To expect cyclists to keep their hands on the handlebars?

Cyclists have been an aftertought in road planning for too long.

It equates to a car doing 30 mph on a motorway in the middle lane. The road was not designed for that.

I appreciate that there are huge problems for cyclists as the roads and their rules are not designed to take account of their needs. And, I repeat, they are very very vulnerable indeed.

I think one of the big problems in the UK is that we have a disproportionate number of young lycraed speed cyclists among the cycling population. It is seen as an occupation for the hearty and fit who want to travel at speed

We were in Belgium a couple of years and cycling was a leisurely pursuit, the vast majority of cyclists were ordinary people like you and me, every age, from 8 to 80 all seemed to be riding big sensible bikes at a leisurely speed. We just didn't see the hoards of young men on racing bikes that we see in the UK.

I do not know whether it is compulsory to use cycle lanes in Belgium if you are cycling, but our lycraed young men, would all want to avoid the wide pleasant cycle paths in Belgium because they are so full of riders going about their every day business: travelling to school, shopping, or work at reasonable and this would slow them down.

after 'reasonable' (last line) insert 'speeds'

My grand daughter, 21, rides a unicycle everywhere has done since she was 4. Only time she has fallen off was when she was on a two wheel bike having road safety lessons. I don't know why we don't follow Holland, in built up areas you cycle on the path, out of built up areas special cycle lanes.

Hardly any cycle lanes around here, but the ones I am aware of - and refuse to use - are not fit for purpose. One is nothing more than a potholed, gravel-strewn pavement. Any cyclist will tell you that cycling on gravel is like cycling on ice! The other is narrow, disappears at every side road and is frequently parked on by cars, forcing anyone trying to use it to have to move out onto the main carriageway every twenty yards, which is much more dangerous than being on the road all the way.

Road planners haven't a clue, and neither do a lot of non-cyclists. There is a roadbridge nearby that spans both railway and canal. To save money, it was built with just one carriageway, and traffic lights to control it. Problem is, cyclists, even the racers, can't get across the whole bridge before the lights change again, so regularly get abuse, even threats from car drivers who assume that they are jumping the lights. (I should add that there is plenty of room to pass, so cars are not inconvenienced, but they still feel justified in hurling abuse at perfectly law abiding cyclists!)