Possibly it’s merely a reflection of the fact that there are more women than men in Australia in total these days. So why the “boys club” culture persists is a bit of a mystery.

Also in the same paper, heh, now I’d better go check if it’s the Leader or Tellie, there are reports of two rapes, a hit and run and a robbery of women.

Seems to me our “man problem” is not a lack of them.

Regarding the article about bike lanes and bicycle infrastructure in Melton Shire (Leader 2-10-07), as both a car driver and a cyclist I must say I agree with Bicycle Victoria awarding the Shire a big fat zero for its “efforts”.

Putting in narrow little bike lanes or off road trails in new estates around a bit of swamp is loads of fun for weekend rides. For anyone who is serious, however, cycling to fight heart disease or diabetes with some regular exercise, not to mention those of us who’d like to ride to work, it’s useless. The Council can’t shunt it’s responsibilities onto housing developers and then pretend everything’s just dandy.

Most people who really want to ride a bike to school, to work, for real health benefits or sporting training, need safe, well-maintained surfaces at the edges of roads, and in the lanes, throughout the Shire. We need useful routes that safely connect with work places, train stations and shopping centres and places to put the bikes safely when we get there. Car drivers need to know that bicycles are legitimate road users and must be treated like any other traffic when travelling in road lanes or being overtaken.

It might be of benefit if Mayor Mamarella hopped on a bike and came for a ride with a few of us to see exactly what it’s like for cyclists having to deal with narrow, uneven and disintegrating verges on roads where cars are whizzing by at 80 or 100 k’s an hour.

Rather than leaning on Bicycle Victoria to adjust their interpretation of little numbers, why don’t we do a little forward thinking and plan for more people to ride safely? Cyclists and drivers would really appreciate that.