THE other day a bike-mad colleague of mine was showing off about a survey which had found women prefer cyclists to rugby players and footballers.

I realise I’m on dodgy ground – a lot of you readers choose to travel by two wheels – but I’ll make a stand anyway and say his survey is wrong.

Before penning this week’s column I sent a quick email to ten of my female friends asking them what they thought.

The response was split 6-4 with six going for rugby players and four fancying a footballer.

Not a cyclist to be found. I think it’s the Lycra… Just as men who blow-dry their hair or wear nail varnish can turn off a woman at ten paces, so do a pair of skin-tight shorts.

It’s not to say we wouldn’t look – we just wouldn’t want to nip to the shop with a man in Lycra leggings or cuddle up in front of Eastenders with him.

I know what you’re thinking: it’s what’s on the inside that counts. But in this case I disagree - when you can clearly see what’s on the inside from across the street, it’s off-putting.

Cycling isn’t all bad, I must admit. It’s great for improving fitness, it’s healthier than spending an afternoon down the pub and it’s better for the environment.

And, according to a quick Internet search, there’s a brothel in Berlin that offers a five euro discount to customers travelling by bike rather than car.

In Kendal we keep our cyclists happy by granting them a riverside route, safer crossing places and special lanes.

But if my colleague and anyone else think that New Road is going to be mobbed by amorous women, rather than the sidelines down at Mint Bridge rugby club, they are sadly mistaken.