I have plenty of followers who don't cycle. And among those good folk are people who are curious, reasonable and also influential. I am appealing specifically to them with this thread, so that I can break out my message from the bubble in which it is trapped...1/5

...No one reasonable is saying that bikes replace cars - (I've just had to hire a car for a journey I couldn't otherwise have done). But it's evident that bikes CAN replace cars for shorter journeys, all year round, with or without loads, to a very significant extent...2/5

...and that's the point. It's not a culture war, it's not about entitlement vs the people. Cycling was once an affordable, quiet, clean and healthy way of moving around. I accept entirely that some riders of bikes break the law and that some can even cause occasional harm...3/5

...but for the most part they are law-abiding and potentially very vulnerable. And besides, it goes without saying that collisions involving motor vehicles are hundreds of times more damaging and fatal. Yet, much of the media is curiously obsessed...4/5

...not with the actual and evident tragedy of pollution and fatality which are a quotidian reality of our lives with cars, but with the fostering of dislike, disdain and ridicule of people who choose to do something different. Please make it stop. That's it. 5/5