomas has suffered.
Sport Relief was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002.
Blood Cancer UK, is a UK-based charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, as well as offering information and support to blood cancer patients.
Cycling is a popular mode of transport and leisure activity within London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. Following a national decline in the 1960s of levels of utility cycling, cycling as a mode of everyday transport within London began a slow regrowth in the 1970s. This continued until the beginning of the 21st century, when levels began to increase significantly—during the period from 2000 to 2012, the number of daily journeys made by bicycle in Greater London doubled to 580,000. The growth in cycling can partly be attributed to the launch in 2010 by Transport for London (TfL) of a cycle hire system throughout the city's centre. By 2013, the scheme was attracting a monthly ridership of approximately 500,000, peaking at a million rides in July of that year. Health impact analyses have shown that London would benefit more from increased cycling and cycling infrastructure than other European cities.
RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in London. Intended as an annual legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was first held in 2013. The festival consists of a series of cycling events on closed roads around London and Essex.
A century ride is a road cycling ride of 100 kilometers or more in metric system countries or 100 miles or more in imperial system countries, usually as a cycling club-sponsored event. Many cycling clubs sponsor an annual century ride as both a social event for cyclists and as a fund-raiser for the club’s other activities.
Pelotonia is an organization of events, centered around a two-day bicycle ride in the Columbus, Ohio area, to raise funds for cancer research at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James. Pelotonia, the Ride, includes a weekend of cycling, entertainment and volunteerism. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, Pelotonia facilitates all of riders' and fundraisers' donation money contributing to cancer research, while corporate and philanthropic partners fund the administrative staff and functions.
The London–Surrey Classic was an annual 193 km (119.9 mi) men's professional one-day road cycling race, starting and finishing in London and routed via the picturesque Surrey Hills. The first race of its kind was the London–Surrey Cycle Classic, on 14 August 2011, a 1.2 classification 140 km preparatory event for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was won by sprinter Mark Cavendish. The men's and women's Olympic road races were held on a longer variation of the same course the following year. On 4 August 2013, the race found a permanent home as part of the Prudential RideLondon weekend, a two-day cycling festival held in London, a legacy event of the Olympics.
The London Freewheel, originally known for sponsorship reasons as the 'Hovis London Freewheel', was developed by the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) to encourage and increase cycling participation, and promote cycling as a form of transport within London. The event was launched at City Hall on 26 June 2007 by the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, Konnie Huq and Tim Dewey, Marketing Director for the event's sponsor Hovis. Hovis contributed £300,000 out of the total £600,000 raised in commercial sponsorship and support.
Hayden Kain Groves is an English chef and amateur cyclist. He is the author of the Cure Leukaemia Charity cook book Back in the Saddle and won the title of National Chef of the Year in 2013.
The Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) is a fundraising bike-a-thon started in 1980 by Billy Starr to benefit the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute via the Jimmy Fund. It raises more money than any other single athletic fundraiser in the country.