Do something for cyclists, Bojo

That is all very well but I hope there will be a cycle lane in this new pedestrianised zone. One of the reasons I voted for Boris was because he promised to make things easier for people like me who get around the capital on two wheels. So far, the only thing he's done is to announce that bendy buses will be phased out on three routes when their contracts expire at the end of 2009. That is pretty small beer given that he made the abolition of bendy buses the central plank of his mayoral campaign.

Luckily, I have never been knocked off my bike by a bendy bus, but that is not for want of trying on the part of the drivers. Their favourite trick is to overtake me as I'm pedalling along in a cycle lane, then immediately pull in and slam on the brakes as a bus stop comes into view. It is rather like being a minnow overtaken by a crocodile, its tail sweeping across your path as it glides past.

This is particularly dangerous at night because in most parts of London there is no law against parking in bicycle lanes after 7pm. Trying to avoid being hit by a bendy bus while pulling out to avoid a parked car requires the hand-to-eye co-ordination of a fighter pilot.

Another bugbear of mine is when pedestrians stroll out into the middle of the road, apparently under the impression that if there are no cars coming there is no need to exercise caution. Couldn't the Mayor introduce a law against jaywalking? I used to have a battery-powered air-horn mounted on my handlebars but it was so loud that I had to abandon it for fear of giving someone a heart attack.

And what about the sheer number of drunks staggering around the West End? Nothing irritates me more than seeing some dipsomaniac delicately placing an empty beer bottle next to a lamppost, thinking, "Now that I've disposed of that safely I can go on my way." Don't they realise that five minutes later it will be lying in the gutter, smashed to pieces? A law against having open alcohol containers in public, as they have in New York, would do wonders to improve our urban landscape.

Come on, Boris. It's time you did something for the cyclist.

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