[Closed] A poor, poor day for cycling in the New Forest

That's very sad for all concerned and hope the family make a full recovery.

It does seem to be more ammunition for the Ghastly Gestapo and the New Forest Nazis to make the New Forest out of bounds for cyclists.

Wishing for a speedy recovery for all

make the New Forest out of bounds for cyclists.

"Cyclist taken to hospital with serious injuries after collision with a car cowing a caravan in Rhinefield Drive, Brockenhurst"

Good headline...

Rhinefield drive is the road that they're planning on spending the government grant on, widening it and therefore increasing it's attractiveness as a rat run. Maybe increasing the likelihood of these incidents.

I shall continue to use any hardened trail whether cyclepath or not, I only have one life and don't want to end it under the wheels of someone's mobile house.

rhinefield drive should be one-way (down, IMO) and NOT widened

A337 - I rode on that. Once. Traffic is crazy at times (like, say, Sunday (edit: Saturday ?) afternoons) and they don't give a shit

I hope all concerned get well soon

I bet as we speak some people there will be organising a meeting to discuss what cyclist can do to protect themselves. Expect some wear hiviz and share the road nicely with drivers adverts and press releases soon.

OD needs to be one way, or the very least ban towing caravans / vans down there.

All our roads are just getting busier and busier. rather than trying to ban cyclists (both on and off road) in the forest they should invest in the infrastructure. I'm disgusted they manage to prevent a family sheme from being built in the forest (yet spend the grant on moores valley, yes I can see what you are doing there, it's outside the forest....) and road widening.

Can't see them ever seeing sense and changing their position though.

(You also get fairly large trucks bombing along roger penny way, and there is absolutely no need for them to be on that road...)

Personally I think speed bumps are needed all over forest roads to take speeds right down. That would be of benefit to all vulnerable users and the animals. That'll never go anywhere because actually deep down these residents are really bothered about their ability to drive around how they want, not any of the other excuses they hold up.

Just as a point of order - they're not actually planning to widen it, they intend to:

[i]. Upgrade road edges on both sides (without road widening), creating a consistent, high quality surface for cyclists to access this key scenic route through the heart of the National Park.[/i]

Which sounds ten times worse to me 🙁

Although to reassure us, they mention that its already a well used cycle route, with on average 139 bicycles a day versus 1562 cars, mostly staring out the window at the picturesque rhododendrons and redwoods instead of looking at the road...

And just to stress the point - 1.2 million quid could build an awful lot of mountain bike trails - hell, it could easily build an entirely separate dedicated tarmac picturesque cycle route alongside Rhinefield where you stood no chance of being squashed under a caravan 👿

Personally I think speed bumps are needed all over forest roads to take speeds right down. That would be of benefit to all vulnerable users and the animals.

+1

Just as a point of order - they're not actually planning to widen it, they intend to:

. Upgrade road edges on both sides (without road widening), creating a consistent, high quality surface for cyclists to access this key scenic route through the heart of the National Park.

Yes and No! If you read between the lines they are [u]perhaps[/u] planning on widening it, I'll explain.

There are sections which have concrete hatchings to allow passing and to protect the verges from collapsing many suspect these will be covered in tarmac to so in effect widening by stealth! I wouldn't be surprised if bits without the hatchings get widened to under a "restoring it to it's original width" banner, because the edges have crumbled (which they have) but maybe stretching that to create a uniform width along the roads length.

IMHO all this will do is speed up the traffic and make it an even more attractive option for a rat run. The road will still not be a very wide road by any means and again IMHO no safer (if not worse) for cyclists.

😥

or the very least ban towing caravans / vans down there.

A few weeks back we were out that way for a walk around Blackwater with some friends and a large articulated car transporter came down there, way to fast! He should never have been going down that road at all, and certainly not at the speed he was. There were large chunks of tree down on our drive home, which were not there when we came out.

Hmm a powerful sports car ploughs into a group of cyclists and a caravan tower "may not be aware" they've hit a cyclist, talk about stereotypical accidents 🙁

Wishing the cyclists a speedy recovery...
and the drivers appropriate punishment.

Whoever is responsible for the cycle infrastructure in the New Forest should be ashamed of themselves. It has been created with no thought whatsoever for the service users - none of the paths link up properly without crossing dangerous roads, leading onto them or simply ending, the surfaces are completely unsuitable with loose chippings and thick gravel and there is no infrastructure at all for numbers of bikes to be parked outside pubs, shops etc. Instead they have pandered to the car driver making the whole place noisy, smelly and unsafe. Family walking and cycling groups should be the bedrock of this national resource and to see it in the state it is now brings me truly low. We live an hour away and it would be perfect for a weekend camp - we don't visit anymore though as its just too frustrating and dangerous to cycle there in a family group. Its clear the only visitors they want are the expensive car type who drive up to a pub, have a quick wander 100m to look at some ponies, eat an overpriced meal and stay in a rubbish but expensive hotel, do the same the next day and roar off in a cloud of diesel

I recommend NOT reading the comments on the articles 🙁

wishing all speedy recovery

Some of those comments are ridiculous, although some are deffo tongue in cheek.
What the relevance of a person being hit by a caravan to a motorist being cut up on a roundabout in Portsmouth by a bike is less clear....

The Daily Echo plays a significant role in providing fuel and misinformation to the debate of cycling in the New Forest. Plenty of trolling on any cycling news story, but with something like this they should really disable comments.

Yes the comments are really distasteful.

Maybe all the cycling clubs In the local area should get together to discuss how to tackle this problem (might be nothing that can be done...) as it seems to be getting worse.

I'm doing my best to ignore it and get on with life but when my wife asks me to ride a different route as she doesn't want me run over you know it is starting to effect things.

Especially as the alternate route is through totton in rush hour...which is starting to feel "safer" than riding open roads in the forest....

How much say do the NPA have with regard with roads and cycle paths? Can anyone, ie DfT, over-rule them?

Good suggestion from DT78 above ^ re clubs getting together to discuss.

I despair sometimes, I really do.

Best wishes to the injured parties. Quite why people think it is OK to risk killing or seriously injuring others by driving like a asshole is beyond me.

Why do motorists get so stressed over bikes I just don't get it. You might have to wait a minute or two to get past and this makes many of them absolutely apoplectic with rage yet if they are stuck in a jam for 20 minutes they aren't swearing and shouting (in the main).

I was out on the roadbike yeaterday AM around Cobham (which is really busy with bikes on Sundays) and got shouted at several times which was pretty surprising.

It seems to be because a lot of motorists are already 10 minutes late and on a bike you are "personally" making them later!

Unfortunately a lot of motorists presume that anyone in a car is trying to do the same as them, get somewhere as quickly as possible. Whereas cycling is a leisure activity for passing the time so they presume the bike is bimbling along whereas their journey is of utmost importance.

Are there any plans to improve the cycle 'path' from Ashurst to Lyndhurst ? If this widened a bit & tarmaced then it would encourage more riders to use it, particularly if on road bikes.

Unfortunately a lot of motorists presume that anyone in a car is trying to do the same as them, get somewhere as quickly as possible. Whereas cycling is a leisure activity for passing the time so they presume the bike is bimbling along whereas their journey is of utmost importance.

This is very true.

Unfortunately a lot of motorists presume that anyone in a car is trying to do the same as them, get somewhere as quickly as possible. Whereas cycling is a leisure activity for passing the time so they presume the bike is bimbling along whereas their journey is of utmost importance.

This is very true.

It's *partly* true.
Motorists are OK to sit in a jam with other traffic round Lyndhurst, Brockenhurst etc.
They're OK to sit there for 10 minutes while a load of ponies amble gently around in the road.

But as soon as it's a group of cyclists - they absolutely HAVE to get past, right NOW. Even if there's a queue of traffic 100 yds ahead.

Very strange mentality and nothing is going to change until we actually get some meaningful traffic enforcement and effective punishment.

doglover - Member
Are there any plans to improve the cycle 'path' from Ashurst to Lyndhurst ? If this widened a bit & tarmaced then it would encourage more riders to use it, particularly if on road bikes.

Yes I believe there are plans for it. They were already budgeted for elsewhere but were also included in the NFNPA £2m spend I assume they plan to free that already allocated money to be spend on something other than cycling.

It is an awful path and it needs work, but very much doubt it'll be brought up to a sufficient standard, the surface is awful but the main problem is the width, in places it's about 40cm no where near wide enough for 2 way.

If I'm out for a pootle with the family I'll use it but if I'm out on the road bike I wouldn't dream of it.

I think this whole in a rush, my journey is more important that your bike ride mentality is just a symptom of the road users in general.

I watched a bloke practically wrenching his steering wheel off his van and raging at the car in front last week. The reason for his rage, an old lady in an old datsun in front didn't move forward a car length to the stop line at the traffic lights. WTF?

I think this whole in a rush, my journey is more important that your bike ride mentality is just a symptom of the road users in general.

I watched a bloke practically wrenching his steering wheel off his van and raging at the car in front last week. The reason for his rage, an old lady in an old datsun in front didn't move forward a car length to the stop line at the traffic lights. WTF?

Yes, caused by the relative invulnerability of being encased in metal and glass. You can call someone a ****er or suchlike with much more ease than if you were both on foot or bike or whatever.

People really do have to realise that driving a motor vehicle is the one thing that most of us do every day that is more than slightly likely to kill or injure someone else. But oh no, they can't slow down / lose face / be thirty seconds later until they do cause a serious accident. Then they're in the dock, tears running down their faces sobbing that they didn't really mean it. People have to recognise the implications of their actions and adjust their attitudes and behaviours accordingly.