Have you heard the one about the Dutchman who came to Britain on a cycling holiday?

Asked about his experience of cycling on UK roads, his reply was an unequivocal, "Never again!" Arriving at the port of Dover he found motorists uncompromising and unprepared to give the clearance and respect he had come to expect in his home town. He quickly bought himself a florescent jacket, and found it much safer to leapfrog cities by train.

Since arriving in the UK he's sampled Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the latter a car passenger threw a beer can, which lodged between his front wheel and a pannier bag. Fortunately he braked in time without mishap. He's also experienced verbal abuse and spitting from car passengers. For a short time he cycled with a fellow Dutchman, who he later learned had had to cut his holiday short after sustaining a broken collar bone from being hit by a car.