On 09/08/2011 16:58, Simon Mason wrote:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/columnists/2011/08/09/on-your-bike-91466-29200918/

"Cycling to work and back has given me a new perspective. I now have the
chance to see the world from the eye level of a very tall dog or a very small
horse. The tales they could tell.
It can be a life-affirming experience to catch the sights, smells and smiles
of the capital city (Cardiff) in rush hour on a bike. Mr Cunningham of owning
the shop in Hollyoaks fame even waved to me on my bike the other day.
It's a world away from sitting in traffic and having to listen to commercial
radio stations play the same ads over and over again.

I ask you to join me in utter condemnation of the Welsh Assembly for making
it compulsory for the drivers of motor vehicles in Wales to listen to the
same ads over and over again on local commercial radio stations.

It *must* be the fault of the Assembly, because the person quoted says that
when he was a driver, he *had* to listen to them again and again, and I know
for a fact that there is no such compulsion in England.

But before we attack the Assembly, possibly without full justification, there
is just one other possibility - that he's talking tripe.

So let's see - is there any other evidence that he is talking tripe?

You be the judge of that:

(Be happy and rejoice in your blissful ignorance of the horrors that lie
between '90s indie classics on commercial radio. Oh come on, you know which
ones I mean... and which adverts).

Whilst the Catholic church tried to indoctrinate me for a good 16 years, I've
never quite got into a mindset as quickly as I did when I hopped on the
saddle and soared (okay, stumbled) through the streets to our city centre
office.

As a driver, cyclists were often an annoyance, great in principle, but a fly
in the ointment when in front of your wheels on a busy road. How the worm has
turned. Now cars who cut me up are traffic terrorists intent on running
fair-minded and fast-moving two-wheelers like me off the highways and byways.

I've been known to mumble expletives and throw a shake of a fist. Before
grabbing the handlebars again, quickly, to stabilise myself."