Wednesday 22nd May, a bright Evening saw 9 Cyclists leave via Skerne Rd, Latchmere, Ham gate Richmond Park, Petersham gate, Petersham Rd, Richmond Bridge, Thames Towpath to find option 1- White Swan-, packed to the Rafters, more back streets to Twickenham green for refreshments at the Sussex Arms, with a very green ‘Astroturfed’ garden, Strawberry hill, Teddington, Hampton wick & Kingston Bridge. Total 10 Miles, thanks to Ken for back marking.
Midweek ride to Wraysbury
John Milton’s Home, Horton
Wednesday 15th May, Another warm Sunny day saw 15, -no, get the Number of Steve’s right-, 16 Cyclists leave via Kingston Bridge, Bushy Park, Hampton, Hanworth, Lower Feltham, Ashford, Stanwell, Stanwell Moor, Poyle, a little early, so a pause at the one time home of John Milton (Photo), near Horton, to Wraysbury for lunch at ‘the Perseverance’, then Hythe End, Staines, Thames Towpath, Laleham, Shepperton, Haliford, to Sunbury, for Tea & refreshments at ‘the Walled Garden’, Hampton, Dukes Head passage, Bushy Park, Kings field, Kingston Bridge. Total 31 Miles, 1 new face, thanks to Ellie for back marking, many others for marking corners & holding gates.
Challenge ride to Newdigate
North Holmwood Church :Tracey C
Sunday 12th May, a largely warm, Sunny day saw 18 Cyclists remember the early start from Tolworth via Kingston Rd, West Ewell, Epsom, -with 1 extra joining the crew-, Langley Vale, Headley, Pebblecombe, Betchworth, Strood green, Shellwood Cross, Parkgate, to Newdigate for a ‘sedate lunch’ at the ‘Six Bells’, then Henfold, North Holmwood, (ignoring the Road closed signs), (Photo), Dorking, Dorking Rec, the A24 track, Norbury park Farm, more A24,-with 1 person wanting to ‘explore Leatherhead’ before Tea, causing some confusion Young St, to Bocketts Farm for Tea & Bread pudding, Leatherhead, Ashtead Common, Horton Country Park, the Bonesgate path to Tolworth. Total 39 Miles, 2 new faces, thanks to John E for back marking & many others for marking corners, thanks to John D for the BP.
Bread pudding ride to Little Venice
Albert Memorial, Hyde Park
Sunday 28th April. A largely Cloudy day, with some brighter spots, saw 21 Cyclists leave via Skerne Rd, Latchmere, Ham gate Richmond Park, White lodge, Roehampton gate, Barnes Common, Putney, Putney Bridge, Parsons green, Eel Brook Common, Fulham, Brompton Cemetery, South Kensington, the ‘Albert Memorial, (Photo), Hyde Park, Paddington Basin to Little Venice, for lunch at the ‘Warwick Castle’, then the Grand union Canal towpath, to North Kensington, East Acton, Acton Park, South Acton, Chiswick Green, Grove park, with just a few drops of Rain as we approached Chiswick Bridge, East Sheen to Palewell Common for Tea & Bread pudding at Pistachio’s, Sheen gate Richmond Park, White lodge, Kingston gate, to the Market place. Total 29 Miles, 3 new faces, thanks to Amy for back marking & many others for marking corners, and special thanks to John D for the BP, only just back from Australia the day before.
Evening ride to Fulwell
Thames Towpath, Ham
Wednesday 24th April, a warm Evening for the first ride of the year, saw 14 Cyclists, (with another 2 regulars stopping to say hello), leave via Skerne Rd, Latchmere, Ham gate of Richmond Park, to Petersham gate, Thames Towpath, (photo), including the newly improved path to Teddington footbridge, Teddington, to Fulwell for refreshments at ‘the Roebuck’, return via Bushy Park, Hampton Wick & Kingston Bridge. 10 Miles, 2 new faces, thanks to Ken for back marking.
Midweek ride to West Horsley
Ashtead Common, with the Poser at the front & his new Bike
Wednesday 17th April, a largely bright Sunny day saw 16 Cyclists leave via the Portsmouth Rd track, with 1 extra ‘late starter’, joining us as we approached Winters Bridge, Long Ditton, Hinchley wood, – with a short delay whilst someone got his stamps !-, Littleworth, Esher, Fairmile, Cobham, Hatchford, Ockham, to West Horsley for lunch at the ‘Barley Mow’, then East Horsley, Effingham, Bookham, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Ashtead Common (Photo), – with a brief explanation of how the ‘Coal Tax’, helped the City of London maintain this & many other Commons & green spaces around the City-, Epsom Common, to the ‘Old Moat Garden Centre’ for refreshments, West Ewell, Tolworth, Berrylands to Kingston. Total 32 Miles, 2 new Faces, thanks to Steve D for back marking, & others for marking corners.
Bread pudding ride to Greenwich
Greenwich Park, with William IV
Sunday 7th April. A Cloudy day with some light Drizzle, leading to lunch, & a slightly heavier afternoon Shower, saw 25 Cyclists remember the early start from New Malden leave via, Raynes park, Cannon Hill, South Merton, Morden Hall Park, Mitcham, Eastfields, where 1 extra Cyclist was ready to join us, Lonesome, Norbury, Thornton heath, Selhurst, Heavers Meadow, South Norwood, & Country Park, to join the ‘Waterlink way’, Sustrans route, via Beckenham, Lower Sydenham, Catford, Ladywell – with 1 person taking a tumble, suffering a couple of Bruises-, Lewisham, Greenwich Park, (Photo with William the IV), to Greenwich to find that the planned Pub stop had no Food, so now past 1 o’clock, a strategic decision that Wetherspoons would cope, so passing the Cutty Sark, with a missed turn, but soon finding ‘the Gate Clock’, a successful lunch, then finding the distressing sight that 1 of our Bikes had been Stolen, 😦 (this coming on top of my own recent loss), & with a few others also needing to curtail the ride, the remaining 19 Cyclists continued via the Thames Path, Deptford, ‘Quietway 1’, via Folkestone Gardens & South Bermondsey, Burgess Park, Camberwell, Loughborough, Brockwell Park, – with the ‘now steady Rain-, it was decided to have an earlier than planned Tea & Bread pudding stop at ‘the Mansion Cafe’, with Rain soon stopped, 🙂,Tulse Hill, Streatham Hill, Tooting Bec Common, Tooting, Mitcham, Phipps bridge, the Rose Garden, Morden, Morden Park, Lower Morden, Morden Cemetery, Joseph Hood Park, Motspur park, -with 1 person deciding to leave the ride for Home, without realising, they had 4 others following-, to finish at New Malden. Total 39 Miles, 1 new face, 1 Cycle theft, thanks to Andrea for back marking such a large group, many others for marking corners & Special thanks to Derek for the BP.
Midweek ride to Hanwell
Churchfield Rec with Hanwell Viaduct
Wednesday 20th March, a mostly Cloudy day saw 15 Cyclists leave via Kingston Bridge, Bushy Park, Fulwell, Twickenham, Crane River Path, Whitton, Hounslow, Isleworth, Osterley, Osterley Park, Norwood Green, Top lock Bridge, Grand union Canal Towpath, (Photo 1), to Hanwell for lunch at the delightful ‘Fox’, Churchfield Rec to see the Hanwell Viaduct, (Photo 2), West Ealing, North Ealing, West Acton, Acton Park, Chiswick Green, Grove park, Chiswick Bridge,- with the incoming tide, causing a few people to get there Cozzies ready, before our Leader found the footpath detour, to save the need for a swim, just-, Mortlake, Sheen to Palewell Common for Tea & refreshments, Sheen gate Richmond Park via White lodge, Ham Cross, to Kingston gate, also a brief visit to part of ‘the Wheatfield way’ Track. Total 27 Miles, 1 new face, thanks to Ellie for back marking, & others for marking corners.
2 part ride to Molesey & Twickenham
Summer Rd footbridge
Sunday 17th March, (St Patricks day), Part 1, a largely Sunny Morning saw 18, no wait 1 more has joined so 19 Cyclists left via Lower Marsh, Berrylands, Surbiton, Long Ditton, Hinchley Wood, Esher Park, Esher, to Molesey, -some people must have had Skates on as we were to early-, but the ‘Bell’ did soon open the doors for a very enjoyable lunch, then Thames Ditton, Portsmouth Rd & track to Kingston. Sub total 14 Miles, thanks to Steve F for back marking duties, & others for marking corners.
Map:- www.plotaroute.com/route/785609
Kneller gardens after Hail/Snow storm
Part 2, with heavier Clouds, and a brief flurry of Hailstones, -was this a portent of things to come-, 3 Fresh faces & Farewell to 7, so 15 Cyclists left via Skerne Rd, Aerospace Estate, Ham, Ham gate of Richmond Park, to Petersham gate, Richmond, Richmond Bridge, Ducks Walk, St Margerets, Islesworth, Whitton, to Kneller Gardens, Twickenham for Tea & Bread pudding, suddenly we were hit with a very intense was it Hailstones, or was it very small ‘Snowballs’, perhaps a mix of Hail & Snow, -luckily there was just enough room to shelter from the worst of it-, continuing via Fulwell, with another very heavy Hailstorm, this time with nowhere to Shelter until it was too late, 😦 Teddington, Hampton Wick & Kingston Bridge. Sub total 12 Miles, Total for the day 27 Miles, 1 new face, thanks to Chris for Back marking, & others for marking corners, thanks to Derek, for the BP.
Mini-Holland (Go Cycle) – March 2019 update
Following our look at what should be delivered during 2019 on Kingston’s GoCycle schemes, how is progress going?
Wheatfield Way
The Wheatfield Way scheme started towards the end of 2017 and it is finally approaching its conclusion with works around Orchard Road junction the last substantial area to finish. The Wheatfield Way scheme will provide a new route through Kingston town centre although areas of shared use around junctions will unfortunately affect the usability of the route. A number of items remain to complete the whole route with signs and paint markings still to be added to clearly show that it is a cycle route. Works outside Pryzm to finish that part of the route (started but not finished at the end of 2017) are due to take place in the next couple of months.
20mph signs have recently been added to parts of the Wheatfield Way route (replacing the previous 30mph limit) and we are hoping that the 20mph limit will therefore soon be in force.
New 2-way cycle track on Wheatfield Way between Orchard Road and Brook Street crossing
Eventually Wheatfield Way will form part of a continuous cycle route all the way from Tolworth Broadway to Kingston station (a distance of about 3 miles!).
Kingston Vale
The largest amount of visible activity so far in 2019 on the Mini-Holland programme has been on the Kingston Vale route between Galsworthy Road and Derwent Avenue. A large amount of one-way segregated cycle track has been built so far with work on the bus boarders (see below) almost complete too. The outstanding work on this section is mainly the installation of a separator to provide a barrier between the road and the cycle lane where the existing kerb did not need to be moved.
The Rediweld Milestone cycle separator which should keep motor vehicles away from the cycle lane on Kingston Vale
We were pleased to hear from the Council that they will be trialling a new type of separator which will provide better segregation for cyclists from the road. This separator is called the Rediweld ‘Milestone’ (see photo). This Milestone separator provides a more substantial barrier between the road and the cycle lane than the ‘orcas‘ that were originally proposed. One of the problems with orcas is that vehicles could still cross the cycle lane through the gaps between each orca. This will be much more difficult to do with the Milestone separator which will be laid in a continuous line (except at junctions and crossings). All of these types of separators bolt down into the road surface. Therefore, once the preparations are complete, they can be installed very quickly. We are looking forward to them being installed! The upgraded cycle route between Galsworthy Road and Derwent Avenue should be completed by the end of Spring 2019.
Whilst we are pleased with what is planned in the areas which are segregated, we are concerned about the designs of the ‘bus boarders’ that have been installed so far on the Kingston Vale route. These bus boarders allow people on bikes to avoid rejoining the road around bus stops and therefore are essential to provide a continuous, safe and attractive route to people on bikes where space does not allow a bus stop bypass. However, the bus boarder design that has been implemented on Kingston Hill (see photo) does not clearly show where people waiting for a bus should wait and where people on bikes should cycle. We would have preferred if the established and successful design on Portsmouth Road had been used. Alternatively, we think other areas have implemented better designs too (for example, Waltham Forest and Enfield). We have been unsuccessful in getting the Council to change the Kingston Vale bus boarders but we understand that they are subject to a trial and will be monitored with changes therefore possible in the future. If you have any concerns about the bus boarder design on Kingston Vale then do let the Council know.
Bus boarder on Kingston Hill. The bus stop flag will be moved to the kerb when finished.
Works will continue on the rest of the route (including finishing Manorgate roundabout) during the rest of the year and into 2020.
Penrhyn Road
Construction on the Penrhyn Road scheme has started and is already mostly complete between College Roundabout and Denmark Road. Work continues from Denmark Road towards the main Kingston University campus as a 2-way cycle track is built from the end of the Wheatfield Way scheme to Surbiton Road, connecting into Surbiton Crescent allowing safer cycling between Surbiton and Kingston.
Kingston Station
‘Snagging’ works continue around the main station plaza with the cycle route to Fife Road improved, drainage issues being worked on underneath the railway bridge and the crossing outside the Rotunda upgraded to a ‘toucan’ allowing people on bikes to use this crossing.
The next major milestone on this project will be the installation of the replacement pedestrian and cycle bridge over Kingsgate Road which will provide an improved link between Kingston Station and Skerne Road. Installation is due to take place over 23/24 March with works then continuing to build the paths either side of the bridge.
New Malden to Raynes Park
Although not very visible, work continues on the off-road New Malden to Raynes Park route. Most of the separate pedestrian and cycle paths have now been prepared with work getting ready for the installation of steps and a ramp to connect the route with Alric Avenue and Dukes Avenue.
New Malden to Raynes Park separate cycle and pedestrian paths. Segregation is to be added in the foreground once the steps have been added to the bridge joining Alric and Dukes Avenues
Work will continue on the route over the coming months and it should be ready to open by early Summer 2019.
Kingston Cycling Campaign 