A pilgrimage to the places where 16 cyclists have been killed on Oxford's roads since 2000

Another shade of grey. This time a Ford Transit, gunmetal grey, shoots past my right shoulder a metre away if that.

Another car, cresting the bend on the opposite carriageway, bears down on us both. Rather than wait, the van driver’s tried their luck. Despite the central white line indicating no overtaking. And despite the fact that, two-and-a-half year’s earlier barely 30 yards away a cyclist was killed by another van driver.

It’s cold, rain spits against my cycle gilet. What a miserable place to die, I think.

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I’m halfway into a 30-mile ride, visiting the spots in Oxford and the surrounding areas where cyclists have lost their lives.

Call it a Sunday ride, call it a pilgrimage, call it what you like. But after this week I wanted to see for myself the places where Oxford cyclists have lost their lives since 2000.

As a court reporter, I often see the ending – bereaved family members trying not to cry as the driver (as driver it often is) stands in the dock expressing their remorse at having caused the death on the roads.

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But I don’t always see where these tragedies happened. So, at the end of a week that saw a councillor in court for ploughing into a grandfather near Witney and another mother killed on Oxford’s roads, I strapped on my bicycle helmet and set off.

The ghost bike marking where Samantha Blackborow lost her life

My journey starts on the Horspath Driftway outside Aldi. Samantha Blackborow, 35, had just joined the on-road cycle lane when she was knocked down by a bin lorry making a left turn on November 3, 2020. The Veolia lorry driver ‘didn’t see’ her in his mirrors. A white ‘ghost bike’ marking the spot is covered in flowers.

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Watlington Road, near Garsington

Turning east down Garsington Road, under the bypass, suburbia turns into countryside. In February 2014, Mini plant worker Derek Measor, 56, was hit by a Nissan Micra on the Watlington Road. In a tribute in the days following his death, his wife and sons said: “He never held a grudge and was always somebody who everyone could lean on.”

Mini plant worker Derek Measor, 56, was hit by a Nissan Micra in 2014. His wife and two sons paid tribute in the days following his death: “He never held a grudge and was always somebody who everyone could lean on.”

On the way back into Blackbird Leys I spot that someone’s defaced the ‘Welcome to Oxford’ sign. The claim it is a ‘cycling city’ is crossed out and in capital letters has been added: “One month, two dead cyclists.”

Someone had defaced the ‘Welcome to Oxford’ sign near Blackbird Leys

Someone had defaced the 'Welcome to Oxford' sign near Blackbird Leys

I stop on the bridge over the eastern bypass. On the road below, a 65-year-old man whose name hasn’t been recorded, died after he was involved in a collision with a van in March 2009.

The cycle path seems to peter out between the Kennington roundabout and Hinksey interchange. There’s then a slog up Hinksey Hill before a quick descent into Bayworth where, in June 2013, 53-year-old Mark Orchard was found in Brumcombe Lane – having apparently come off his bike. His family described him as an ‘adored husband, special grampy and beloved son’.

The wind begins to gust on the long stretch from Wootton to Farmoor via Cumnor. I turn onto the B4044 Eynsham Road, passing a police notice asking for witnesses to a different crash, before stopping where Nuffield College porter John Howes, 58, was knocked down by a drug driver in October 2019.

John Howes, 58, was cycling home from Nuffield College, where he worked as a porter, in October 2019 when he was hit from behind on the B4044 Eynsham Road, near Farmoor, by drug driver Trevor Long. The van driver, who was ‘fiddling with his

His widow, Lucy, said in a statement read out at court when her husband’s killer was jailed: “Without John there is very little point in going on but I must.”

Like many of the places where these cyclists lost their lives, there is nothing to mark the spot where he died.

Back in Oxford, I negotiate the roadworks at Seacourt. In May 2017, DPhil student Claudia Comberti, 31, was killed when she fell into the path of a bus on Botley Road. The driver had no time to avert the crash.

Claudia Comberti, 31, was studying for a geography DPhil and was described by friends as having an infectious ‘zest for life’. She was killed when she fell into the path of a bus on Botley Road in May 2017. The driver had no time to avert the

After an inquest into her death, Claudia’s father said: “The sad fact is that cyclists should not have to share road space with other vehicles.”

A mile down the road is the spot near the railway bridge where Rachel Barker, 30, was knocked down and killed by a lorry in May 2000. Mum Doreen, who campaigned for safer roads for cyclists, told the Oxford Mail eight years later: “We have lost the light of our life, but no-one seems to care one iota about preventing another tragedy.”

Rachel Barker, 30, was killed when her bike was struck by a lorry on the Botley Road, near the railway bridge in May 2000

Church rector’s assistant Joanna Braithwaite, 34, died after she was struck by a cement mixer lorry at the junction of Polstead and Woodstock roads in October 2011. The following year, when the lorry driver was given a suspended sentence, Ms Braithwaite’s parents said the world was a darker place without her.

Church rector’s assistant Joanna Braithwaite, 34, died after she was struck by a cement mixer lorry at the junction of Polstead and Woodstock roads in October 2011.

Today, there is no reminder of the tragedy. The only flowers are the first blossom and a carpet of crocuses.

Emmanuel Jacob, 42, was on his way home from a shift at the BP garage when he collided with an HGV on the Wolvercote roundabout in May 2016. His death was a ‘tragic accident’, the coroner later said.

Emmanuel Jacob, 42, was on his way home from a shift at the BP garage when he collided with an HGV on the Wolvercote roundabout in May 2016. His death was a ‘tragic accident’, the coroner later said.

Further north, university worker Ellen Moilanen died after she was involved in a crash with a lorry outside Oxford Parkway station during rush hour on February 8. The ‘ghost bike’ marking the spot groans with flowers and a ribbon streams in the breeze.

Ellen Moilanen died after she was involved in a crash with a lorry outside Oxford Parkway station during rush hour on February 8, 2022.

Back into town, Worcester College student Tsz Fok died when he was crushed by a bin lorry at the junction of Broad Street and Park Road in April 2007. The lorry driver was fined £500 and given an eight month ban for careless driving. Tsz was just 22.

19-04-2007. INS News Agency Ltd.Picture by INS.Collect picture of Tsz Fok, Oxford University genius who was killed under the wheels of a dustcart in Oxford. The 21 year old had a brilliant academic career and had already had books published..See copy

A protest over the war in Ukraine means I take a detour to pass where Isobell Beckett, 45, died in August 2000. She was struck by a single decker bus on the High Street near King Edward Street.

The ride to east Oxford takes me past the floral tributes – standing guard over The Plain roundabout like sentries – commemorating Ling Felce, the 35-year-old mum and researcher killed last week.

The site of Ling Felce's death in The Plain, Oxford

Ling Felce, 35, an Oxford researcher, was killed when her bike was involved in a collision with a tipper lorry on The Plain on March 1, 2022.

Up the Cowley Road, a 20mph speed limit marking in the road guards where St Catherine’s College student Emilie Harris, 20, fell off her bike and into the path of an oncoming bus outside what is now the Big Society pub in May 2004.

St Catz student Emilie Harris, 20, fell off her bike and into the path of an oncoming bus outside what is now the Big Society pub in Cowley Road in May 2004.

Back in Headington, rush hour rat run Old Road is where Ashley Brown, 37, was killed when his electric bike struck a bus shelter last year.

Brookes lecturer Jennifer Wong, 32, was killed in a crash with an HGV-mounted crane at the junction of Headley Way and London Road, Headington, in September 2021.

At the junction of London Road and Headley Road a ‘ghost bike’ is the only reminder of the crash between an HGV mounted crane and Brookes lecturer Jennifer Wong that cost the 32-year-old her life.

Jennifer Wong's 'ghost bike' in London Road, Headington

Two holly wreaths sit on the bike’s handlebars and back wheel; a Christmas offering for a young woman who, tragically, never got to celebrate the holiday festivities.