Pru Life UK lauds the Filipino cyclists who joined the inaugural My Prudential RideLondon – the virtual edition of the world’s biggest cycling festival. The event attracted thousands of professional and recreational cyclists from 70 countries across the world for a celebration promoting cycling as a fun fitness activity.
Due to the pandemic, Prudential RideLondon shifted online this year and was powered by an app to make the experience more immersive. Over the course of nine days of cycling in their home countries, riders travelled a total of 212,043 kilometers – equivalent to circling the globe five times.
“Despite being thousands of miles apart, cyclists all over the world felt the rush of being part of My Prudential RideLondon. By tapping the power of technology, we were able to unite all participants and further our advocacy of bike-riding as a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation,” says Allan Tumbaga, Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Marketing Officer.
Organized by Pru Life UK’s parent company Prudential plc, Prudential RideLondon first took place in 2013 as a legacy event from the London 2012 Olympics. In its seventh year, the new format of the event enabled participants to virtually cycle and experience various distances and courses based on the actual routes around the United Kingdom capital.
Through the My Prudential RideLondon app, GPS tracking tallied the cyclists’ distances and calculated their speed on the Surrey 19-, 46- or 100-mile routes. Meanwhile, the FreeCycle event was open for everyone, including those with self-propelled wheels like a wheelchair, push scooter, skateboard, or roller skates. All successful participants received a digital certificate with their completed route and time.
More than 11,000 people signed up across the globe including returning Prudential RideLondon cyclists who got to reminisce about their past rides, despite biking in their hometowns. Among the repeat RideLondon finishers were Pru Life UK employees Ryan Benguelo (2019 Surrey 100 finisher) and Nelsi Rabe (2019 Surrey 46 finisher), Ryan Lamayo (2018 Surrey 100 finisher) and Marvin Pacis (2017 Surrey 46 finisher), who all completed this year’s Surrey 46-mile course. Meanwhile, journalist Bim Santos also finished the Surrey 46 course with Rabe last year.
“I cycled in Laguna and it was challenging because it was cold and foggy there that day. But after completing the Surrey 46 ride, I felt really fulfilled the same way I was at Prudential RideLondon. Although the cycling event went virtual, I’m still grateful for being able to promote the benefits of cycling to my friends on social media,” shares Santos.
Meanwhile, media sales manager James Orlanda treated his My Prudential RideLondon as coming full circle following his PRURide PH participation last year. Completing the routes of Surrey 46 in the roads of Alabang and Cavite was quite tough, but Orlanda deemed the experience was definitely worth it. “I got to challenge myself and was even able to exceed my performance in PRURide PH last year. Furthermore, it helped me refresh my mental state and experience another novel adventure with my bike,” says Orlanda.
Globally, some notable participants included Guinness World Record holders Cat Dixon and Raz Marsden; England rugby’s World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson and players Leon Lloyd, and Martin Corry; professional surfboarder and former Love Island contestant Laura Crane; and two-time Winter Olympian Aimee Fuller.
The success of My Prudential RideLondon benefited many charities that support health frontliners, cancer patients, refugees, and other underprivileged communities that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under its We DO Health initiative, Pru Life UK previously sent official Philippine delegations to London for four consecutive years, including celebrity ambassadors Gretchen Ho (Surrey 46 finisher), and Kim Atienza and Zoren Legaspi (Surrey 100 finishers). As a life insurance company, PRU Life UK is committed to advocate healthy living and financial security among Filipinos.
“During these challenging times, Pru Life UK stays true to its commitment to helping Filipinos take charge of their health. We hope to be able to emulate the recent success of My Prudential RideLondon with our very own PRURide so that more will be inspired to adopt cycling as a means to stay fit and healthy in the new normal,” adds Tumbaga.
