HERE is my cycle ride to work, the movie. Check the traffic, head on to the road. Skirt the roundabout and proceed. Sorry about the earthquake vision at this point – the potholes are terrible here.

Up the first hill, panting. Glance over to the green on the right. Zip down the other side and go past the shops and the police station and then down the long hill by the windmill.

Marvel at cars passing so close you have to breathe in. Grumble at the roadworks caused by the need to let more smelly buses into the city in the name of being green, etc.

Then over the iron bridge, take a left, dodge the traffic and head down Micklegate (more earthquake vision: those damn cobbles).

Misbehaving helmet camera momentarily gravitates towards an attractive woman walking up the hill. Stop that, please. Off again. More lights, a turn or two and there we have a nice shot of the bicycle shed. In head compose the BAFTA award acceptable speech while I dismount.

Should you be wondering if those cobbles shook free a few of my marbles, let me explain. According to a Sunday newspaper, more cyclists are wearing helmet cameras to expose the daily perils of cycling. I don’t have one so have had to make do with imagination. If I did have £500 to spare, I would spend it on a new bicycle instead.

But a helmet camera would record the mishaps cyclists face in York, including the double-jointed buses that jump the traffic lights, see-nothing pedestrians and aggressive van drivers. And, yes, such a camera would also record aberrant behaviour on the part of the cyclist, such as pavement riding (generally don’t do that) or light jumping (occasional chances taken, because life’s like that).

Anyone wishing to see what such a camera can do should go on YouTube and search for footage of cyclist Stephen Perrin. A van driver knocked him off his bike and punched him, following one of those motorist/cyclist disagreements that occasionally arise.

Because he had recorded the altercation, Perrin put the footage online. Former Olympic champion Chris Boardman spotted the clip and forwarded a link to his 80,000 Twitter followers. At this point, the van driver and his family came under attack on the internet.

Now this story has a surprising twist in that Perrin did not enjoy his revenge, feeling things had got out of hand.

He was quoted as saying that the grief the man and his family got “from trolls and the like disgusts me”.

But he had made his wider point: his helmet movie shows clearly the hazards of cycling.

Yes, cyclists are far from blameless, but they are vulnerable up against half a ton of metal. And not a not a jot of difference does it make whether that car passing too close is going 20mph or 30mph. Oh, and by the way, I do drive too.

 

• PHIL CLAYTON, otherwise known as the Haxby Baker, is campaigning against a Costa Coffee shop opening next to his bakery and deli. He points out, reasonably, that Haxby already has three cafés.

A few months ago, I worked a shift with Phil for a feature. He is among a number of good bakers in York. His very fine bread can be bought at his shop and all over the city. Like others of his ilk, Phil is the epitome of why local things are often better.

He is an old-fashioned baker who likes modern ways too, being a big fan of Twitter. When Phil tweeted about his coffee shop campaign, I replied saying that I now only go to local coffee shops in York if possible. To which Phil tweeted back: “coffee tastes better and money stays local”.

This is very true. While you cannot avoid all the corporate tentacles of modern life, it is possible to make a small stand on, say, coffee.

So the more people who visit local coffee shops, the better.

Leave the big bean boys of Costa, Starbucks and Caffe Nero to their own devices and sup local caffeine somewhere instead.

Follow Julian on twitter @juliancole5