Witness appeal after two riders seriously injured on BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride

Why are the police involved? Is there suspicion of foul play?

I haven't done it for years but Rookery Lane was where you had to get off an walk if you set off too late because many ordinary punters find it too steep. I thought the downhill immediately prior (Markedge Lane) was the real problem, esp in traffic.

Go fast uphill, slow downhill. That's it.

I used to do the BHF London-Brighton every year. I stopped doing it for two main reasons.

The first was BHF's aggressive marketing and hectoring to raise more money. They piss you off with the sheer volume of junk-mail and emails.

And the second was the greed of BHF. Towards the end there were too many riders for the event and accidents were happening simply because of numbers. One year I didn't even get in the saddle for the first mile and a half because the riders were so tightly packed together. When you have this many riders, of wildly different abilities and standards, packed in together you are guaranteed to have accidents.

BHF get away with this because their rides are not races or sportives but 'fun rides'. That way they don't have to limit riders or accept any responsibility when things go wrong.

I wish the two riders a full and speedy recovery.

This ride has become too big, and with the same kind of attitude prevalant in sportives of having to be the fastest and first, it's no surprise accidents like this happen.

There is an accident on that Rocky Lane stretch every year. People race down there as though they are alone or everyone around them experienced. All it takes is a touch and they are done. A friend of mine broke her elbow and jaw there a few years ago because someone came flying past her and touched her handlebars.

I saw the aftermath of this yesterday - the poor guy wrapped around the pole on the left of the road on a fairly sharp right-hander. There were several cyclists stopped in front of him so I spoke to the marshall at the bottom of the hill who said that there were medics up there but it obviously was a lot worse.

I have to say, having navigated that bend, that it looked like he misjudged his speed and couldn't make the turn - the pole is right on the apex. Hopefully there are witnesses to this.

Terrible for the guy - I think BHF need to reconsider the route given the accidents there rather than putting "accident black spot" signs up - there are other ways down that hill that are safer given the level of experience o the ride and the fact that it is the first big downhill so people get excited without knowing how the road turns.

I hope the cyclist pulls through. I went past just after it happened and it didn't look good. Thoughts are with his family.