Watch Out for Lawnmowers

According to this BBC article, there are around 6500 people hurt every year by lawn mowers.

According to this PDF on TfL's London Road Safety website, 3202 people were fatally, seriously or slightly injured whilst on their bicycles.

This PDF shows the pedestrian casualties, as cyclists above - 5127.

Whilst on this topic, this series of articles on the Copenhagenize blog (where the BBC article was found) is worth reading.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 11:32 0 comments  

London Sky Ride Feeder Rides

RCC are leading two feeder rides to the London Sky Ride (previously the Freewheel).

Both rides leave from Little Green, Richmond. If you're coming along, try to get there 15 minutes before the ride leaves.

The first ride leaves at 09:30 and the second at 11:00.

There will be a return ride leaving from Hyde Park Corner (inside Hyde Park) at 15:00.

This is the route for the feeder. It'll be slightly different around Hammersmith on the way back.

Come along, have fun, the weather is bound to be good!

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 15:22 0 comments  

Cycle Lanes - are they any use?

An interesting article on the Times website talks about the distance drivers give to cyclists when there are cycle lanes compared with the distance they give them when there aren't cycle lanes. You can see it here.

You might also like to have a look at this PDF from Warrington Cycle Campaign that discusses the same issue and provides some nice pictures to prove their point.

A few years ago, some research was done to show that cyclists wearing helmets caused drivers to give them less space.

You are in charge of you when you are cycling. See, Be Seen and Communicate.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 14:56 0 comments  

LBRuT LIP published

Richmond council's LIP (Local Implementation Plan) has been published and contains much relating to cyclists including £30k on secure parking at Richmond station, £25k on feasibility studies on all the pedestrian rail bridges to improve access for peds and cyclists, £280k on Hampton Court Road, £40k on improving the paths in Petersham Meadows, £15k on opening up one way streets in Richmond town centre to cyclists etc.

You can read it here.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 17:43 0 comments  

Hammersmith Riverside Shared Space

Hammersmith council had a consultation on the space alongside the river between the Corinthian sailing club and Black Lion street. This is around the Old Ship pub where the path passes in front of the pub and through a covered area.

For cyclists, shared use is planned. The narrow path between the wall and the Black Lion car park will be widened. There will be a diagonal route from the end of this path leading towards the river, and a ramp will replace the present steps. There will be signs saying pedestrian priority, and warning pedestrians to watch out for cyclists.

If you have any comments or want more information, email Annelise Johns of Hammersmith council.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 17:35 0 comments  

Cycle Ambassador Scheme - Workshop

As part of the Cycle Ambassador Scheme, there will be a workshop to give existing ambassadors and prospective ambassadors a chance to have any questions answered. There will also be lots of cycling related info available.

The workshop is on Saturday 12th September at the staff social club in Clarendon House, nr York House, Twickenham, TW1 3AA from 10:00 onwards.

Sign up to be an ambassador on or before the 12th and you could win a prize.

Hope to see you there!

More details on the ambassador scheme.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 11:28 0 comments  

Maintenance Workshop

To help out all the new cycle ambassadors, there is a new maintenance workshop starting on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 at 20:00 until 22:00. It's mainly for the ambassadors and buddies but all are welcome, as are donations.

Turn up with your bike, use the tools and expertise available and go away with a bike that rides like a dream, probably.

The workshop will be at All Hallows Church in Twickenham, it's the same place that Twickenham CC use as their club room:

Location - The Long Room, All Hallows Church, Erncroft Way, Twickenham, TW1 1EW

It will run bi-weekly until the end of October but will continue if it's popular.

Hope to see you there!

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 13:40 2 comments  

Towpath from Kew Gardens

Taken from inside Kew Gardens:



Bikes on the towpath on a sunny afternoon, wind against tide and a beer expected...

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 16:52 0 comments  

Contra Flow on King Charles Bridge in Kingston

A new contra flow cycle lane in place in Kingston - where King Charles Road crosses the railway - after school children said it would help them get to school by bike.

Details on the Kingston Council site here and on Kingston Cycle Campaign's site with a nice picture here.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 14:43 0 comments  

Cycle Ambassador Scheme

The Smarter Travel team at Richmond council have set up a cycle ambassador scheme to encourage people to cycle more often. It is open to anyone over 18 who lives, works or studies in Richmond. If this isn't you, please think of someone who might be interested in taking part either as an ambassador or buddy and send them the link to this post.

The idea is that a cyclist decides to be an ambassador and signs up. The ambassador then finds a buddy who could be a friend, relative, partner or colleague who would like to do more cycling and they sign up as well. Ambassador and buddy then go off and do some cycling, preferably together ;-) Ambassadors get a £25 voucher and buddies get discounts in bike shops, discounted cycle training and a free handlebar bag.

Buddying is a great way to get people cycling. Many cyclists already gently persuade the people in their lives of the benefits of cycling. Now cyclists can do all the persuading they like and everyone gets a reward. Sign up now and get twenty five pound for cycling around!

Register to be an ambassador before September 12th and you will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three prizes. Both ambassadors and buddies will be entered into a prize draw to win a rucksack full of cycling goodies. Terms and conditions of the prize draws are available at the links below or by email.

If you want to find out more, come along to the Ambassador's workshop on 12th September where you can ask any questions and get a chance to sign up and enter the prize draw. The workshop will be at the staff social club in Clarendon House, nr York House, Twickenham, TW1 3AA from 10:00 onwards.

If you can't attend the workshop, come along to Richmond Cycling Campaign's new maintenance workshop where you can work on your own bike under the supervision of a qualified mechanic and get your ambassador questions answered. It will run bi-weekly starting Wednesday 2nd September at 20:00 in the Long Room, All Hallows Church, Twickenham, TW1 1EW

Details and registration on Smarter Travel web site

Any questions, email cycleambassadors@richmond.gov.uk

Terms and Conditions of prize draws:
September prize draw
Main prize draw

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 13:18 0 comments  

Hammersmith Bridge - Southbound changes

Some changes to the south side of Hammermsith bridge, including a new toucan, shared paths and alterations to the road surfaces.

Details here.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 13:15 0 comments  

Kew Towpath

Apologies for lack of posts recently.

Kew towpath will be closed from 7th September for repair and maintenance to the embankment. Details on the council website here.

Towpath users will have to divert onto Mortlake Road and through the Kew Green back streets to pick up the towpath by Kew bridge. For cyclists, this will involve a short section of pavement where they are being asked to dismount.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 18:23 0 comments  

London Cycling Whatever

Boris Johnson interview in the Times.

Third paragraph from the end. He's getting his own back.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 07:34 0 comments  

A4 Safety Improvements

Details here.

The petition about safety on the A4 has had an effect.

Thanks to all who signed the petition.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 12:09 0 comments  

LCN+ CRISP datasheets online

All the datasheets for the Richmond LCN+ routes are now online here.

You can download them all in one go here = PDF 33MB

These are the suggestions each CRISP came up with for the routes. The LCN+ in Richmond can be seen here. All these suggestions rely on feasibility studies before they get the go ahead.

RCC is waiting for LBRuT to provide us with a list of completed LCN+ routes.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 16:23 0 comments  

Cycling Infrastructure and Design Standards

The DfT has recently releases it's Cycling Infrastructure and Design (CID) guidance.

It can be found here = PDF 3.5MB

You can also find the London Cycle Design Standard (LCDS) here = list of PDFs

As previously posted, you can find the mayor's transport document, Way to Go here.

You can find the responses to this document at the links below:

London Cycling Campaign response

Sustrans response

Living Streets response

Lib Dems response

Transport Committee response

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 15:52 0 comments  

Rides For Everyone

The Rides for Everyone up to May are now listed on the LBRuT web site here.

So along with our rides blog and the LCC rides web page, you can see when and where our Rides For Everyone take place.

Look at the rides blog to see some pics of recent rides.

Here are some from the Box Hill ride...




Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 15:34 0 comments  

Cycle Training Courses in Richmond

This year's cycle training courses are now taking bookings.

You can see more details here.

There are holiday courses for children - these are great fun and are better than the usual school courses as it's generally more relaxed with a great mix of children.

There are also courses for adults. These fall into 3 categories:

Level 1 - wobblers and non riders = 2 x 90min sessions
Level 2 - Ready to ride = 4 x 90min sessions
Level 3 - Advanced road riding = 1 x 120min session

All courses start at 18:30 and cost £15. They will start from or take place at:

Richmond Adult Community College,
Clifden Road,
Twickenham
TW1 4LT

Go to the relevant page to get a downloadable form or contact the safety education team on 020 8487 5131 or email them - safety-education@richmond.gov.uk

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 15:26 0 comments  

Mayor's Question Time - Cycling Answers Jan 09

Details are here...

Mayor's Cycling Questions - January 2009

The first questions relate to the fataility on the A4. The questions are relevant for Richmond because the A316 is similar - it has lots of side roads and entrances where cars have priority.

There are also questions on cycle parking, the cycle hire scheme and cyclists and lorries.

More questions and answers are here.


Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 15:15 0 comments  

It's Snow Bike



Thanks and copyright to Mandy at Feltbug

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 12:30 0 comments  

A Safer A4 for Everyone

Before Christmas, there was a fatality on the A4 in Brentford. More details are here.

Mike Fletcher was riding on the cycle path and as you can see from the link above, he was no novice. Ironically, he campaigned to make the route safer for other cyclists.

It seems only right that we do what we can to continue his work. Please go to the site below and sign the petition.

Petition to Make the A4 Safer For Everyone

Thanks

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 11:08 2 comments  

LCN+ in Richmond

As reported earlier, the funding for the LCN+ from TfL has been reduced. We are now seeing the results of this in LBRuT forward plan, detailed here...

LBRuT Forward Plan

If you look at the Transport Consultative Group forward plan December 08 to March 09 and scroll to the bottom of the list, you will see that there are proposals to abandon the development of LCN+ routes 172-175 because they are in the feasibility stage. Here are some google maps detailing all the LCN+ routes in Richmond...

Complete LCN+ in Richmond

LCN+ funding not forthcoming this year

LCN+ schemes that get funding this year

You can also get pdf maps from the LCN+ site here.

Once you have removed the LCN+ that TfL is responsible for (the A316 and A205 south circular), LBRuT is spending it's money on the 167 which runs from Kingston bridge to Hampton, the 168 from Hammersmith bridge to Hampton (note that much of this route is goes along the NCN4 and through Richmond Park, so is already up to standard. Essentially, the problems on this link are Barnes Common and Teddington town centre), 169 which spurs off the A316 and goes along the A205 until it becomes the South Circular at Clifford Avenue and 170 which runs from Kew bridge to the border with Kingston on Richmond Road (not including Richmond Circus - which is a TfL junction).

LATEST
It appears that these schemes are not to be abandoned but have not progressed far enough through CRISP process to be put forward for funding this year. They are still at the feasibility stages. The intention is to move them forward next financial year. Not all of the routes that remain will have work done on them, RCC has asked for a list of schemes that will get funding for this year.

Posted byRichmond Cycling Campaign at 10:48 0 comments