Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle
Monday 1 March 2021 - Friday 30 April 2021
Cycle the length of all eleven London tube lines… virtually this March and April!
Get on the right track this Spring by joining Pilgrims Hospices unique, new Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle. The challenge… to pedal the equivalent distance of all eleven of London’s famous underground tube lines (250 miles) from, or near to, your own home throughout March and April.
Ride it your way by choosing when and where you cycle and see your progress via our bespoke virtual tracker. From beating the weekday commute to weekend joy rides, you’ll find encouragement and motivation aplenty with in-app achievements and digital milestone badges while earning your place in the Ride the Underground Hall of Fame.
Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle is just the ticket to challenge yourself as well as learn about the rich 150+ year history of a service which sees over a billion passengers annually! No Oyster card needed this time!
Starting from, or near to, your own home, you’ll be able to track your progress, and everyone else’s, along a virtual tube line tracker, using the award-winning Pilgrims event App. Simply ride when and how often you can and see if you can complete the full 250- mile ride before the end of April. You can even include the miles you do on an indoor training bike.
During this unprecedented time, it is more important than ever to make sure to stay active, exercise and feel connected to one another. Cycling is good for us, both for our physical fitness and mental well-being, and you can join our friendly community of Pilgrims Hospice cyclists in our new Pilgrims Hospices Cycling Facebook group.
It’s tough but achievable; with some training and determination you can conquer the Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle. Why not complete parts of the ride with others from your household, support ‘bubble’ or socially-distanced friends to make the journey even more enjoyable.
Event information
- Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle entry: £5
Entry includes free event app tracking, digital milestone badges, cycling achievements, fundraising support and access to active cycling community group.
Virtual event tracking requires a free MapMyTracks account.
A brief history of the London Underground
The London Underground is a network of 11 subterranean train lines that criss-cross the capital, and has helped commuters, residents and tourists alike to navigate the sprawling city since the Victorian age. There are 270 tube stations, many of which were used as air-raid shelters during the Second World War.
The first trains began running in 1863 and, over the decades, the network has expanded into the system that exists today which sees more than 1.3 billion passengers annually. The individual lines differ in length greatly but come to a total of 250 miles. The full list of lines includes:
Bakerloo Line (14 miles), Central Line (36 miles), Circle Line (17 miles), District Line (26 miles), Hammersmith & City Line (16 miles), Jubilee Line (22 miles), Metropolitan Line (38 miles), Northern Line (23 miles), Piccadilly Line (43 miles), Victoria Line (13 miles) and Waterloo & City Line (2 miles).
How it works
To take part in Ride the Underground Virtual Cycle, simply enter via the ‘Register Now’ button at the top of this page. Once signed up, you’ll receive instructions on how to record your cycling activities and track your progress along the virtual tube line tracker using the award-winning Pilgrims Event App for iOS and Android devices.
It’s free to download from the App Store and Google Play and, along with the free companion app MapMyTracks, will track your cycling activities throughout the event and update your position along the tracker; so you can see exactly how far you’ve come and how far you have left until you reach the ‘end of the line‘. You can also like and comment on your teammate’s activities, earn Achievements, receive up-to-date event information and link your JustGiving page to see how your fundraising is going, all in one place.
The challenge runs from 1st March – 30th April 2021 and all of your cycling activities recorded via the Pilgrims Event App during this time will count towards your overall progress along the Ride the Underground tracker.
You can use any route you like in order to reach your mileage goal. Under the current conditions, we strongly suggest you follow government advice and plan to cycle routes that start and finish at your home to avoid any unnecessary travel. We would also ask that you do not use the virtual ride to stop at any of our hospice sites, even if you are passing by. The safety of patients and staff is paramount, and your participation in the event is the best means of showing your support.
So if you have some favourite routes around your local area, then please use those to do your virtual ride. You can break the mileage down into as many days as you need to throughout the event time frame. All that matters is you cover the distance.
Every participant will receive exclusive digital milestone ‘badges’ that can be shared as you complete milestones in your journey on social media and elsewhere to show your support for Pilgrims Hospices.
Please note: Only activities recorded using the Pilgrims Event App (MapMyTracks) AND with the activity type of ‘Cycling’ and set as ‘Public’ will be included in your progress along the tracker in the app. If you wish to use Strava or another fitness app to record your rides, that’s fine, but remember to add those miles manually to the Pilgrims Event App so they count.
If you have any tracking or app-related questions, please email robert.grew@pilgrimshospices.org.
Show your support with the official Pilgrims Hospices cycle jersey and neck scarf
We’re excited to bring you the official Pilgrims Hospices cycle jersey and neck scarf. Show your support out on the road with these stylish, quality garments, packed with great features such as a zipped valuables pocket, full-length zip and silicone waist gripper. We also have Pilgrims neck scarfs, ideal for keeping you warm on cold or windy days and providing shade from the sun on hot days. Grab yours today and help us be there for thousands of people coping with incurable illness in east Kent.
Cycle Jersey: £35, Neck Scarf: £5
Sizes available: S, M, L, XL, XXL
Add yours via the event registration form or order yours today by contacting Supporter Relations on 01227 782062 (weekdays 9am-5pm) or anytime at robert.grew@pilgrimshospices.org.
Raising sponsorship
We need your help to be there for people living with an incurable illness and encourage you to raise as much sponsorship as you can for your challenge!
While for many of us ‘doing our part’ during the current health crisis means social distancing, Pilgrims Hospices nurses and support staff are Still Here; Still Caring and are continuing to provide skilled and compassionate end-of-life care for people living with life-limiting illness across east Kent.
By doing your part for Pilgrims Hospices, you’ll truly be making a difference to the lives of our patients. Here’s how:
- £10 could pay for a patient’s meals for the day
- £25 could pay for an hour of specialist nursing care
- £30 could pay for our Community Team to hold a video consultation with a patient in their own home
- £45 could pay for a virtual counselling session for an individual coping with the loss of a loved one
- £90 could pay for all the medicine needed at one of our inpatient units over 24 hours
App Achievements
Achievements are an exciting new feature within the Pilgrims Event App. During Ride the Underground, as well as the digital milestone badges along the way, you can now earn badges within the app for completing all kinds of Achievements.
The app will automatically recognise when you have achieved the criteria for any of the badges and add it to the ‘Achievements’ page within the ‘Profile’ area of the Pilgrims Event App, together with the date that you earned it!
Eg. Once you have recorded your first ride during an event, either by MapMyTracks recording or by a manual upload, you will earn the Back in the Saddle badge.
Full list of cycling badges to achieve
- Back in the Saddle: Complete your first ride during this event.
- Grand Tour: Complete ten rides during this event.
- Leg Spinner: Complete a ride of at least 25 miles during this event.
- Extra Mile: Complete a ride of at least 50 miles during this event.
- Gran Fondo: Complete a ride of at least 75 miles during this event.
- Century: Complete a ride of at least 100 miles during this event.
- Breakaway: Cover at least 25% of the event distance.
- On the Rivet: Cover at least 50% of the event distance.
- Flamme Rouge: Cover at least 75% of the event distance.
- Finisher: Complete the full event distance and cross the finish line.
- Tour de Force: Log over 10 hours of Cycling during this event.
- Cycle Tourist: Upload at least one photo during this event.
- Super Saturday: Log an activity on the first Saturday of this event.
- Everester: Climb the height of Mt Everest (8848 m) during this event.
Resources
Location
Anywhere
Contact information
Email: robert.grew@pilgrimshospices.org
Contact name: Robert Grew
Phone: 07710 854029
