Everything you need to know about Ride the Night and if your question isn’t answered below, call us on 01590 646410 or call bookings@dream-challenges.com. We’d love to hear from you!
How fit do I need to be?
Ride the Night is non-competitive and it isn’t designed for professional athletes. It’s designed for women from all cycles of life looking for a challenge to get fit for and push themselves out of their comfort zone to raise funds for people facing cancer.
Cycling 100 km (approx. 62 miles) or 50 km (approx. 31 miles) in one night is a mighty challenge, but it’s achievable if you train and we provide you with a training plan that you can download at any time from Getting Ready area.
A number of the women who will take part in this exciting challenge will have a low fitness level when they sign up. Ride the Night is the perfect motivation to train and get fit, all whilst raising funds for amazing charities.
Take it from one of our wonderful past Ride the Nighters, Joanne:
“Come on ladies, I did the 100km challenge and I’d never been on a bike before I signed up. You have people cheering you all the way around and an absolutely fantastic feeling when you finish! I will definitely do it again! When I signed up, I was the same as everyone else, like “sure I can do this,” but as the time got closer, I started to question why I had entered – but I’m so glad I did!
It was organised so well that I had no doubts when I arrived. Yes, 100km sounds a lot, but you just do it. We did it in eight hours and it was pain free. So if I could do it in the stupid weather we had, then anyone can!”
Download your training plan [add link]
How much do I need to raise?
To take part in this important Women V Cancer fundraising event, we ask you to fundraise a minimum of £199 6 weeks before the event, so that your challenge can make a difference for people facing cancer at an extremely tough time.
The money you raise is split evenly between our two charities and will go a long way to help them continue their vital work…
- £30 could buy a bottle of specialist dye to stain cancer cells, so that Ovarian Cancer Action’s researchers can study them with a microscope.
- £100 could give someone with breast cancer an hour of vital support from someone who really understands what they’re going through. Breast Cancer Now’s Someone Like Me service connects people with breast cancer with someone who’s been through a similar experience.
Join the 500 club!
If you raise £500 or more 6 weeks before the event you will get a free official 500 club cycling jersey.
Please take a look at our Getting Ready area here to fuel your inspiration and smash your challenge like a hero. We will also send you fab fundraising ideas in the lead up to the challenge, so look out for our updates.
How does the money I raise help women affected by cancer?
The money you raise funds the vital work of our Women V Cancer charities who are raising awareness, providing support and funding research into breast and ovarian cancers. If you’d like to know more about how each charity is making a difference for women affected by cancer, visit their websites below.
Breast Cancer Now. Registered charity no 1160558 (England and Wales) and SC045584 (Scotland) and 1200 (Isle of Man).
Ovarian Cancer Action. Registered charity no. 1109743 (England and Wales) and SC043478 (Scotland)
What happens if I don’t reach the fundraising target?
This is a hugely important fundraising event for our crucial Women V Cancer charities. Breast Cancer Now and Ovarian Cancer Action have invested a lot of money in essential event costs, including your participation, trusting that everyone who has registered for the challenge will take part and do their very best to fundraise or donate a minimum of £199 6 weeks before the event.
Without your support, our incredible Women V Cancer charities may lose out on the vital funds they need to continue to help those facing cancer.
If you don’t think you’ll be able to fundraise in time, you have several options:
- Make a donation on your own fundraising page to reach your £199 target.
- Transfer your place to another Women V Cancer challenge to give yourself more time to fundraise.
- Cancel your place on the challenge. This, unfortunately, would mean that you would lose your registration fee as it is non-refundable.
If you choose to transfer to next year’s event or another challenge, please email us at customercare@dream-challenges.com as soon as possible so that we can arrange this for you.
What is included in your entry fee?
The registration fee and event costs (included in the sponsorship target) cover:
- Full event management and support – the Dream Challenges team are on hand from the moment you sign up for the challenge to provide any help you may need and answer any questions.
- Our start/finish venue with toilet facilities, a supervised bag drop and bike racking, help desk etc.
- Pre-event warm-up and entertainment, with motivational music and speeches, charity and supplier stalls and a variety of refreshments available for you and your supporters to purchase.
- Pasta supper for all participants before the ride starts.
- 2 expertly-designed, safety-assessed and signposted routes with marshals.
- Feed Stations on the route, with a variety of tasty refreshments, water and hot drinks (vegan and gluten-free options available).
- Ride the Night high-vis vest.
- Ride the Night medal.
- Bicycle mechanics (both roaming and at the start/finish).
- First aid support (both roaming and at the start/finish).
- Control Room in operation throughout the event, with medical and route staff who can locate where you are for any non 999 emergencies and get you help as soon as possible.
- Your Ride the Night resources, including a training plan, sponsorship form, and Rider Pack, with your Rider Manual, Bike Number and Rider Number (posted around two weeks before the event).
- The more money raised by participants on the challenge the higher the percentage of funds that directly support the work of the two charities, so please do your best to exceed the minimum fundraising target.
Is there a minimum / maximum age limit?
You need to be 18 years old or over to take part in Ride the Night London 2025. There’s no maximum age limit. One of the amazing things about Ride the Night is that it brings adults of all ages and from all cycles of life together for one incredible cause.
16 and 17-year olds may participate if given permission by the event organisers. Please get in touch with us to discuss this. Simply email bookings@dream-challenges.com and we’ll be happy to help.
Can men take part?
We’re afraid men can’t participate in this Women V Cancer challenge. However, they are more than welcome to join the cause as a Ride Maker (aka. Ride the Night volunteer). We’ll have a range of roles for both men and women, from supervising the bike racks to helping out at registration or the rest stops and more.
If you are interested in joining us as a Ride Maker, please get in touch and we will contact you to confirm your place as a Ride Maker.
Is there somewhere to get food and drinks?
Of course! All Ride the Night warriors can pick up a free pasta supper from our Pasta Party stand at our start/finish venue. There will also be a range of other vendors selling food and drink for you and your supporters to buy.
Once you complete the challenge, there’ll be vendors waiting to cook you an optional warming breakfast and a hot drink (at an additional price).
Will there be a bag drop?
Yes, we will have a bag drop at our start/finish venue, which will be supervised at all times throughout the night by a trusted Dream Challenges team member or Ride Maker. You’ll receive a bag tag when you drop your bag off so you can find it easily once you return from your challenge.
How do my funds reach the Women V Cancer charities?
It’s all done automatically through your fundraising page so you don’t need to do anything. If you have raised funds offline, you can add these as offline donations to your page. You will need to contact us at customercare@dream-challenges.com to discuss sending the money to the charity account.
Where can I get a sponsorship form?
You can download sponsorship forms, along with charity info sheets, seasonal fundraising ideas, your training plan and more from the Ride the Night Getting Ready Area.
Can we fundraise as a team?
Of course! You’re more than welcome to sign up and fundraise as a team. Do note that all participants need to fundraise a minimum of £199 each. That means if you are fundraising as a team, you will need to fundraise £199 for every member of that team. For example, if you have a team of two people, you will need to fundraise £398 together, and teams of four people need to fundraise £796 or more.
What bike do I need?
You need to bring your own bike and a cycling helmet is essential.
Both the 50 km and 100 km routes are all on road – therefore we recommend using a road or hybrid bike. If you plan to use a mountain bike we would advise fitting road tyres for the challenge.
You are also more than welcome to use an electric bike or a hand bike. If you are using a hand bike, you must let us know before the event takes place. We recommend that your bike is serviced before the challenge to minimise the chance of any mechanical problems. The event mechanics may not be able to assist with problems specific to electric or hand bikes.
It is also essential that you have front and rear lights fitted on your bike. Please bring spare batteries too. We provide bike mechanics but do ask that you bring a spare inner tube that is specific to your bike, should you get a puncture on the challenge.
What about insurance?
We have public liability insurance. However, we cannot insure your bicycle on this challenge, so please make sure your bicycle is covered on your home contents insurance or that you take out a specialist bicycle cover.
What do I need to be aware of when cycling at night?
It is vital that you follow the Highway Code throughout the challenge and please note that there will not be road closures for the event.
The route is well lit and on quieter roads wherever possible. However, once you arrive in central London, there will be traffic and you should be confident to deal with this.
We recommend that you don’t ride alone at any part of the challenge. However, don’t be afraid of signing up solo – we have a Lone Riders Facebook group and meet-up on the night, so you can cycle with fellow Ride the Night participants. We’ll send you the link to the Facebook group once you’ve signed up to the challenge.
We also ask that you respect the local residents along the route and keep noise levels to a minimum.
Please check out the Ride the Night London Safety Video on the Getting Ready Area.
We will also have a short safety briefing prior to setting off on the night of the challenge.
It is very important that you are visible to road users. We will provide you with a free Women V Cancer Ride the Night high-vis vest to wear on the challenge.
It is essential that you have working front and rear bicycle lights for the duration of the challenge and that you bring spare batteries for them. We recommend that you wear additional high-vis clothing.