Richmond Park at night

Jonesy12

I always assumed that the park closed at dusk, but it seems as though it is open much later for cyclists & pedestrians - hence I'm seriously tempted to use the Park as a great time-saver, but am worried about how dangerous the deer may be at night/in the dark??!

Any pointers or advice greatly appreciated!

kurako

Don't cycle that way myself but lots do. The car gates are closed but you can still go through the ped gates. Only time it is closed completely is when they are culling the deer. Think that just happened recently.

I cycle over Wimbledon Common some nights. It's great without all the cars and mopeds getting in the way and stinking up the place.Other than a decent front light you probably won't need much extra gear. I got an Exposure Race light which is probably overkill but I justify it by not buying travelcards

desweller

The deer are a lot less of a threat than London traffic.

veronese68

Deer are made of some sort of special light absorbing material. If you smell deer but can't see them they are probably right by the road. So use a decent front light, just don't aim it too high to avoid blinding people coming the other direction.
It's great, do it.

Mr Will

I used to do it daily and didn't even find I needed a large light. There is quite a lot of [-]natural light[/-] light pollution and my eyes would quickly adjust. This makes spotting the deer a lot easier than if you have a powerful front spot destroying your night vision everywhere except for where it is pointing.

Which is all fine until someone comes the other way with a 10 million candlepower searchlight, but I'm not getting in to that arms race!