By Bike

Starting off from Foxrock church at 8.10 a.m., the first reaction is to wonder where all the traffic has gone.

Traffic was light through the road-widening scheme at Foxrock, and then it was off along the cycle lane which begins at White's Cross, and down the hill at speed, for Stillorgan.

Through the Brewery Road junction and I noticed - just too late - that the cycle lane had gone. The cycle lane, it appears, runs along the old Stillorgan Road from Brewery Road to the next junction.

No matter, the cycle was now becoming a pleasant, even exhilarating experience.

The first time-check at Park's Hotel came in at 8.21 a.m. and about two minutes later I passed the Irish Times reporter travelling the same route by car. He was stuck in traffic in Mount Merrion.

There were not many cyclists along the way - I had counted only three by the time I was bowling down the hill to Foster's Avenue. Would I be going this fast if I cycled in to town every day, I wondered, and I decided to slow things down a pace or two.

On the Belfield dual carriageway, the traffic had built up considerably. Not even the coveted '99 D three series (new model, metallic silver) could induce a twitch of envy as I whizzed past it.

Up over the shoulder on the Belfield fly-over where members of the gardai and Dublin Bus were supervising proceedings; they looked fairly pleased with themselves.

Passing RTE at 8.27 a.m., it occurred to me that no bus had passed me since I left Foxrock church. A TV3 news crew moved slowly in traffic and I spotted some reporters I know at the side of the road. Photographers were liberally dotted along the route and in the sky a light aircraft and a helicopter were keeping watch.

If it weren't for the traffic jam and the overcast sky, it could almost be the Tour de France. . .

However, four minutes later, at 8.31 a.m., outside Donnybrook church, the first bus caught up with me. As we approached Donnybrook village, the reduced width of the road became apparent and the bus loomed large. There is a dedicated cycle lane about 23 ft wide here, but the remaining width for a bus looks - and I will measure it later - about 4 ft 6 in.

As we rounded the corner opposite Kiely's pub, it was obvious that wherever a bus needed a whole lane, it would take it, regardless of where you painted a cycle lane in it.

Both the bus and I moved efficiently through Morehampton Road and I moved ahead of it at the lights, passing Sachs Hotel at 8.34 a.m. However, the bus passed me at the next corner and in pulling in to a bus stop, left me with the option of going under its rear wheel or mounting the pavement. The pavement won but I banged with my fist on the bus, just to let the driver know he nearly killed me.

The driver was not interested in my antics at his closed door, so I pressed on, crossing Leeson Street Bridge at 8.37 a.m.

I spun around the Green, arriving at my destination - the top of Grafton Street - at 8.41 a.m. There was just time to park the bike against the railings before I saw the third Irish Times reporter in this experiment alighting from a bus, looking fresh and relaxed.

Now, where are the company showers?