Annual Jo Cox cyclists set off on 290-mile ride

A group of cyclists from as far afield as New Zealand are set to ride 290 miles from Yorkshire to London in memory of Jo Cox.

The Labour MP for Batley and Spen was murdered outside her constituency surgery in Leeds in June 2016.

Her sister, Kim Leadbeater, MP for Spen Valley, said: "Perhaps the greatest tribute we can offer Jo is not merely to repeat her words, but to live by them, and show that we really do have far more in common than that which divides us.

"This is exactly what this bike ride does: women and men, young and old, from different places and different backgrounds, spend time together and real friendships grow."

Issy Doudney and Ruby Boyden, both 27, are travelling from New Zealand to take part in the annual Jo Cox Way ride.

Boyden said: "It's a reminder to turn toward community not away from it, particularly in times of increasing polarisation and divisive rhetoric.

"The 'more in common' message continues to resonate, as a positive and hopeful message, and this bike ride feels like it embodies that."

The youngest rider this year is 22 years old, with the oldest, Kath Lyons from Skipton, being in her eighties.

Safraz Mian, from Stokesley in North Yorkshire, had not met Cox or been to her constituency but organised the ride soon after she died.

He said her message had become "even more poignant, significant and important to humanity" in the years since her death.

"Wonderful people doing great things for their communities is the normality. The negative stuff that goes on in the world is not normal," he said.

"I think the ride is important because it is a reminder that there is all this wonderful stuff that goes on up and down the country, from Cleckheaton to London."

So far, more than 360 cyclists have completed the journey, which takes four and a half days and involves 13,000 feet of climbing.

They have set off from the Princess Mary Athletics Stadium in Cleckheaton and will finish in Southwark in London on Sunday.

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