Cycling in Oxfordshire has bumbled along for decades. The time for change is now. My involvement in cycling advocacy started about 15 years ago, when I joined an offshoot of Oxford Friends of the Earth called Cyclox.

Its sage leader was Richard Mann, whose name many of you will recognise from his regular contributions to cycling issues covered in this paper.

Cyclox’s demographic then was young – average age 30 – and we were always up for pro-bike publicity stunts.

Our finest hour was a photocall to highlight the pollution caused by buses which were still using Cornmarket Street – hard to believe it was only 15 years ago. We corralled around 100 folk at the Boswell’s end and had them lie in the street to spell the phrase “Clear the air” with their bodies. The Oxford Mail carried the story with a very cool photo taken from the top of St Michael’s Tower.

Cyclox disbanded when Richard started a family and I deserted Blighty for two years to teach at a uni in Sydney. I never discovered how much our campaign influenced the pedestrianisation of Cornmarket Street but by the time I got back to Oxford, the buses were gone.

I was dismayed to find the traffic heavier and the cycling experience that bit worse than when I’d left. I was moved to form a new cycling campaign for Oxford, one with a familiar name: Cyclox.

New Cyclox has done well. Our most notable success, shared with other groups such as the Pedestrians’ Association, was the “Life Begins at 20” campaign. It’s a pity some drivers seem to think it’s OK to ignore the limits. Still, tens of thousands of drivers like me do obey the limits and the city is the more pleasant and more cycleable for it. There have been piecemeal improvements to the infrastructure and Cyclox’s vision for a dual network is falling into place – slowly.

Overall, Oxford is a million times better to cycle in than say Birmingham, where drivers make even ole Jeremy Clarkson look like a tortoise. You can get to almost anywhere in Oxford without sharing the roads with cars, if you know how. There is no question that ours is a cycling city – but at the same time we have a long way to go to make it the cyclists’ Nirvana that it could be.

Cowley Road, despite the £1m safety improvements, is vile and a barrier to thousands who, like me, wouldn’t dream of cycling along it with their children. Botley Road railway bridge is another barrier to cycling – everyone has their own bugbear.

Now it’s time to take cycling in Oxford and the county to the next level. Starting from an already high rate of cycling (20 per cent in the city), there is no reason why this can’t become the UK’s No.1 place for cycling. The time to ask is now. The question is, what to ask for. That’s where you come in: Cyclox is holding a public meeting on Thursday, 7.30–9.30pm in St Michael at the Northgate Church, Cornmarket St.

So what would you ask for? Dutch-style cycle routes across the entire city? A two-way cycle lane along Cowley Road? A segregated cycleway linking Banbury and Abingdon, and Witney and Barton, all via Oxford?

Our county council is getting with the programme with a £1m bid to make The Plain cycle-friendly (tinyurl.com/theplain). What’s your 2020 vision for Oxfordshire cycling? Come and tell us.

- James Styring