1) Learn the light sequences and look ahead. In that way you can time the lights rather than jump them.

2) Use routes with bus lanes. Remember these are open to other traffic after 7 P.M. so get out of the office on time.

3) Wear lots of hi-viz clothing - without it you might as well forget the helmet.

4) Don’t get caught behind busses or traffic turning left on you. The way to do this is to travel at traffic speed and claim some road space - no riding in the gutter.

5) Every second counts. Keep moving, pausing rather than stopping at the lights. Pausing is where you do a track stand, stopping is putting a foot on the ground.

6) Get good brakes and keep your rims clean. Roundabouts have to be approached at speed - but in the wet you may need to stop at the last moment and this is not possible with bad brakes.

7) Use gears and don’t go for the ’single speed cool’ unless you want to be left behind at the lights.

Punctures can be a frequent problem. Carry stick on patches, spare tube and a pump. Pick glass out of your tyres at least once a week.

9) Don’t get angry with the traffic - the people stuck in tin boxes are morons that don’t give a toss about climate, pollution, the end of oil or getting places quickly. They are to the human race what the dodo is to the pigeon - flightless, fat and soon to be extinct. If their actions frustrate you, internalise that energy and convert it to useful adrenalin, getting you there in less time.

10) Get a bell. Jaywalkers do move out of the way of a bicycle bell, you can also ring it when passing a bus, so passengers crossing the road in front of the bus hear you too.

11) With all other road users it is nice to give the occassional thumbs up. If someone doesn’t flatten you (after trying well), give them a thumbs up, not the single finger.

12) When a car in your lane stops to let another car out of a sidestreet, they have not thought of you and you are not obligated to stop for them. This ploy disrupts the karma games car-drivers play. Also, don’t be afraid of riding very close to cars nosing out of sidestreets - ‘they never move’.