Perhaps I’m older than Adam Trimingham – the Sage of Sussex (The Argus, September 4).

He paints a sad reflection of his early days of cycling.

I was born in 1941 and spent much of my mid-teen years cycling the lanes of West Kent, where the only other traffic was farm machinery. In fact, you could cycle almost anywhere without danger from motor vehicles.

Alas, the motorcar probably put paid to social cycling; today most roads are too dangerous for that.

Even areas set aside for cycling aren’t always safe. For example the cycle path adjacent to King Edward’s Parade in Eastbourne is abysmal.

Now I’m a pedestrian, and a grumpy one at that – always uptight because of those idiots on bikes who pay no attention to the Highway Code and cycle on pavements, ignoring the fact that some pedestrians are aged or infirm.

To me the only safe cycleway and walkway is not a white line painted on the ground, but a physical barrier.

If cycling is (re-)fuelling the nation, as David Cameron wants us to believe, wny not introduce traffic-free days?

AR Edwards, Lewes Road, Eastbourne