letter from the mayor

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Nice one Mimi

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That is a very interesting post and link Trek. I live only 35 miles from Bristol. I can honestly see a point in the not too distant future where the bicycle will rule the towns and cities. Some towns and cities are already implenting expensive charges to drive through the city - London for example.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems, certainly in this country, is that many people commute over 100 miles to work - often on a daily basis. I think if there were more job opportunities locally that paid a decent wage instead of a pittance many people would ditch their cars in favour of either bicycles or public transport. Unfortunately, in this country public transport is unreliable, expensive and often dirty.

I used to love driving and I've driven as a profession too. Now I no longer enjoy driving simply because there are too many vehicles on the road and everyone is in too much of a hurry to get from A to B. I also think people work too many hours. Many people work from 8am till 9pm or later. By the time they finish work, they are too tired to even contemplate cycling. All they want to do is get home and put their feet up. I've been in that situation in the past. I only work part-time in an office now which does leave me enough time to commute by bike - which I much prefer.

The whole transport system needs to be completely overhauled.

Another thing I wonder about is with all the talk of global warming (whether you believe in it or not) why do the bicycle manufacturers not advertise their bikes and the obvious benefits of cycling to the rider and the environment on TV? The only advert I've seen on TV and that was a couple of days ago (I nearly fainted with shock ) was our big motor/cycle store, Halfords had an advert on TV advertising their bikes for sale. The advert was aimed at families - bikes for Mum, Dad and the kids. If Halfords can do that (and they sell bottom end bikes, often their own brand) why can't the big companies like Trek, Giant, Specialized etc.? The more people they get interested in cycling by advertising, the more people will buy a bike, even those who haven't thought about it before and their profits will soar (not to mention that those who buy a bike will find their bank balance will grow very quickly).

Regardless of global warming, something needs to be done to cut the amount of vehicles on our roads, otherwise within 10 years there won't be any space on the roads and they'll just become one giant car-park like the most famous car-park in the world - the M25 motorway (freeway).