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Get on your bike

I’M WRITING to offer a different perspective from Mr Moor’s letter about cyclists.

When he learnt to ride a bike I’m sure the roads were a lot different than they are today.

I encourage him to try riding a bike from A to B rather than taking a car. He might then see from a different perspective what it’s like to cycle in this country.

Yes, there are idiots on bikes, but those idiots are also car drivers and pedestrians.

Cycling should be encouraged, it’s a way to keep us healthy, reduce congestion and clean up the air we breathe.

Poor planning on behalf of a car-orientated society has left cycling a fringe activity, only for the fit, confident or those who have no other choice.

As a result, it is actually quite hard to obey the ‘rules of the road’ on a bike when they were not designed with you in mind.

In countries like Holland and Denmark people from toddlers to pensioners ride bikes everywhere because it is safe and convenient.

Here there is little space designated for bikes, so they are marginalised and left fighting for space with either cars or pedestrians.

We need to start thinking of cycling as a solution to our growing transport issues, building safe spaces where people of all ages and abilities feel safe and able to travel by bike.

Maybe then Mr Moor might try getting back on his bike again and realise how much fun it can be.

BECKY COX, Cricklade Street, Swindon

Reason for price rise

THE article by council leader Mr Renard suggests that consumers can save money by shopping around for their energy supply (Sept 14).

What he omits to tell us is that the main reasons for the rise in electricity prices is because the large coal-fired power stations are shut down or about the be shut down; not because they are inefficient but because our policy makers have swallowed hook line and sinker the idiotic belief that climate change can be changed by doing this.

Climate change has occurred considerably over the last 100,000 years. Once the north Italian lakes contained large glaciers and here the Lake District had total glaciation.

These have gone now and at the time of their demise no one was burning coal or petroleum, or anything else for that matter.

The high priests of what is called anthropogenic climate change are either morons or rogues.

NOEL GARDNER, Carlisle Avenue, Swindon

Collection thanks

I WOULD like to thank people for raising £61.74 during my street collection in Chippenham on Saturday, September 2 in aid of Brooke (Action for Working Horses and Donkeys), a charity helping to improve the quality of life of working animals in some of the world’s poorest communities.

ROGER CHALLONER GREEN, Wingfield, Trowbridge