Marcel and Albertine

Any Proust-reading cyclist will feel a connection with Albertine.

She first appears in A La Recherche du Temps Perdu pushing her bike along the sea front at Balbec. Much later, confined in the narrator's apartment in Paris, she entertains him on the pianola. In both cases, the movement of her feet on the pedals, torment him with a reminder of the life she has - or dreams of - independently of him.

Cycling into work west along the north bank of the Clyde, I spend a fair few minutes pausing at traffic lights, where the path must rise up to road level at each river bridge. A perfect opportunity to take a photograph.