IN theory, Jersey should be a paradise for cyclists. In practice, however, there are a number of strong disincentives for Islanders to heed the latest call by the Medical Officer of Health, Rosemary Geller, to get fitter by getting out of our cars and onto our bikes.

For a start, we live on an inconveniently wedge-shaped rock, with the result that wherever you go, and sooner rather than later, you will be labouring up a big hill. Even more daunting a deterrent is the volume of motor traffic.

Many people think from time to time that they might like to cycle more, or perhaps encourage their children to go to school by bike, but most of them swiftly decide against it because they consider it too dangerous in Jersey, where narrow, granite-framed roads are packed with the tangible results of having one of the highest densities of car ownership on earth.

Is Dr Geller’s anti-obesity crusade doomed to failure, then? Possibly so if it continues to be presented as such. People have an in-built aversion to being lectured for their own good, and the cause of cycling promotion might be better served by instead placing the emphasis on sustainable community transport for all – coincidentally the subject of a long promised report to the States this week from Transport and Technical Services.

Cycling is clearly an indispensable part of any serious new plan to change Jersey’s transport habits for the better. With an eastern cycle track already planned to join up with the ones along the St Aubin’s Bay seafront and the Railway Walk, it is possible to start envisioning a wider network, combining parish routes, transport hubs and greatly improved access to and through town, all imaginatively improved to the point at which taking the bike becomes a genuinely attractive option for many more people.

Cycling is enjoying a sustained boom in popularity around the world. That is hardly surprising, given that its citizens have now spent several decades absorbing messages about the benefits for both personal health and the health of the planet. Few town planners would now consider major urban renewal projects without including cycle track provisions, while big cities like London and Paris have taken matters further by offering membership to bike pools, with conveniently located racks around the streets.

Jersey may be lagging behind, but the old conventional wisdom that nothing could ever persuade Islanders to give up their cars is way out of date. Many would at least be happy to leave them at home more often if there were an adequate safe, pleasant and affordable alternative, probably involving a combination of public transport and bicycles, or some other low-impact vehicle.

We are far likelier to do that, however, if the powers-that-be can contrive to present the two-wheel option as a pleasure and not a penance.