JUST two years after rediscovering the joy of cycling, I had a new experience this summer - my first time being knocked off the bike.

On my way home in the broad daylight of a summer evening, an oncoming driver decided to throw a very sudden right turn without bothering to check that the road was clear.

Fortunately I escaped with only a bit of bruising and a broken bike light (and I must thank the guy in the pub opposite who picked up the bag I’d dropped and kept it until I came back) but it could so easily have been worse.

I know cyclists have a bad reputation with some drivers, and to be fair I’ve seen a few going through the lights when the green man’s showing, or similar.

But every day I also see drivers pulling out suddenly, failing to indicate, or seeming oblivious to everything in the road that’s smaller than their own vehicle.

This thoughtless behaviour, whether by drivers or by cyclists, isn’t because people are all selfish.

The truth is that most of Glasgow’s roads are not designed to encourage considerate behaviour.

When people feel unsafe, their stress can easily result in a lack of attention to other people.

Compare our city to many in other European countries, and the differences are stark; places like Copenhagen and Amsterdam have calmer traffic and plenty of space for people to walk and ride safely.

My mishap the other week left me feeling shaken and angry, but now my frustration at that incident is being compounded by the sense of ambivalence the city council seems to feel about cycling in general.

This week, the council’s consultation on a “Strategic Plan for Cycling” closes.

This document, which is supposed to cover the next 10 years, seems to be neither strategic nor really a plan. There are warm words about developing an “integrated network of cycling routes”, but no commitments about what will actually be built and where.

It admits that progress will take long term financial investment, but I couldn’t find a single cash commitment in the whole document.

Most bizarrely, the consultation seeks responses to an “action plan” page that’s entirely blank - not a single specific action is proposed.

Throughout it there’s a sense that cycling is something which should be confined to a few specific, sanctioned routes - even if in reality they are nothing more than bus lanes.

In the real world, cycling is something that happens on every road, in every neighbourhood, and if we want a safer, healthier and greener Glasgow, every one of those streets needs to be designed well for walking and cycling, as well as for calmer driving.