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news
Cyclist Richmond Park (via YouTube)Cyclists banned from Richmond Park due to “congestion”
Cycling will be banned in Richmond Park from tomorrow due to the numbers of cyclists who have been riding through. A spokesperson said other Royal Parks remained open for cyclists as there was “no current evidence of congestion.”
Last weekend, Richmond Park Cyclists urged people to ride alone or risk being banned after images emerged showing cyclists queueing at one of the refreshment kiosks.
Rules on social distancing have been ignored by a number of visitors – not just cyclists – resulting in motor vehicles being banned from three Royal Parks and the closure of a number of cafés and kiosks.
Yesterday, Royal Parks threatened to close its parks to cyclists if rules weren’t respected.
Cyclists, please:
▶️ Stay 2m+ away from others
▶️ Stick to designated cycle routes
▶️ Respect the speed limit and other park users
▶️ Don’t race or spit
These are rules, not requests. Work together or we will have to close the parks to cyclists. #CoronavirusLockdownUK
— The Royal Parks (@theroyalparks) March 26, 2020
A similar tweet was addressed to joggers, only without the threat of exclusion.
ITV now reports that cycling will be banned in Richmond Park from tomorrow (Saturday March 28) due to the volume of cyclists and the failure to observe social distancing rules.
A Royal Parks spokesperson explained: “It is necessary to suspend all cycling in Richmond Park to protect public safety and ultimately help keep this vital green space open for everyone. Cycling is still permitted in the other Royal Parks, where there is no current evidence of congestion.
“We’re continuously monitoring the situation and intervening where appropriate, with the support of the police, to reduce congestion in all areas across all our parks.
“Many parks are closing across the UK because people aren’t following the Government’s guidelines and people are gathering in groups of more than two.
“We really want to keep our eight parks open across London as they are such important green spaces for those that can reach them safely for daily exercise and to walk in nature.”
NHS workers can continue to cycle though the park if they show their staff pass.
A number of cyclists have questioned the move, arguing that there was little evidence people were failing to maintain distance from one another.
Unless things changed dramatically yesterday, social distancing by cyclists seemed pretty appropriate on Wednesday. Without cars there was plenty of room to allow overtaking at safe distances
— Toby M. Wilkes (@TM_Wilkes) March 27, 2020
Please rethink this policy @theroyalparks . I solo cycled in RP once a day this week and it was blissful without cars and I only saw good social distancing being observed by the diverse folks also enjoying the park for what it’s designed for; recreation.
— Tim Lorimer (@bluetube43) March 27, 2020
This, I believe, is the reason. Hearsay from privileged locals. pic.twitter.com/h4L6hgaKxy
— Elisabeth Anderson (@velobetty) March 27, 2020
Reporting from the park on Monday, our news editor Simon MacMichael shot the footage below.
"There are lots of cyclists around but all being sensible,” he said. “No-one's drafting, almost all are riding on their own bar a few couples.
"I've been here long enough to have seen everyone do a full lap. No one's taking the piss. The message seems to have got through."
In a statement responding to Royal Parks' decision, London Cycling Campaign said the capital needed more safe cycling spaces, not fewer.
Our response to @theroyalparks closing Richmond Park & other authorities closing parks. pic.twitter.com/HmaI2TXbY0
— London Cycling Campaign (@london_cycling) March 27, 2020
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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36 comments
This is so incredibly short sighted. Close the biggest park and where will people go.....? Oh look the other parks are all suddenly too busy. Best close them too.
Not to worry, I'll do some laps of Wandsworth roundabout
With today's traffic levels seems perfectly fine! I'm quite keen on the Waterloo tunnel at the moment.
This report is partially incorrect. I don't understand how a journalist just can't go to the Royal Parks website themselves and write the correct information - https://www.royalparks.org.uk/home/coronavirus-updates
You can cycle in the Parks if:
1. You are an essential worker and can prove it. Essential workers are not just NHS workers.
2. A child under 12.
fwiw I beleive the original update from the Royal Parks stated only NHS workers, until it was pointed out to them key workers didnt just work for the NHS and they modified it
So children under 12 can go, but only on their own? Seems like it might present it's own issues.
I spent the day yesterday servicing bikes for NHS nurses and doctors (you can all thank me later) I use a workshop / cycle hub in central London. At the end of the day i cycled home across Hampstead Heath and it was heaving with children, dogs, people playing, running, chatting, strolling - it was like a sunny summer evening! The Corporation of London (who manage the park) should, going by the standards of The Royal Parks, ban pedestrians and leave the Heath to essential cargo bike users.
Where will London Dynamo cycle round now?
Been there the last few days and seen plenty of people riding side by side. WTF? No wonder people hate cyclists. Common sense people....
If they are from the same household, then no problem being riding side by side from a Covid-19 POV.
If however you are talking about obstructing the pathway, then that could be a different matter.
I too have seen many families out on their bicycles together.
Warms my heart.
Fair enough but the person overtaking or on the opposite side of the road isn't from the same household and no way you can keep the 2m rule 3 abreast. I know a lot of people seem to feel the need to block the road other users by cycling side by side but to continue that ATM? Seriously?
Plus I'd put good money on the majority of those I saw just being lycra pals discussing some new groupset blah...
That warm fuzzy feeling when you just decided you were right all along - confirmation bias is great therapy.
faux pro idiots screwing it up for everyone else. >Slow clap<.
Can't work out if nj67 is being sarcastic or literal. 3 posts is not enough to go on.
Having just come from the park at 5pm this evening and seen 5 groups of >5 riders in 5 minutes, it's no wonder the park is closed to cyclists and also sadly to those who behave sensibly. The Royal Parks have acted entirely responsibly and those who continue to ride in groups have denied others. But you who have ridden in these groups will continue to think someone else is to blame and that it's a conspiracy which is a testament to both your intelligence and your social responsibility. I look forward to seeing huge groups (perhaps of individuals) being turned away tomorrow
I did about 125 rides in the park last year and always felt cyclists were tolerated rather than welcomed. If there is a pecking order, I reckon the Royals Parks have cyclists at the bottom, with deer above us – and they regularly shoot them! I deliberately avoided the park this month because of the increased use. Now that the roads are relatively clear, not a great hardship.
It’s a beautiful park and a wonderful facility which should be able to accommodate everyone. I think the biggest problem is people; some of us are simply not very good at being nice! Thankfully, there exists a whole bunch who are! Maybe if we could resist being so tribal things would be better.
The only congestion (as is stated in the Royal Parks press release) is at the gates. With the main road gates closed, cyclists and pedestrians alike have to funnel through the side gates. If they opened the main gates, with appropriate bollards to stop the cars coming in, they could substantially reduce and probably eliminate the congestion.
if they close the park, where do they think the cyclists will go? For many that will mean the Thames towpath (not the roadies, perhaps, but one of the nice things about Richmond Park this week has been the number of families with some pretty tiny children taking the opportunity to cycle on the road). That will mean much closer proximity to other walkers and cyclists.
Hundreds of people have died, loads more probably will and here we all are being outraged about not being able to cycle where we want to. Seriously, you guys are the worst.
Can you imagine how busy it would be tomorrow - yes you can probably keep good distances between people when you are on the move, but at junctions, on hills or on the roads leading to the parks there's no way to keep a safe distance. If we all stop being dicks this will be over sooner and fewer people will die. Not going cycling in a busy park for a few weeks seems like a small price to pay.
How will it be over sooner? Is there a vaccine coming next week?
Maybe you live in the countryside with loads of space - others don't.
Being cooped up for weeks is not good for your physical or mental health.
I live about 5 miles from the park so I'm not delighted by this.
I've made a really complex map - it shows all the places in the London area where new restrictions have been imposed on cycling this weekend.
Great perspective. Well done
Now color the places where the cyclists will be at less risk of injury (that might lead to a hospital admission) than Richmond Park.
Especially now, with large restrictions on motor vehicle use.
Nah, the worst would be Trump and his supporters who claimed this would all magically disappear by Easter.
The next worst being our own government who embraced the idiotic herd immunity strategy then backed away from it and who failed to plan for this back in January when it was obvious it was coming.
Third would be all those affluent holiday-makers who went to Italy and spread the virus across Europe. If they'd stuck to the rule of not going anywhere you can't walk or cycle to, this virus would not have spread so widely.
Oh, though I'm forgetting the Chinese Communist Party and its initial attempt to cover up the outbreak and its hypocrisy in protesting when other countries restricted people coming from China while now it's banning foreigners from going _to_ China.
Oh, and whoever the fool was who decided he fancied a pangolin burger for tea, thus kicking off this entire global crisis.
And the panicking types who completely stripped-bare my local supermarkets, leaving me digging around in the back of my fridge's freezing compartment and hoping that things labelled 'best before October 2015' are probably still OK to eat.
Cyclists outraged about restrictions on cycling may not be a good look, but they are a long way down the list. Far from "the worst".
Who are you talking to?
And is it not reasonable to argue that, based on the evidence (such as it is) in the article, perhaps the ban is a little heavy-handed? Are we now a police state? Is no-one allowed to protest anything now?
It's a fair point but it smacks of the "If it saves one life" argument. It is instructive to evaluate risk and balance what might be termed 'risk and reward'. Bear in mind that there is some risk everywhere.
This can be posed as a pair of questions:
1. just how bad is the problem [people not distancing]?
and
2. is the ban likely to have a positive effect on infection rates?
If the answers are "the problem is not significant" and "the ban unlikely to make any difference" then the ban is unfair and disproportionate. And while it's easy to say that there are bigger issues to worry about that doesn't mean the discussion should not be had.
double post.
Cycling plebs vs the whingeing entitled who rent swanky properties within Royal Parks. Now just who is going to be listened to I wonder?
So the Royal Park managment see cyclists queuing at a cafe, so not on their bikes, and decide to ban cycling? Perhaps banning pedestrians would be more appropriate.
Perhaps banning cafes would be more appropriate?
They've already done that! The problem was solved on Monday. What they're doing now makes no logical sense.
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