The introduction to your article about elevated composite cycle lanes (27 August, page 50) was a bit over the top, even for late August. Cycling in London is not only for the superhuman.

Transport for London has significantly improved cycling infrastructure and created more bus lanes (which cyclists can use). In my experience, London is a better place to ride than many county towns. Cycle use in the UK is lower than in mainland Europe for other reasons. Denmark, Germany and Holland have a very different attitude towards cycling, happily taking bikes by train. They see it as a mainstream transport mode, not a minority eco-eccentricity.

In the UK, many workplaces lack facilities for cyclists – who do use soap, given somewhere appropriate to do so. And there is an overtly antagonistic attitude towards cyclists among a minority of London’s “drivers”.

Composite tubes in the sky may have a future role. But we can tackle these other problems now.

Hywel Davies, by email

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