I got thinking on this some more after Sms' article in the last citycycling on riding to school with his son. He liked the fact that he and his son could interact with people, chatting as they went, stopping to play, stopping for picnics and so on, compared to those stuck in cars and having very little to do with the world outside.

It was similar to some comments I heard when speaking at a film event about critical mass - that on a bicycle it's easier to speak to people, to explain what's happening, to show people that you're human.

A couple of times recently I've seen this first hand.

One morning recently I'm filtering past a queue of traffic when something at the front of the bike goes thud, echoed by the car next to me. After checking that something terminal hasn't gone wrong with the bike I realise that a stone has kicked up from the tyre and hit the car. I check the car and wave to the driver that everything is fine. 30 yards on and she's stopped at some lights so I pull alongside, motion for her to lower her window, and explain what happened and again make sure she knows there's no damage. She drives off smiling.

Then this morning I got to play the knight role. I stop in a cycle reservoir and notice the girl beside me looking quizzically at her bike. I ask if everything is alright and she's confused by her chain sticking when she back pedals. I get off to have a look, and finally see that the chain has skipped off one of the rear mech jockey wheels. Quick sort, smile and thankyou, missed the lights, but feeling nice about helping, we then chat waiting for the lights before we go separate ways.

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