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up a green lane for fun), preferably getting there on time*, maybe taking in a bit of exercise, saving a bit of money and possibly the planet although not necessarily in that order.

*Irrespective of traffic conditions, I find a bike journey tends to take the same time every day, just as walking does.

Even buses can't match this unless they have a copious supply of bus lanes and there's always that less than enchanting possibility that you'll be sitting next to whoever it is that licks the windows.

The next time a motorist tells me that "at least he pays to use the (expletive deleted) roads", I can reply that, as a sometime motorist of around 8,000 miles a year, so do I, but then I leave my car at home for another 3,000 of them, so who's the greater leech on society now, young fella-me-lad? I still pay the same but use the roads less. Despite what most motorists think, I AM INSURED. it only costs 34 GBP p.a. to join the Cycle Touring Club which carries up to 5,000,000 GBP of third party cover for domestic pleasure and competition use - cycle couriers need NOT apply!

KNOW THINE (COMMON) ENEMY

Since I'm also a motorist with enough miles under his belt to have gone to the moon and back, AND on somewhat more crowded highways than those encountered by Apollo 13, I see all sides.
Like most people, I'm also an occasional pedestrian and even bus passenger.

Each "faction" of road users will naturally have a pet horror story about another faction.

Car drivers hate cyclists, and vice versa.

Pedestrians hate just about anything with wheels, and whoever's in/on it.

Truck drivers hate just about anyone who doesn't sell coffee in take-out cups.

Bus drivers seem to hate just about anyone; passengers, truckers, car drivers, you name it, they hate them, so why they volunteer for a customer-facing job is anyone's guess.

Taxi drivers are of course perfect in every way and bear the burden of having to share "their" road with everyone else with all the dignity of a silent monastic order, and are therefore a national treasure and fount of all knowledge in automotive matters. They will, by exception, break their vow of silence to give you advice. If only you could see my tongue firmly in cheek!

I have a theory that the only reason we all seem to hate each other is that we're all lab-rats in a global experiment on overcrowding, which is well-documented as a source of anti-social behavior.

In reality, we're mostly all just people trying to get through the day, trying to get somewhere and be alive

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