Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the edition that we sent in May 2023. 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
IN THIS ISSUE… +++ Our response following overwhelmingly negative reaction to road installations +++ Mystery men pointing speed guns at cyclists +++ Meet a new addition to our list of sponsors +++ Machete-wielding teen bike thief jailed +++ Round-up of road incidents over the past quarter-year +++
Visit our sponsors: Bella Velo, Cycle Exchange, Kingston Wheelers, London Dynamo, Look Mum No Hands!, Pearson Cycles, Richmond Cycles Sigma Sports Electric
THE WORKS DON’T WORK
The park’s road installations are now complete – and the overwhelming response from cyclists is that they are a hazardous intrusion which detracts from their enjoyment of riding, while delivering no additional safety measures for any other type of park user. Please read our open letter to park manager Paul Richards setting out our concerns, which we sent after meeting with him and Sgt Pete Sturgess from the park’s police last week. You can find it here.
The Royal Parks consulted with us long before its contractors began the works, and in line with our recommendation it chose the shallower type of speed humps which are more suited to cycling. Yet other significant aspects ended up being a surprise. The 10mph signs on Broomfield Hill were not trialled and will likely add danger by increasing the differences in speed between the slowest and fastest riders. The road narrowings at Beverley Brook Bridge and opposite Roehampton car park were also not trialled and do not have the contraflows for cyclists which, before the designs were drawn up, TRP assured us would be available in all their plans. And the timber gates with signage attached not only reduce sightlines – their height, sharp edges, narrow width and close proximity to the road could cause a serious accident if a cyclist makes a small deviation from the road.
But the greatest surprise is that there are now three places where riders are expected to stop. Why try to prevent cyclists’ continuous movement on the outer roadway (while having regard for pedestrians and safe navigation through motor traffic) when it is the fundamental aspect of their enjoyment of the park – and the safety record for cycling has generally been excellent?
TRP is not anti-cycling, but many of the road installations and the absurdly low speed limit on Broomfield are significant misjudgments. Have a read of our letter, and let us know what you think of the changes, which we are hopeful the park’s management will alter.
CAMERA OBSCURER
Following our meeting with the park manager, a subscriber sent us footage from her bike cam, shot during a descent of Sawyer’s Hill, which shows two men with a clipboard and what appears to be a speed-recording device. She writes: “When I came alongside, the man lowered it and appeared to try to obscure it.”
Neither man is wearing a Royal Parks uniform; nevertheless, we will ask TRP if it is recording cyclists’ speeds in the park in this way. In the event of the answer being no, we will contact stakeholder groups to see if any of them can shed light on the matter. Only if all our enquiries draw a blank will we make the footage public in the hope that someone else can explain what is going on.
VOLT FROM THE BLUE
Time for a surprise announcement (which, if the new road furniture and speed limit hadn’t caused such a kerfuffle, would’ve been the top item in this busy little bulletin). Please welcome a fantastic addition to our roster of sponsors… Sigma Sports Electric! The shop in Kingston’s market square is the E-bike branch of Sigma, a name that needs no introduction to legions of cyclists who visit Richmond Park. Thank you to the team for backing us, and please show your appreciation by popping into the store or having a gander at their website here.
THE BREAKFAST CUFF
It’s not every morning that a 15-year-old walks into a cafe hiding a machete, a balaclava and around £1,000 in cash in his trousers – but that’s exactly what happened on the day that police from Operation Venice, the Met’s motorcycle-enabled crime unit, arrested the violent bike-jacker who rammed a stolen moped into professional cyclist Alex Richardson in Richmond Park to steal his £15,000 bicycle in October 2021.
The Met has announced that the teen, now 17, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and six months on licence following an appearance at Wimbledon Youth Court in April. He had admitted moped-enabled robbery, attempted robbery and possession of criminal property at an earlier hearing. Sgt Sturgess, head of the park’s police, told us that the youth and the three other males who accompanied him were already known to him and his officers, so they will be keeping a close eye to see if any of them are foolish enough to ever return to the park.
The quartet also tried to steal a bike from a cyclist on Roehampton Lane and stole another from a victim on Danebury Avenue, both locations close to the park. Over the course of less than a week, the Venice team trawled CCTV, identified the 15-year-old as the key suspect (even though he was wearing a balaclava to hide his face), issued warrants for his arrest and then went to a cafe for breakfast – where, as luck would have it, the suspect walked in with a photograph of Alex’s bike on his phone.
Alex’s injuries have healed, but he continues to suffer from anxiety, stress and sleeplessness. You can read more about the impact that the incident has had on him and his family here. We hope that other criminals have the sense to stay away, realising that bike-jacking in the park is a losing game, and trust that the police will swoop on such gangs should they reappear.
TAKING A STAND
There has been a small yet promising development following the wrecking of a bicycle and a steel bike stand near Pembroke Lodge, caused by a driver who mistakenly hit the wrong pedal in his parked 4x4 which made it lurch forward across a public path. Park manager Paul Richards told the Safer Parks Police Panel, which we attended last month, that he is considering installing bollards at the front of parking spaces facing pathways – a move which would prevent more destruction or even a death if a person happens to be walking in front of a careless driver in similar circumstances. He also revealed that The Royal Parks claimed the cost of replacing the bike stand from the motorists’ insurance.
We witnessed the incident but, as mentioned in last month’s bulletin, the police did not ask us for a statement, and the driver was not prosecuted. Sgt Sturgess told the panel that the prosecuting team, which is separate to the park’s police, confirmed to him that a statement would have had no effect on its decision as the driver had admitted he was at fault.
There was also a discussion about the car that caught fire on a Sunday afternoon in February on Queen’s Road. Paul pointed out that if the incident had happened in the summer and the flames had reached dry grass, the resulting blaze would have been much worse. Sgt Sturgess confirmed that the car – an Audi A3 with 08 plates – had developed a mechanical fault and the driver had safely got out of the car before it caught fire.
The three policing priorities for the next quarter, agreed at the meeting, are dogs on leads/deer protection, road behaviour and courtesy crossings.
Here is a rundown of the road and cycling-related incidents that the police attended over the past three months, as presented to us and the other attendees at the panel:
In February, a cyclist was left with cuts to their face after hitting the rear of a vehicle on Queen’s Road. They said the motorist was attempting a close pass, while the driver maintained that the collision was caused by the cyclist trying to overtake.
Three cyclists were recorded falling at the roundabout by Richmond Gate in February due to the slippery conditions caused by a build-up of winter grime and the subsequent treatment applied to the road. They suffered minor injuries, but we know that there were many more who came off during this period and did not report the incidents. Safety consultants have given advice to TRP on how to reduce this risk next winter
A suspect confronted a cyclist in January for riding off-track and grabbed hold of their bike.
As usual, there were a number of cycling accidents which did not involve any other party. On the ballet school road in February, a cyclist suffered bleeding on the brain after hitting a speed bump and banging her head on the tarmac. In January, a rider had a suspected seizure near Richmond Gate and fell onto the grass. Three other incidents that same month can be attributed to rider error, resulting in various fractures and dislocations.
There were 28 verbal warnings for riding off-track and one, in January, for cycling in a “manner likely to endanger”.
A locked e-bike was stolen from a stand in January.
As for motoring offences: 69 drivers were reported for speeding, 115 unauthorized trade vehicles were reported, three drivers had no insurance and two were found to be “driving not in accordance with a licence”. Two were driving while using a mobile phone and one drove without due care and attention. There were also 135 traffic offence reports relating to parking, and 43 for contravening the restrictions on motor traffic and directional signs on the park’s roads.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
As ever, thank you for allowing us to pop into your inbox, and let us know what you think about 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