HUNDREDS of cyclists are set to ride around Regent’s Park tonight, Friday, in a mass protest following a wave of violent bike-jackings.

Three cycling groups – BikeStormz, Fixed Pirates Crew and Critical Mass London – are joining forces for the first time after a series of muggings on the Outer Circle.

The riders will also make stops to mark the deaths of two London cyclists who died from knife crime, Alan Cartwright, 15, and Mohamed “Blanco” Abdi Noor, 21. The three groups, in a joint statement, said: “After these stops, we would like to ride to Regent’s Park Outer Circle, in solidarity with the cyclists who have recently had their bikes taken from them there at knifepoint.

“No other families and friends should have to experience the same trauma as Alan and Blanco’s.”

The Extra reported last month on the mugging of two cyclists on the Outer Circle with bikes worth more than £8,000 each. The harrowing attacks have left the victims traumatised and feeling unsafe to ride in central London.

Bethan Lloyd-Glass has told how she had felt she had been on “borrowed time” as a regular cyclist there after a series of thefts. In January she said: “These people are carrying machetes and hammers. It seems hardcore, much more when they are on an actual motorbike.”

Alan Cartwright was just 15 when he was stabbed to death in a bike robbery 10 years ago this week in Islington. His mother Michelle Ives told Extra that knife crime has only got worse in the years since her son’s tragic death. She said: “Nothing’s going to stop the kids. If they’re going to carry knives, they’re going to carry them.

“Nothing’s going to change. Years ago, you never used to hear of anyone being stabbed, now it’s an everyday thing. They’re talking about banning the sale of knives online, but you can walk into your own kitchen and pick up a knife. I don’t think things are going to change.”

Mandatory five-year prison sentences for carrying a knife could cut violence dramatically, said father, Alan Cartwright senior, pointing to evidence from his native Scotland where increased sentencing has contributed to a decline in knife crime. He said: “You can never get away from it, you put the television on and the news is on and it just brings it all back because you see another kid getting stabbed and you just think, another family’s going through that.”

Alan Cartwright’s death was one of the catalysts for the founding of Bikestormz, a community of cyclists under the slogan “Bikes up, knives down”, who encourage young people to choose cycling over crime.

The man convicted of his murder, who was 18 at the time, is serving life in prison for what the judge at the trial called a “gratuitous and senseless” crime that was “motivated by acquisitive greed”.

Also a keen cyclist, Mr Abdi Noor was part of the Fixed Pirates Crew.

He was fatally stabbed in December 2023. His 18-year-old killer was jailed for a minimum of 22 years.

Riders will meet outside the BFI on the South Bank and expect to be in the Outer Circle around 8pm to 8.30pm.