BHF London
to Brighton Night Ride – Preview
9th May 2012
Following 30 years of success with the British Heart
Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride the BHF are
launching the London to Brighton Night Ride, a moonlight
twist on their world famous event. Ride 60 miles through
starlit countryside, leaving the hustle and bustle of
London behind you, and let the breaking dawn lead you to
Brighton's Madeira Drive.
Entries are currently at about 4000 and they’re
looking forward to reaching 5000 on the night, and hope
to raise about £150k for the BHF and their Mending
Broken Hearts Appeal.
road.cc previews the ride!
road.cc were invited along for a preview ride and
arranged to meet our director Mark Sandamas at Clapham
Common on a Thursday evening.
"We start our ride down to the coast at about 9pm and
the battleground roads of London usually strangled with
hostile traffic are already remarkably empty, and are
going to be even quieter in the miles following the
witching-hour start of the actual event. It makes for
fast and hassle-free riding through tempting wafts of
Indian take-aways, and the streets of Sarf Larnden are
pleasant to ride through for once. In no time at all
we’re deep into the poshly quiet suburbs and on top of
the hill in Coulsdon where the first of three feed-stops
will be, you’ll need to keep your strength up for
breaching the M25 and venturing into the tyreblack
wilderness beyond. The dark route passes through
Merstham, Nutfield, Cuckfield, Burgess Hill,
Hurstpierpoint, Pyecombe, with the final climb towards
dawn at Devils Dyke before heading downhill into
Brighton, finishing along the seafront to stop right by
the Palace Pier."
"If you’ve never ridden country lanes at the other 2
o’clock it’s something different and rather special.
Roads that are usually fast angry with traffic and out
of bounds for all but the bravest or stupidest cyclist
become car deserts in the wee small hours and wide swift
bike boulevards instead, and being part of the stream of
several thousand cyclists flowing down here in a
blinking tide of red lights will be some experience on
the night. Riding blissfully free of traffic means noise is
absent, apart from the rare times you’re running
parallel or crossing over the motorway with its constant
white noise breaking the silent spell, chatting feels
rude, the quiet is quieter and all you can hear is the
sound of tyre on tarmac and your own breathing, all
senses confined within the reach of your light beam. "
"The London to Brighton Night Ride is organised for the
BHF by Pennine Events who have an impressive palmares of
event management - with the Under and Over the Mersey
ride, Beach to Beach 2-day ride, Right to Play Edinburgh
to London Cycle, the Liverpool – Chester – Liverpool
Bike Ride and British Cyclosportive amongst others, as
well as being involved in helping when the Tour de
France came to the UK in 2007, so with all that under
their belts the inaugural London to Brighton Night Ride
promises to be an excellent event. "
read the full text here
Take a Peek
To get more of a feel of what the night might be
like, why not take a peek at the video taken at the
Manchester to Blackpool Night Ride earlier this year?
Mending Broken Hearts Appeal
The Night Ride is no ordinary bike ride. Not only
will you be cycling through the night, you’ll be
bringing hope to millions of people living with heart
failure. The money you raise will go towards our most
ambitious research project to date: our Mending Broken
Hearts Appeal.
Andy Tennant, Olympic hopeful supports BHF
Andy Tennant, Olympic hopeful, says "Just remember
that you're cycling to give hope to millions worldwide
and, with every mile and every penny that you raise,
you're helping us to fund research that could begin to
literally ‘mend broken hearts’ in as little as ten years
time."
Supporting riders throughout the ride
Our dedicated Night Ride team will be on hand to
support you on every step of your journey. From
fundraising to training, our team will help you pass
that finish line.
On the night itself, our route is fully marshalled and
signed, with three rest stops along the way. So all you
have to do is make sure you’re on the start line.
Need Transport
We have a truck and bus service available for you and
your bike to take you to Clapham either before the Night
Ride or after you have finished. Tickets cost £24 per
person. To book onto this service, simply add either the
evening or morning service to your basket when
registering online.
Register now
This goes through to an external site which is beyond
the control of Pennine Events.