BUXTON® at Prudential RideLondon 2017
With you #EverySip of the way for the 2nd year running
We did it! We smashed Prudential RideLondon. For the 2nd year in a row Buxton was there #EverySip of the way in support.
Prudential RideLondon is the city’s annual celebration of cycling, with over 100,000 riders taking part in five different rides. Through our partnership with the event, Buxton has been supporting riders #EverySip of their journey from their lead-up training programs through to taking part in the actual event.
We’d been looking forward to this one since the Eroica ride in June and a few slippery moments with a couple of heavy downpours on the Saturday couldn’t deter the crowd, in fact, it only added to the excitement.
Pre-game fame
It all kicked off at the Expo on Friday where riders young and old, pros and have-a-gos – and their trusty support crews – turned out in force. We studied the route maps, wrote our messages of support on the Buxton wall, and snapped our selfies at the Box Hill photo wall.
Registration and regulations were punctuated by stories swapped about training and prep, and tales of PBs and times to beat. And of course the BUXTON® crew were on hand handing out water and pumping up the riders before the official opening of the event.
Riders on the storm
Saturday came and it wasn’t just a flood of riders that rolled in for the FreeCycle, the storm clouds joined in as well. Despite the rain however, spirits weren’t to be dampened and the riders (some literally with the whole family in tow) came out in force to enjoy London in all her traffic-free glory.
The supporters weren’t put off by a bit of rain either. Over at the BUXTON® Urban Trials arena, stuntman Andrei Burton and his tricky trial-riding partners Lazlo Hegedus and Rick Koekoek set three Guinness World Records in under 20 minutes to keep the crowds enthralled.
Fans took advantage of the Buxton landmarks photo opportunity, and our sampling stand and thanks to our twitter competition one lucky punter won a place in next year’s ride. Congratulations @timmy!
Pedal to the medal
Before the pros took to the course, we kicked off the day with the London-Surrey 100 and 46 mile rides.
The BUXTON® team set up camp on Box Hill to push the riders up arguably the toughest part of the course and keep them naturally pumped with messages of support along the gruelling climb. In all 20,438 people completed either the 100 or 46-mile course in what smashes the previous highest number of participants from 2016.
Cheers to another year
At the end of an epic weekend of riding and smiles, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner Will Norman officially declared the 2017 event as “brilliant”.
“It’s fantastic to welcome so many cyclists to this great city”. He said. “Our ambition for London is to build walking, cycling and physical activity into the way we use our city.”
By the close of the event it’s staggering to think that over 100,000 cyclists have cycled three million miles and enjoyed the sights of London from the saddles of their bikes. We can’t wait to do it all over again in 2018.