Unlucky in the RideLondon ballot? Charities appeal for riders to sign up

Were you among the majority of the 70,000 entrants to the ballot for August’s RideLondon-Surrey 100 who this week received the dreaded ‘Commiserations’ magazine? (Not that getting an acceptance letter is a guarantee of a place, anyway – see our story from earlier about the mailing mix-up).

Well, the good news is that there are plenty of charities that have guaranteed places reserved on the ride, and who want you to help them raise funds for good causes – you can even join the riders from Porn Pedallers Cycling Club, who issued an invite via Twitter today for cyclists to help support the AIDS and sexual health awareness charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust.

Didn't get the @RideLondon ballot? Want to ride 100 miles with Team PPCC for @THTorguk? DM your details. We are @pornpedallers @THTchampions 👊 pic.twitter.com/2hRl3EopC5

— Porn Pedallers (@pornpedallers) February 11, 2020

We’ve flagged up the availability of charity places in the past, and recently the charity Lyme Disease Action got in touch with us to let us know that thanks to that exposure, they had been directly benefited by cyclists who rode RideLondon on their behalf.

They said the support is “very much appreciated on behalf of all those people you alert to this disease and enables prompt treatment and getting on with the rest of their lives as a result.”

So it does make a difference, and if you’d like to help them out this year, head here.

Since it began in 2013, the event has raised almost £80 million for good causes, and as with all charity places with RideLondon or sister event the Virgin Giving London Marathon, there are minimum fundraising targets to be met.

But in a week in which people are finding out whether or not they were among the lucky ones to have snagged a place through the ballot, you can find the full list of the hundreds of charities you may wish to consider riding for if you’d like to take part in the event but didn’t get a place here.