Oh Petronella, what were you thinking?

Petronella Wyatt has got herself in a mess over cycling.

In the Daily Mail she's written of how her mother was knocked down and badly injured by a cyclist and that she is now attacking the cult of cycling.

Now, let me make clear that I fully believe whoever hit her mother then cycled off should be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law because it was a disgusting thing to do.

However, tarring all cyclists with the same brush and then admitting that she bought a bike and 'wobbled the wrong way up one-way streets' for three days before giving up, undermines her argument somewhat.

I've accidentally gone the wrong way down a one-way street before, as have several drivers I know. I've immediately stopped and got off the road when I realised (something a car cannot do). Moreover, I didn't blindly assume I'd be able to cycle on-road just because I'd bought a bicycle. I practiced off-road first and built up my road experience before tackling larger roads, why? Because I'm not stupid, that's why.

Perhaps is Ms Wyatt had done the same she would have avoided the 'hysterical and petrified' state she got into.

People like Ms Wyatt should get a grip, on an Oyster card ideally.

** Update: the Mail have not published any comments on her piece and have had to put a correction at the bottom as her assertion that motorists in Brussels would be automatically at fault in collisions with cyclists under new laws was 'factually inaccurate'. Hilarious!