[Cyclefrance]

Just kicking back to the cop-cycle entries a mo (sorry, only just caught it) - don't know if it's me, but damned if anyone notices my presence when pedalling.
Unfortunately, I am not alone, research reveals, and this cycle-blindness extends to motorists of every kind (as well as pedestrians) - even those driving milk floats! We are so invisible that drivers are constantly trying to take us out unwittingly - although there are also who do so deliberately.

We have token cycle annexes - nice little patches of white lines along the edge of the road - never a complete line from one point to another, just randomly placed ones covering only a very short distance that generally coincide with where the edge of the road is at its least friendly (drain covers, potholes, that sort of thing) - and motorists don't take any notice of them anyway. If they're not driving into them then they will certainly park in them - or on us.

Much as I would like to, my cycle commute to work and back is limited to summer (inter-equinox) time - I wouldn't dare chance the roads around here once the light has failed. As one Frenchman I met, just come back from a brief cycle tour of southern England, so aptly put it: 'In France the cyclist is sacred - in England he is the sacrifice!'

That just about sums it up.