friends of the earth or menace to society?

don't get me wrong. I think it's great that cycling has made a resurgence in recent years. Good to see so many people taking an interest in saving the earth - after all, we need somewhere for our kids to live, and their kids, etc etc. What I don't understand is why so many cyclists, particularly the London breed, feel it necessary to become almost Naziesque in their pursuit.

When I learnt to ride a bike, we were told to stop at stop signs and check for any cars or pedestrians. We would never run a red light - as users of the road, we were told to respect the rules of the road. Which seems obvious. But either that's a lesson not taught in the UK, or one that most cyclists tend to ignore.

The catalyst for this wee rant? On my way back to work, after enjoying a lovely cup of tea with a friend, I was crossing the road. At a pedestrian crossing. The little green man was showing, and all four sets of traffic lights were red. Along comes a cyclist, barreling out of nowhere and shouts at me and some lovely elderly lady (well ok, I don't know for a fact that she is lovely, but nevertheless she is not the villain here) to "get out of the road". Silly me, crossing when the green man is on the lights.

One of these days I swear to god I'm not going to hustle and let the careless cyclist deal with the repercussions of their carelessness. Or maybe I'll just run a few down with my nice polluting car. (That's a joke by the way, please don't anyone think I'm that murderous. Unless you are a cyclist, in which case, I'll give you a pound to invest in a copy of the highway code.)

Saying that, I still think I'd pick a bike over a gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor... (and there's a whole rant to be had in that alone. Who needs a 4x4 in London or bloody Farnham??!!)