The RideLondon event, sponsored by Prudential, is a fun day for cyclists which has been running since 2013 and has created enormous inconvenience for residents and businesses in Surrey and in South West and Central London. Roads are closed or rolling road blocks used, particularly on the route taken by professional riders. The number of amateur riders also effectively generates gridlock on the roads involved.
Numerous people have objected in the past and a petition has been organised on Change.org to oppose the event. See https://www.change.org/p/surrey-county-council-stop-surrey-being-turned-into-a-cycle-track
Now Surrey County Council have woken up to the concerns expressed and are undertaking a public consultation on whether to continue with it. See https://www.surreysays.co.uk/deputy-ceo/survey-on-prudential-ridelondon-surrey/
Note that the event has involved deaths in the past, and not just to riders. In 2017 a pedestrian was struck by a cyclist and later died. The roads are not closed to pedestrians and even many of the amateur cyclists consider it to be a race. We are opposed to all road closures for leisure or sporting events. They should be kept open for essential services and the general use of the public.
There is simply no justification for such road closures.
Make sure you respond to the Surrey Council Consultation!
Roger Lawson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London
You can “follow” this blog by clicking on the bottom right.
Total disruption in Surrey every year, people trapped in their homes and villages, care workers cannot get to their patients, People cannot get to work, having to take unpaid leave or use a days holiday, or pay for a hotel.
Night workers can’t get home after along 12 hour shift, rude and dangerous cyclists using people gardens as a toilet.
This has been the case for 8 years, we tolerated the olympics, but why do we have suffer year in year out.
The stress on people’s lives is intolerable, weekends the area is flooded with cyclists so called training, it’s time this event was moved to another county.
Hard working people deserve to have a better deal, what makes the OLD Olympic course so special. The Olympics were in 2012 this is 2020 enough is enough.
Please move away from Surrey especially Byfleet where the village is closed for the duration, the stewards are rude and arrogant, and have no right to refuse entry to people going about their daily lives, so they have a warrant to close a road, unlikely as this can only be done legally by police and highways England traffic officers, not some numpty who thinks he has a bit of power.
This survey should be only available to residents who are affected by the disruption and not those who are not affected, that’s why this survey is bias to keeping the event.
If this was sent to every resident affected you would get a true answer.
People say it’s only one day, but they don’t have to suffer people coming into the area with bikes on cars, and the traffic and arrogant riders who refuse to abide by the Highway Code.
We have had our fill of this event now, and it has run its course, charities would still benefit if the event was moved probably more so, it is untrue that Surrey people are wealthy, yes some are but most are people who cannot afford to have an unpaid day off work, there are a huge amount of elderly people who need daily care and medication, where carers are refused entry to the village of which there is no other way in, if you wish to continue with this then Byfleet needs an access point to the outside world, and this should be paid for by ride LONDON, as for ride LONDON that is its name not ride Surrey and London.
WE HAVE HAD OUR FILL PLEASE FO NOT RUN THIS EVENT FOR ANOTHER 5 YEARS and save our sanity
A couple of years ago, my wife and I had the misfortune to try and access an historic house and gardens in the area, not realising the event was on.
Could not reach our destination! So went home the best we could, forced to use all the divisions and it took a long time and a waste of our day.
It might be OK in the Yorkshire Dales, but South East England is just too crowded for such events.
So sympathise with those living in the area and it might be only ‘one-day’ but it is at a weekend when most people want to travel and do their own thing!.
Imagine the uproar if cyclists were told they cannot ride on a Saturday or Sunday!
It’s not “OK” in the Yorkshire Dales either!
The pleasures of a few should not be at the expense of the rest
Living close to the red A23 I have had enough of cyclists preparing for the London to Brighton run. The same argument used it is only for a day. You do get those that want to use the road as a test track and develop there cycling skills to the detriment of other road users
To the Mayor of London – Please do listen to these voters whose letters are quoted above. The virtue signalling over cyclists mania is over. I always cycled everywhere when younger, and the ‘authorities’ minded their own business and avoided spending taxpayer’s money on surplus projects invented by bureaucrats in order to employ their own over-staffed departments.