Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the mailout that we sent in August 2020. If you like it, please sign up on our Get Involved section - you will be showing your support for our work and you will receive our free monthly bulletins a month before they appear here. Have a look at our first bulletin to find out more about how RPC was formed.
SEVEN HEAVEN
It’s finally happened, chums! As of this morning, seven-day-a-week cycling has returned to Richmond Park – and with the car parks closed at weekends, you won’t encounter any motor traffic on Saturdays and Sundays. Hooray! Richmond Park Cyclists got in nice and early this morning for the first Saturday in four months, and it was wonderful to see so many riders doing the same thing. How on earth did all of us manage to stay sane without it?
We arrived in the park at 9am and stayed for two hours. During that time, there was a mix of sports cyclists, families and couples sharing the roadway on their bikes, as well as a few runners. There were even a pair of competitive dads pushing buggies up Sawyers Hill at a fair old pace! With no cars on the road, there was more than enough space for everyone. If it had been twice as busy, the park’s roads would still not seem crowded.
The only note of caution is regarding the deer, who seemed to be enjoying the absence of motorists arriving to park. On three occasions they calmly trotted into the road, so please watch out for our ungulate pals – and wait for them to cross.
The weekend has always been the most popular time to cycle in the park, and with more people returning to their regular weekday work schedule over the past few weeks, the opportunity to ride on Saturdays and Sundays was especially missed by many. So thank you to everyone at The Royal Parks for listening to us and others in the cycling community. It took a long while for them to respond but they came through in the end!
TRP will be monitoring the numbers of cyclists using the park at weekends, which is likely to be higher than prior to the pandemic now that more people appear to be visiting on their bikes than ever before. With a greater range of cyclists on the roadway and shared paths, it’s important that everyone makes vulnerable road users and those new to cycling feel welcome by giving them enough space when passing – 1.5 metres is the recommended distance, although adding a bit more if it is safe to do so could make them feel less intimidated.
And echoing TRP’s social media campaign to “be kind” to its parks, please show as much consideration as possible to every type of park user. Pedestrians have priority, so let them cross the road if you are able to slow down. Do not tailgate when you are unable to overtake a car – it can be quite alarming having a cyclist inches from your rear window. And as already mentioned, if the deer are crossing, you should be stopping.
With the next stage of the Movement Strategy on the horizon, these are exciting times for cycling in our favourite ride destination. TRP’s aim to reduce through traffic in all eight royal parks came a step closer last month with the publication of the implementation plan which included a trial scheme for Richmond Park. TRP has yet to unveil any details, but we want to share what you could expect to happen. Read on!
THE ROAD AHEAD
The suspension of cars on the park’s roads is exactly that – a suspension. At some point soon, cyclists will be sharing the roadway with motorists again. But as part of the Movement Strategy’s progression, the aim of the reintroduction will be to observe the effects of a greatly reduced presence of cars on the park – likely to be much lower than it was pre-pandemic – and the knock-on effects on traffic levels in the surrounding boroughs. At the end of the process, the ultimate prize of reducing through traffic permanently should be achieved.
We understand that cars will be reintroduced in two to three weeks’ time. Measures will be put in place that will make it impossible to drive a full lap of the park, and to facilitate this reduction of access, we understand there is likely to be one gate shut as well as closures to part of the roadway. There could be two levels of restrictions, one during weekdays and another set of more stringent rules at weekends, which is when the park’s roads have traditionally been much busier. Richmond, Wandsworth and Kingston councils will monitor the effect of traffic levels on their roads.
TRP will unveil the details before our next monthly bulletin, so be sure to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to hear about the announcement as soon as it emerges. Links to our social media channels are at the foot of the email.
TO OUR CREDIT
We had an enjoyable socially distanced meeting at Pen Ponds cafe with Sergeant Peter Sturgess and Pc Paul Barber of the park’s police unit a couple of weeks ago where we floated the idea of a code of conduct for cyclists. As you may remember, in last month’s bulletin we mentioned our intention to draw up guidelines to help create a hospitable and safe environment for every kind of cyclist and park user. Since then, we’ve come up with the idea of putting five key points from the code on flyers the size of a credit card that could be handed out in the park.
We are putting together the full code. In the meantime, here is a rough draft of the abbreviated credit-card version:
DON’T MAKE THEM CROSS: Pedestrians have priority, so let them cross the road when you see them waiting. Stop for deer and horse riders. HARD AND FAST RULE: The speed limit, which applies to cyclists, is 20mph on the outer roadway and 10mph on the Quietway through the middle of the park. MIND THE GAP: Leave a space of 1.5m as you overtake. If you are passing a vulnerable road user, try to leave a bigger gap. RISKY BUSINESS: Look behind you before moving left or right. If you need to stop, get off the road. And when a car is in front of you, keep a distance of at least two bike lengths. EIGHT IS GREAT: For safety, the maximum number of cyclists in a group should be eight. Stick to two abreast.
The park’s policemen seemed to like the idea of the cards, which would be small enough to fit in your wallet or purse, and TRP has said it would endorse the full version of the guidelines if the final wording meets their expectations. So what do you think should be in the code? We would love to hear your suggestions, so please email us with your thoughts.
The code would be self-policed, which means it would be down to all of us to politely approach anyone who has fallen short of the guidelines and ask them to adjust their behaviour. In a separate development, TRP has suggested there could be a cycling equivalent of the park’s volunteer rangers. The idea would be similar to Ride London’s safety captains – the event’s designated riders who help maintain safe riding. It’s an interesting concept, and we will approach the TRP managers who organise the rangers to see that they think.
CRACKING THE CODE
Finally, a word on the Department for Transport’s recent announcement that it intends to change the Highway Code. The aim is to improve road safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. A public consultation is underway which will end on October 27.
Next month’s bulletin will detail our view on the proposed changes. In the meantime, please take a look at the consultation.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
Thank you for allowing us to pop into your inbox – and a special thank you to our many new subscribers who signed up over the past month. Let us know what you think about any of the subjects in this bulletin, or anything related to cycling in Richmond Park – we reply personally to every email you send us. If you enjoyed this bulletin, please share it with your cycling friends – and if they like what they read, encourage them to sign up to our mailing list too. The more subscribers we have, the bigger our voice.
All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists
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