Jonny Ives

This Sunday (22 Sept) Broad Street in the centre of Oxford will be closed to traffic. Cyclox (www.cyclox.org), the campaign group that serves as the voice of cycling in Oxford, will be taking the opportunity to set out its stall, alongside many other organisations, to be part of the growing movement across the UK calling for low-traffic neighbourhoods.

What would it take to get you on a bike? Or back on your bike? Or on your bike a bit more often than you do at the moment?

A journey of a thousand miles may once have started with a single step but these days it is far more likely to start with a search for the car keys.

RIDING a bike lends itself to contemplation. So, if you ride a bike, whether as part of the daily commute or for occasional warm-weather enjoyment, you have probably wondered at some point why cycling never seems to get quite the attention it deserves from those who seem to make the decisions about how public money is spent.

If you are lucky enough to be choosing a bike to accompany you on life’s great adventure there are two questions that you need to ask yourself before you saddle up.