Last week alone, London Mayor Boris Johnson gave more glimpses of his bike hire scheme for central London, there was the first Cycle Friday event where marshals shepherd groups of commuters into town and I spent ten minutes in front of a bike shop window.


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By this time next year, 6,000 bikes will be available for short trips around the West End, Friday cycling will be as common as Friday throwing-a-sickee and the man in the shop will have asked why I keep staring at his stock without bloody buying anything.

I’ve got loads of excuses for not cycling – the bad knees, the worse back, sweatiness, fear of lycra – but I guess the biggest stumbling block is the smugness you get with some bike-types. They’re one pedal revolution up the oily smug chain from hybrid car owners.

Despite all that, I’m going to take the plunge. Studies have shown that the number of cycling accidents falls as more bikes hit the road; a kind of safety in numbers effect. I’m banking on the same logic for getting rid of the smugness. Anyway, it’s other road users who’ll feel superior when they see me in lycra.