A lover of cycling but there a few routes where I feel safe

THE issue of pedestrians and cyclists sharing the same space crops up, frustrating, time and time again in your column.

Count me as a lover of cycling, but, there are few routes in this area, especially in Charnwood Forest where I feel safe and separated from the main flow of traffic.

Do pedestrians and cyclists mix well sharing the thoroughfare? The same goes for pedestrians and cars, even pedestrians, cyclists and cars. I don’t think so!

Incidentally near the ‘sockman’ I was nearly cleared up by a speeding mobility scooter with a pomeranian pillion passenger.

Through continuing personal experience I know how damaging ‘bad stress’ can be. Even the driver of a Ferrari Testarrosa likes to open the door and step out. To me, maybe subconsciously we don’t like being enclosed in a tin prison.

Berlin cannot be compared to Loughborough, it was so pleasing for me to see not just commuting cyclists, but family leisure pedallers.

Having hired a German bike it was a delight for me to feel comparatively safe and view the Reichstag building or what remains of the ‘wall’ mostly on dedicated cycle lanes.

Thirty two percent of journeys taken on Velsen’s roads in Holland are astride a cycle. Which begs the question; of our three close cities, who is leading the way in the cycle stakes?

To me, Coalville heads the field in cycle friendly Leicestershire towns.

The argument in favour of improving safety and promoting cycling for all is overwhelming; little stress, little carbon footprint, little noise pollution, little impact on space, comparatively little cost, less drain on fossil fuels, helps the human body maintain a sustainable blood pressure and zero toxic fumes.

We’re probably never going to reach utopia but things could be a little more ideal than they are at the moment . Neil Russell