The sun was shining and it felt reasonably warm for the time of year, after those cold Easterly winds, so I decided to dust down my old trusty bicycle and go for a ride in the country, something I have done for some 50 plus years.

But being well aware just how dangerous this pastime has become having been hit by a car once (not my fault) and having several near misses over the years, I made myself as visible and as safe as possible and decided to try to keep to mostly minor and B roads where possible, as I made my way to Horstead.

During the journey I can honestly say that every motorist treated me with all due care and attention and gave me at least 1.5 metres as suggested by the police, when passing, which sometimes meant they had to wait until it was risk-free to do so.

This may all sound very safe but it was not because the biggest danger was myself in trying to avoid the numerous potholes, sunken drains and so on, I was unable to keep a straight line and some of these holes were deep enough to throw one off their bike, this also meant I had to move out in the road to avoid them, putting myself in danger.

Yes the roads are in a horrendous state, probably the worst I have ever seen and I counted no less than four different broken car suspension springs on my journey, so this must also be costing the motorist a fortune in repairs.

But what made this journey all the more ironic was in passing the construction site of the Northern Distributor Road which will cost something approaching £200 million when completed.

Should we really be building new roads, when our existing roads are in such a dreadful state, or is this the politics of mad men combined with the power of big business?