In its editorial of September 22 The Times dispensed of the possible use of bicycles in one terse comment that they cannot be used as there are no cycle lanes (at least not even from Blata l-Bajda to Valletta).

May I just add to Joseph Montebello's comments in his letter (September 23) that the two of us have been cycling all over Malta for umpteen years and I can assure you that I have never once had the least accident with any motor vehicle. The two occasions on which I fell were skids on dew which I was not cautious enough to foresee and avoid and which I normally always do. Lanes would be fine but they are not essential.

The recipe for safe cycling is simple. Cyclists first and foremost must normally follow traffic rules especially driving on the left. They must signal with their hands their intentions to turn left or right and to do this safely they must wear a helmet and stuck to it on the right side they must have the small but fantastic mirror (at a cost of Lm3) which they must consult all the time but especially when wanting to turn across following traffic. The mirror is also a constant indicator of what is happening to the back of you and is a definite health and safety item par excellence. I have used this mirror for the past 20 years or so to great effect.

May I add that like cars do, you also overtake cars or whatever on the outside when using a bike. Proper lights back and front in darkness are also a must. Unfortunately, some mad persons go about in unlit roads at night without any lights. I need not say also that flip flops or similar footwear should not be used on a bike. The ban on cyclists through tunnels is typical of the victims being penalised. Tunnels can be made safe in ways such as Mr Montebello suggested, or in other ways.

For example, just go round Lago di Garda by car and count the dozens of cyclists you meet in the tunnels, all proceeding as they should and getting the space and respect from motorists that they need. And motorists do queue behind cyclists where no overtaking is possible but then cyclists also go single file to allow traffic to flow by easily.

Cycling, like much else, is firstly a state of mind. If we want it to become part of our lives it easily can and most motorists already respect cyclists to a great degree, contrary to public perception which is in fact a lame cover-up to the general state of physical inertia that many have succumbed to. This pseudo phobia of vehicles is then added to the other bogey of hilly Malta (there are next to no hills here of Tour de France or Giro d'Italia calibre!) and presto many feel good not cycling or even thinking about it.

In fact, step one must be the setting up in so many public places of proper bicycle parking facilities. Start with the local church parvis - most churches are just a short flat ride from most people's homes.

So this weekend put pressure on the parish priest to put down a few steel bars to lock cycles on.

So, please, let's try to promote cycling in future and not shoot it down on one lame excuse or another. We have enough shooting in and out of season as it is.