Since the lockdown last year, the many benefits of cycling over travel by car have come to the fore with even the narrative from No.10 Downing Street being ‘walk and cycle where you can’.

At local level, more and more people are discovering that cycling is much more than a breath of fresh air but saves them time (not stuck in queues of traffic) and thousands of pounds in money annually.

But the energy and enthusiasm at ground level is contrasted by the ‘stuffed shirts’ at County Hall (many of whom I suspect are retirees who well know they will soon be shuffling off this mortal coil and therefore have cursory interest in the world left for future generations) who have dragged their feet in providing the most minimal infrastructure for cyclists.

Take the Ebury Way for example. The section at Rickmansworth has been in an appalling state of disrepair for years with six-inch rifts in the rucked-up asphalt a hazard to any cyclist who deigns to explore Watford’s one and only cycle route.

All the ovations amount to nothing more than lip service to cycling.

The truth is they just couldn’t care less.

Dave Degen

Whippendell Road, Watford