"It's really strange to see familiar streets but with far fewer cars and lots of cyclists - they don't seem to be racing cyclists though."Precisely, and that's a large part of the difference between cycling in, for example, the Netherlands and here in the UK, especially London: here, a large part of the cycling fraternity consists of fast leisure and commuting rides, whereas there it's much more oriented towards cycling as a means of transport generally. So there, it's a matter of course to use a bicycle to go to the shops but here, the car is seen as the main mode.So until people feel able to cycle as a matter of course because they're not put off by the dangers presented by drivers - and that means making the road network safer as well as reducing car use more generally - we'll be stuck in the present where congestion, pollution and "accidents" are seen as the price we have to pay.For a very different vision of how life in cities could be, see this on the Netherlands: http://www.hdcf.org.uk/another-summer-in-cycling-heaven/
Richard Carter ● 2005d