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Cyclists who had their expensive racing bikes stolen hours before they were due to embark on a 100-mile ride for charity have spoken of their “victory over criminals” after completing the race on Boris bikes.

Joe Radmore, of St Paul’s Street, Islington, was out in his road on Saturday with friends preparing their bikes for the RideLondon-Surrey 100 cycle event the following day.

Joe, his brother Mat and friends Tim Hurst and Jamie Chatterton, all in their 30s, had been looking forward to the race for months and had raised £1,300 for charity.

However, they woke at the crack of dawn on Sunday to discover thieves had cut through a garden gate lock and stolen three racing bikes from Joe’s back yard.

“We were absolutely gutted,” shipping trader Joe, 36, said. “Someone must have seen what we were up to on Saturday. We woke up at 5.30am. We noticed someone had angle-grinded the lock and stolen our bikes.

“We called police and just sat in the road with our head in our hands.”

After police had taken down their details the cyclists rang friends to see if they could borrow bikes, but to no avail. However, they then got the idea of borrowing Santander hire bikes and completing the race on heavy cycles designed for short journeys.

“We went to Shoreditch Park, rented four Boris bikes and off we went,” Joe said. “By this point we could only join in the 46-mile race but that’s still a big effort on a such a bike.

“In the end, lots of people were cheering us. Serious riders were coming up to talk to us and there was great camaraderie during the race.

“We felt really good we took part and the charities are very proud of us. We felt we had a victory over criminals.”

While the bikes were clearly not designed to climb the Surrey hills, they finished the ride in just under three hours.

The friends raised £1,300 for Hospice Care, which supports people suffering from terminal illness, and The Lullaby Trust, which helps bereaved families affected by a sudden infant death.

And Joe, for whom it was the third bike he has had stolen since moving to Islington seven years ago, wrote to his MP, Emily Thornberry, this week, asking for action on bike theft.

“There’s not a single friend of mine in London who has not had a bike stolen and it seems to be such a common crime,” he added. “There just seems to be no downside to stealing a bike. This is totally ridiculous but nothing seems to be done.

“There really needs some hard action from the new Mayor, and there need to be places where you can park your bike safely outside train stations.”

In response, Islington Borough Commander Catherine Roper said she disagreed that bike thieves act with impunity. “I am sorry that Joe has been a victim of crime and I, like my officers, take all crime types seriously,” she said. “The Mayor sets our priorities and theft is one of these.

“The crime is being investigated and an officer has been allocated to look into this. I would urge anyone with information on bike crime to come forward.”

The Met regularly runs stalls offering advice as well as free security marking. Officers will next hold a stall at Shoreditch Park on August 31, between 4pm and 6.30pm.

No arrests have been made over the theft.