Over the last decade, cycling has seen an explosion in popularity in London. We have never seen so many people out and about on two wheels. This increase in bikes – to be celebrated – has nonetheless led to new challenges.
Sharing space with new users in new ways is not easy. It can be frightening, especially to those most vulnerable – pedestrians. It takes hard work on all sides to learn to coexist safely and respectfully. This involves listening to each other’s needs and concerns. Neither fearmongering nor kneejerk legislative change are the answer.
I am someone who rides a bike a lot, mostly for exercise. Like many other Londoners, I spend much of this time riding in Regent’s Park. This park contains a circular ring-road which is very popular with bikes, and for good reason. It offers unparalleled green space for cycling safely in the centre of our city.
Sitting within a Royal Park (run by a charity which commits itself to promoting sport and recreation), the ring-road offers wide tarmac and limited traffic. Cars are banned before 7am and trade vehicles not allowed at any time. It is a perfect place for newer cyclists to get comfortable riding on the road and for more experienced cyclists to ride in groups.
For many years we have advocated in the strongest possible terms for responsible, judicious cycling: riding that ensures all park users – on or off a bike – can enjoy the space and feel safe doing so
Group riding is often vilified. Photos of cyclists riding together are used as evidence of people “pretending they are in the Tour de France”. The truth is that the sport of cycling is best enjoyed in groups. Cycling in a group is not to be equated with racing – it is simply part-and-parcel of many cyclists’ everyday social riding. Regent’s Park offers one of the only places in London with enough space for this kind of cycling to be done safely.
I chair a group called Regent’s Park Cyclists. We bring together those who cycle recreationally in the Park, representing over 35 clubs and over 5000 individual members. For many years we have advocated in the strongest possible terms for responsible, judicious cycling: riding that ensures all park users – on or off a bike – can enjoy the space and feel safe doing so. We have worked tirelessly with other park stakeholders – including the Royal Parks and the Parks Police – to this end, and will continue to do so.
Two Regent’s Park-based cycling-on-pedestrian collisions have seen recent media attention: one two years ago and one two weeks ago. Both cases resulted in serious injuries, with the first one tragically leading to the pedestrian’s death; my deepest sympathies, and those of my entire cycling community, are with the victims and their families.
These incidents, set against the backdrop of more-than 1,200 pedestrians and 1,000 cyclists killed or seriously injured (overwhelmingly by motor vehicles) in 2022 are stark reminders to organisations like mine that we must redouble our efforts to engage with and protect other vulnerable road users. This process, which involves open dialogue rather than divisive rhetoric, is not easy – but the London cycling community is unequivocally committed to it.
