Let me help Cllr John Tanner to understand why some of us do not "get on our bikes" to "avoid the Oxford gridlock" (Oxford Mail, December 23).
My home is 22 miles from County Hall where I work and I do not think it reasonable to expect an unfit 50-something-year-old to cycle that far.
In addition, I enjoy travelling inside a warm, water-proof and vandal-proof vehicle where I can choose my company.
I am not clear why I should be expected to submit to extreme weather conditions and be exposed to the proximate threat of occasional loutish behaviour
Again, on a personal basis, I bring with me a laptop computer with accessories - probably weighing the best part of a stone (14lb). I also bring in files and papers probably weighing another two stones (28lb).
On a "bad paper day", you can double the latter. When I leave the office, I may be going home or to another town or village or somewhere at the opposite end of the county and then returning to my home at an unspecified hour.
I do not suppose I am untypical but for all of these reasons and along with many others, I prefer the freedom, flexibility, cleanliness and reliability of my motor car.
I also feel that my contribution towards £33bn per annum of transport taxes entitles me to a modest share of the constantly diminishing road space devoted to car drivers.
However, let me not deter any fit man or woman who is brave enough to cycle into Oxford to do so because they represent potentially one less car on our crowded roads.
KEITH MITCHELL
Leader
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