March 2026

Riders: Tinashe · Stefan Johnson (SJ Cycles) · Becky Mursell · Tabs the Renegade Cyclist

The London Lockdown Ride is a 100-mile overnight ride raising money for the Lewisham Bank for Things. This year's edition raised over £7,000.

I'm always keen for a ride that opens up your view of a place and lets you experience it in a new way. Some good friends in the cycling community brought it up, and I figured riding 100 miles through the night with home always in sight wasn't too risky.
Prepping for the ride was pretty straightforward I took it easy on the Friday, got some food in, did some stretching and an activation. I met Becky around the corner from me and we cycled to Victoria together.

Ride Start 9:30pm, London Victoria Station Car Park

West

Setting off from Victoria alongside Critical Mass (the monthly mass bike ride), with noise from the speakers and the bright city lights mixing with people heading in and out of the capital. We may also have annoyed a few commuters on their way home.

Crossing Albert Bridge its warm glow felt like it was saying everything is going to be alright before the pack split off onto the darker paths along the river, weaving through some interesting side routes.

"At 21:30, Critical Mass left with the London Lockdown Ride behind, creating a clear path for them to exit the station. The rides then merged together, riding for the first 4 miles, until Albert Bridge."

South

Into the Wandsworth suburbs, parks and trails an early taste of the South London terrain to come.

Wandle Trail → Tooting Bec Common 25km, and the irony of cycling right past my own house
West Norwood just past here I started to feel my front wheel go squishy; a check confirmed a slow puncture
Made the call to push on to Beulah Hill (30km) before stopping for a roadside puncture repair rather than a full tube swap
Tulse Hill → Crystal Palace → Catford → Lewisham crossed the footpath by a DLR station
Through Blackheath, then a big loop around the Greenwich Peninsula along the river, past the Trafalgar Pub, admiring the Cutty Sark on the way
Greenwich Foot Tunnel → Isle of Dogs → Blackwall Tunnel 65km

East

Through the maze of Canary Wharf, then onto the Limehouse Cut canal path the gravel gave a different feel to the ride and a bit of technical riding exiting at Three Mills Island in Bow. 77km, roughly 2 hours in.

McDonald's, Bow around 70 cyclists here. Bumped into a few friends, crossing paths with riders on a different schedule to us. Felt like a second wind for the sportive: warm food, coffee, and other bodies around to share the moment with.

Mile End → Olympic Park, notably past the Velodrome, into Hackney Marshes → London Fields → Clapton, hugging the River Lea. Around this point the sky started changing colour in the east about 4:30am. Second puncture (rear) at 90km.

North London

Stamford Hill → West Reservoir → Highbury, looping around Arsenal Stadium at 110km, with the sun properly rising around 7am a nice touch in a potential title-winning season, if you know, you know.

Archway → Camden → Regent's Park (120km) a moment of delirium here, since I usually ride Regent's Park fresh-eyed with my good friend Tom, gunning out a few decent laps before coffee. This time round I was eight-plus hours into an overnight ride, pushing through several strains of resilience.

Swiss Cottage → Hampstead coffee stop at Gail's, Hampstead, 124km → Kilburn

Back West

Paddington, onto the Grand Union Canal, off at Bayswater to loop Kensington → Brompton and out to Fulham (140km) forming the "thumb rest of the syringe" before doubling back through Brompton to Knightsbridge to complete the barrel shape.

The Mall → The Strand, back past the glory of Buckingham Palace, and into Victoria Station to finish off an epic ride.

Route summary: Victoria → Albert Bridge → Wandle Trail/Tooting Bec → West Norwood → Beulah Hill → Tulse Hill → Crystal Palace → Catford → Lewisham → Blackheath → Greenwich Peninsula → Greenwich Foot Tunnel → Isle of Dogs/Blackwall Tunnel → Canary Wharf → Limehouse Cut → Three Mills/Bow → Mile End → Olympic Park → Hackney Marshes → London Fields → Clapton → Stamford Hill → West Reservoir → Highbury/Arsenal → Archway → Camden → Regent's Park → Swiss Cottage → Hampstead → Kilburn → Paddington → Grand Union Canal → Bayswater → Kensington → Brompton → Fulham → Knightsbridge → The Mall → The Strand → Victoria

Written by - Tinashe: Unit 5 Floor Manager

London Lockdown Ride Review