Clerkenwell's ghost

As all our friends know we all use our bikes to get to work. From our vantage point above the junction of Clerkenwell Road and St John Street we can clearly see that the number of cyclists in London is continuing to rise. That must be good news for the city but it is terrifying to see how many people fly across the junction when the lights are red, scattering pedestrians as they go. It is one thing for 'professionals' such as couriers to do it - their life expectancy is short anyway - but most commuters seem to treat each bike journey as if it were a suicide mission. The ghost bike that appeared outside Proudfoot HQ a month or so ago is a tribute to a cyclist that died at this spot. She was apparently drinking a cappucino when she was hit. You would hope that such a powerful reminder of our fragility would act as a warning to other cyclists; I can't imagine a more pathetic waste of life than to be killed on the way to work. I think the unofficial, underground ghost bike campaign should be given a much higher profile. It is probably breaking one of Camden's thousands of byelaws but the council have allowed it to stay put so far. But now this strangely beautiful object is gradually being trashed. Several hefty blows have bent the wheels, someone has tried to take the tyres off and at least one person, presumably smashed after a big Smithfield night out, has tried to steal it. Crazy and slightly sad days.

On a happier note, for Pompey fans anyway, the past week has seen our old rivals Southampton sink further into trouble. The prospect of a third relegation in only a handful of years now surely looms and we can even hold out hope that they will go bust and disappear altogether. Great news.