Arthur Lamy, pictured far away from where he was chased up the road by a labrador

Did any of you read the letter on page 11 of Wednesday’s Jersey Evening Post from a lady, who while cycling through St.Martin’s country lanes, was chased up the road by a barking Labrador?

Personally,  I probably like dogs more than the next man – in fact I find their loyalty, obedience, and complete disregard for what’s on the television, qualities rarely found in the human race.  And apart from unfortunate breeding, or irresponsible and lazy owners, one rarely finds a dog that is naturally aggressive.

So you can imagine my displeasure, when cycling through the back lanes of St.Martin, to meet the offending animal from Wednesday’s Letters page. Naturally I didn’t stop to ask questions, as I too was being chased up the road!

Now whilst I’m not overly intimidated by a seriously overweight Labrador, I am very concerned about other cyclists who may not be so confident.  Children, or the elderly, or possibly cyclists who are using these quiet lanes to stay away from busy roads are the last people who deserve to be threatened in this way.

One does wonder what kind of arrogance the dog’s owner must have to allow her dog to behave this way, especially as she appeared to have the dog’s lead in her hand at the time he chased me up the road.

Might it not be better to attach Fido to his lead before he causes an unnecessary accident?

Or is that too much to ask?

• It was good news this week for London bike shops: Tuesday’s Tube strike boosted some retailers’ sales by as much as 20% on the day. Let’s hope some of these people discover the benefits of cycle travel and stay on their bikes when there isn’t a strike.  Here’s what The London Cyclist Blog had to say:

http://sn142w.snt142.mail.live.com/default.aspx?rru=inbox&wa=wsignin1.0

• Shimano has just introduced two high end cycling shoes, the R315 for road racing and the M315 for mountain biking. Both shoes have carbon fibre soles and can be custom- fitted. http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/nl/index/news_and_info/news/new_top_model_shoes.html

• Heavy rain in South Australia has caused concerns for the World Road Race Championships due to be held there later this month. At present much of the course is under water and officials hope that the water will subside in time for the start of the championships on 29^th September.

• Going to university soon? Let’s hope you’re going to either Nottingham Trent or the University of Nottingham, because students there are able to get fantastically cheap bike hire. How about this for a bargain? Bike hire for a year is £49,the first fifty bikes will have a discounted rate of £35. Students will have to put down a £100 deposit, and they will also have to insure the bike for around £35. For that they’ll get a 21 speed alloy-framed bike with lights, lock, mudguards, bell, rear carrier and side stand, and a free inner tube and mini-tool!

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/active-travel/active-travel-projects/ucycle-nottingham/ucycle-   bike-hire

• Saturday 11th September marks the fifteenth anniversary of The National Cycle Network. Now over 12,500 miles long, it carries over a million cycling or walking journeys every day.

• If you’re in the capital in early October don’t forget the London Bike Show taking place at Earl’s Court between 8th and 10th October. New attractions at the show will be an indoor triathlon, a youngsters’ test track and cycling for the disabled.

See what’s happening: http://www.cycleshow.co.uk/page.cfm/Link=1/t=m/goSection=1

• A big hurrah for Vin Cox, who has just had his ‘Around the World’ by bike record ratified by Guinness World Records. His time of 163 days, 6 hours and 58 minutes has taken about a month off Mark Beaumont’s record. It’s also faster than the two un-ratified times of James Bowthorpe and Julian Sayerer, which were set last year.

• I read that the Communications Workers Union is standing behind Royal Mail’s decision to take postmen and women off their delivery bikes. The current proposals are for Royal Mail’s fleet of almost 25,000 bikes to be reduced to just a few hundred, on an area by area basis. The CWU said that not every cycling post person was fond of cycling, and they backed up their argument by saying that 13 postmen and women had been killed in the past 15 years. Surprisingly, this statistic was not one given by Royal Mail in their reasons for moving their delivery staff from bikes into vans.

• Yet another hugely successful London Skyride took place on Saturday 4th September. The event saw around 85,000 people ride a 15 kilometre closed-road route around London, which took in Big Ben, St.Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace and the City. As expected Mayor Boris took part together with actress Kelly Brook, Sir Chris Hoy and several members of the Sky professional cycling team.

And finally,

Did you know that The States have been considering a public bike hire scheme like the one that is so successfully running in London at the moment?

Transport Minister Mike Jackson mentioned the possibility in a Radio Jersey interview he gave at the beginning of the month.

Arthur Lamy is a freelance journalist and tourist guide. www.cycleinjersey.com