Text l Cycling in London is less pleasant than in many European cities.Main roads teem with lorries;winding back streets are hard Lo navigate.The number of bicycle journeys has nonetheless doubled since 2000.Nationally,just 2qo pedal to work.In Hackney,in London's East End,fully 9%do.But only 2%of women cycle to work in London,compared with 5%of men.Blacks and other ethnic minorities are reluctant to do it,too.Bori6 Johnson,London's mayor,oversaw the introduction of a bike-hiring scheme,which was started by his predecessor but quickly became known as the"Boris bike".He pushed for bright blue cycle paths on some busy roads.But the new cycle highways are far more ambitious and permanent.One will run east-west through the City and the West End.Another will run two miles from Elephant and Castle in the south to Farringdon in north London.Four existinE;routes will also be improved,while around 30 0f the city's busiest junctions wiU be made a bit less dangerous.The new superhighways ought io be much safer than London's existing cycle lanes.A raised pavement will keep cyclists away from cars and lorries.Junctions will be redesigned and some parking bays-including a rew for the disabled-will be removed.Cars will be prevented from turning down certain streets.Similar schemes exist elsewhere:since 2007 around 30 miles of protected cycle lanes have been created in New York.In Amsterdam,where lanes have existed for decades,old people and women are far more inclined to cycle.Greens have long lobbied for cycle paths on the grounds that movin8 people out of cars cuts air poUution.A series of highly publicised accidents,including one involving a newspaper journalist,and several deaths in the city have also put pressure on the mayor to make London safer.And the social transformation of the capital has encouraged officials to smile on cyclists.The population of inner London is rebounding as affluenL folk move in.The new inhabitants want cleaner streets and fewer cars,which are viewed as suburban.Cycling was once a means of transport for the poor.But it has become an imporlant marker of an affluent world city,argues Isabel Dedring,the deputy mayor for transport."There's more pressure on cities to be nice places to live,"she says. The Green Party's aLtitude towards cycling is——