Letter: Successful cyclists: the case for the defence

JOE BRYCE suggests that no City lawyer with ambition could afford to be seen on a bicycle ('Bicycles can never overtake cars as success symbols', Letters, 13 February).

As a Glaswegian, he may judge success by different criteria, but at this London City law firm the bicycle is the fast track to the top. By avoiding security alerts on the Tube, signal failures on rail and tailbacks on roads, the cyclists are the early birds arriving fit to deal with the demands of the day.

Our managing partner is one of the many cyclists here whose upward mobility disproves Joe Bryce's theory. Indeed, the status symbol in our parking lot is the multi-geared F W Evans or the lightweight Dawes rather than the Porsche.

More would cycle were it safer. Regrettably, cycling has become more hazardous as other road users become less tolerant towards the increasing number of cyclists.

Hugh Garety

Theodore Goddard

London EC1