Sunday 29th May – From 8:30am

The Prudential Ride London allows entrants to cycle on closed roads around London and into neighbouring Essex.

100,000 people enter the ballot but just 25,000 lucky cyclists get to take part.  Two of those lucky cyclists to appear on the start line at Parliament Square in Westminster were Maria Stanford 💕 and Mick Husarz.

From 2013 to 2019, RideLondon headed into Surrey, but the county council decided to withdraw over the impact of road closures, despite a referendum of residents finding support for it to continue.

The change of destination to Essex allowed the route to be revamped to include wider roads and fewer twisty descents to avoid incidents and make it safer and more enjoyable for all 💕

The 100 mile route now follows closed roads through the city of London, from Victoria Embankment, into Essex via the historic Epping forest 🌳 Once in Essex cyclists fly through picturesque towns 🌸and villages, conquer hills ⛰ and soaked up the sunshine before joining a section of the 2014, stage 3, Tour De France route 🇫🇷 

After heading through Chelmsford they head back towards central London and a finish 🏁 like no other, on the iconic Tower Bridge to rapturous applause 👏🏻 

Mick completed the ride in 6:00:07 and Maria in 7:53:28, almost an hour quicker than 2022.  All those cycle rides with Robbie, Mel and the boys paying off 🚴 

You should both be extremely proud of yourselves.  That’s an epic distance in the saddle.  Huge, huge congratulations to you both …. Amazing 

Not one to miss out on all the fun Maria’s hubby and our favourite Harriers photographer, Mel, took part in a separate event, the Ride London 30 miler.  He successfully completed this in 2:34:15 before cheering Mick and Maria over the line.  Great job Mel 📸 🖤❤️  

For Maria this ride meant a lot as she rode to raise funds for the charity Mind 💜 in memory of her great nephew Eddie who sadly passed away at the young age of 25.  Her fundraising page is still open for donations by visiting https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maria-stanford11 and every penny counts.  Eddie will be looking down on you Maria with proudness 🥰