ALLAN Ramsey’s letter (Guardian , Oct 5) rambles through many unconnected issues, but I think his main point was the behaviour of motorists towards cyclists.

“Poor cyclists” he called them, though today, many of them spend more on their cycles than the cost of a few years old second hand car!

I would be the first to support the view that cyclists have as much right as car drivers to use the highways and byways of our country.

But with rights come responsibilities, and we all have the responsibility to follow the Highway Code.

It’s also a legal requirement, but when did you last read it Mr Ramsay?

In the Introduction it states “It is important that all road users are aware of the Highway Code and are considerate towards each other”.

That applies to cyclists as well as motorists.

Rule 66 states that cyclists should “never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when rounding bends”. Really!

Rule 68 states that cyclists “should not ride …. in an inconsiderate manner”.

Since cycling has become more popular, I have often tagged onto the back of a slow moving queue of other cars, only to find that at the front of the queue is a group of cyclists, like you and your pals, out on a “club run” on the Broads of Cheshire.

It’s a peloton of anything up to 40 or 50 riders who are taking up the whole of one carriageway right up to the white line. It’s more of a mobile roadblock than a tractor towing agricultural machinery.

Bends and double white lines give few overtaking opportunities, hence the queue; it’s little wonder that it causes frustration and the risky, high speed overtaking manoeuvres you criticise. Such riders are contributing to their own danger.

Rule 169 states ”Do not hold up a long queue…. If necessary, pull in and let traffic pass”. At least tractor drivers often pull over to let a queue past, but when did you last see group of cyclists doing that?

Never. Why can’t the peloton be broken up into smaller, more easily overtaken groups of seven or eight riders, leaving enough space between groups for overtaking vehicles?

The respect you seek has to be earned Mr Ramsey, and when most of your fellow cyclists follow the Highway Code and show some consideration to motorists, they may find that more consideration is shown by motorists towards cyclists. The answer is in your own hands.

Tony Booth Holly Tree Drive Lower Peover