Only one person attached to my circle of friends started commuting because of a DUI licence-suspension, and he's a meathead who has emphatically stated that he'll be consigning his bicycle to the back of the shed when his licence returns to active status. Now and then we try to cajole him into coming on a weekend ride with us, to see the enjoyable side of cycling, but he always refuses.

I ride through a couple of industrial suburbs, including some of Melbourne's docks and wharves, on my way to work. I see quite a few twenty- and thirty-something looking guys in overalls, workboots and visibility jackets, usually riding clapped-out Xmart bikes or BMX's with no lights or helmets and smoking as they pedal. They cast these looks of absolute loathing at commuters as we zip past them in one direction or another. I've always imagined they're on bikes because they've lost their licences. Maybe one day I should ask, but to be honest, I'm a little frightened: they all look so fiercely ... embarrased .