What British cyclists can learn from the Dutch
SIR – You report (May 14) that Boris Johnson wants to create “minihollands” in towns and cities around the country to wean us off cars.
Anyone who has been to Holland, or other bicycle-friendly countries, will have noticed that cyclists – an equal mix of men and women – wear normal clothes and use bicycles as a means of transport.
In London, by contrast, the cycle lanes are mostly populated by young and middle-aged men in Lycra, who use the streets as a gym substitute, cycle aggressively and ignore red lights.
Perhaps, then, it’s unsurprising that those encouraging cycling are the very same men in Lycra. If ever there were an argument for more diversity among decision-makers (women with children, pensioners, tradesmen) surely this is it. Rosalind Doye
London SW18
SIR – Councils in my area are narrowing the roads by building cycle lanes. Yet at weekends, when hordes of Lycra-clad cyclists descend, they avoid the new paths and stay on the roads, because the cycle lanes are also open to pedestrians, who often have dogs, prams and children.
On the roads, cyclists travel at 30mph or more. These cycle paths look like a recipe for disaster if riders are forced to use them. What a waste of money by unthinking councils. Anthony Brookes