How can we Encourage more people to cycle in Stafford?

I am lucky enough to have found a job on Staffordshire Technology Park closer to my Stafford home. I have now sold my car and purchased a bike and have been cycling to work daily. Whilst cycle paths in Stafford are very good (or the ones that I use are) they seem to stop and start constantly from Asda up to the Tech Park meaning it is quicker and easier for me to cycle on the road. Also many people walk in the cycle lanes oblivious to why the footpath is painted red with pictures of cycles on them... I am sure if I cycled on a footpath I would soon be stopped by the local PCSO's so they should pay more attention to people walking in cycle lanes. This week I have been required to drive up to the Technology Park and it has been almost hell... It took me 27 minutes to do a normal 5 minute journey from Tesco to the Tech Park at 8:15 the other day... Stafford needs to work quickly in getting cars off the road or improving traffic flows BEFORE they build thousands more houses in the area. Some food for thought, apologies if I waffled.

Ohhhh dear. I've been wiped out......... Looks like my comment posted 1250 hrs on 24 January 2008 in reply to Guy Gibson hit a raw nerve. Or is this just another case of ZaNu Labour shooting the messenger because they don't like the message. Geoff

I am really grateful to all the people who have been pushing for better facilities for cycling over the years. At the moment, I think I am part of the problem. I think I would like to be a cyclist, at least some of the time, but It has been about 20 years since I was last on a bike, and there would be a lot of barriers to overcome before I felt ready to do it again. Could I still keep my balance? How would I know if the bike was safe? How could I fix it if something went wrong? Where could I get to safely? I tried typing in "Get more people cycling" in google and it came up with this http://www.onestreet.org/pdf/Getting%20More%20People%20Cycling.pdf which I thought had some interesting suggestions about how to persuade non cyclists like myself to have a go. Are there any groups of people in Stafford who are thinking about how to help people rediscover the necessary skills to get cycling?