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Cyclist spotted on M25 motorway on Surrey – the second one seen there during lockdown

“He kind of looked surprised and pulled off on to the hard shoulder”

The country’s motorways may be a lot quieter now, but it’s still illegal to ride a bicycle on them – although as one road.cc reader discovered, that isn’t deterring some from taking to the M25.

The cyclist Phil snapped on the motorway at 8.30am on Friday morning is the second he has seen there in recent weeks.

He saw the rider close to junction 9, heading south towards junction 8 for Reigate.

“I'd pulled up behind him, and slowed down as there were a few artics at the junction,” he explained. ”He seemed to be quite happy.

“I drew up alongside and shouted at him that did he know he was on a motorway? He kind of looked surprised and pulled off on to the hard shoulder. 

“I didn't stop, but called 999 at the next junction. The Police were aware and had sent a few cars out.

“Since lockdown this is the second cyclist I have seen on the M25. Just nuts, and I have no idea why they do it, he added.

It’s not the first time this year that a cyclist has been spotted on the busy motorway in the same area.

In January, Highways England used overhead warning signs between junctions 8 and 9 of the M25 to alert motorists to the presence of a rider.

The signs read, “Cyclist in road – slow” and instructed drivers to cut their speed to 50mph.

Traffic police were alerted but were unable to find the cyclist.

Following the imposition of the lockdown last month, a cyclist in Cheshire was told by police, “This does not constitute your daily exercise,” after he was caught riding on the M60.

> “This does not constitute your daily exercise,” police tell cyclist stopped on M60

And last week, the North West Motorway Police team posted a photo to Twitter of a woman pushing her bike along the M57 while “taking her daily exercise.”

Officers said that she was safely taken off the motorway and reported for the offence.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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37 comments

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id483727 | 4 years ago
9 likes

Cyclists appearing on motorways lately is much like the wildlife venturing out in to the now deserted town centres. We're gradually starting to tentatively take these roads as our own. 

I wish them good luck but I won't be joining them...

 

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Sriracha | 4 years ago
0 likes

What a muppet. Just, why?

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cdamian replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
0 likes
Sriracha wrote:

What a muppet. Just, why?

I would be so tempted if the motorway would be completely empty and I wouldn't be caught.

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domats replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
0 likes

He's on a Specialissima, gone for the matching water bottle upgrade too. He'll be alright.

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crazy-legs replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
1 like

Foreign? Lost? Took a wrong turn? Ignorant? Chancer? (as in, looked at the near zero traffic on it and thought "why not?")

Any of those reasons work for me.

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Sriracha replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
0 likes
crazy-legs wrote:

Foreign? Lost? Took a wrong turn? Ignorant? Chancer? (as in, looked at the near zero traffic on it and thought "why not?")

Any of those reasons work for me.

Nah, not foreign, he's on the correct side of the road. Although, could be Australian I suppose, or Japanese maybe?

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crazy-legs replied to Sriracha | 4 years ago
0 likes

Makes no odds - I've ridden in Europe and America and always managed to be on the correct side of the road but I've also ended up on roads I didn't mean to be on! (a motorway in France and a fairly main road in Portugal, both from confusing / poorly signed junctions - the France one we ended up riding along for one junction, thankfully only a km or so, the Portugal one I was able to U-turn and backtrack before joining the main road).

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