Adam Trimingham's recent claim that bicycles "hardly" hurt anyone and subsequent description of the ecstasy of hurtling down hills at 30 to 40 miles an hour doesn't ring true.

Has he worked out the stopping distance of a bicycle ridden at that speed? It would take a car equipped with modern disc brakes almost 50 yards to come to a halt from 40mph. His old bike, with its puny braking system, would take twice that.

If The Sage of Sussex continues to descend hills at this rate some unlucky pedestrian is going to get a bit more than hardly hurt. I think he should be told.

-Tony Laycock, London Road, Brighton