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From our correspondent in Uruguay

From Newsletter 84 (June/July 2009)

Tim Burford visited Uruguay last December and discovered that there's quite a lot of relatively short-distance cycling there, as well as a few lycra-clad cycling clubs occasionally glimpsed in the distance. But few facilities are provided for cyclists and where they are they're usually not thought through very well (sound familiar?).

There's a lot of new cycle parking all over Melo, especially outside schools - nice try, but it's all wheelbenders and they're too close together.

Unusual shelters over the cycle track beside Ruta 3 just west of Trinidad.

No consideration for cyclists at this road closure in Punta del Este.

Montevideo's ramblas or waterfront highway stretch for 22km; there's a segregated cycle track only on the busiest sections (very popular on a sunny Sunday afternoon).

Builders in Uruguay are no different to those in Cambridge - blocking the cycle track because it would just never occur to them to do anything else.

Cycle and scooter parking at Paysandú hospital - the attendant places cardboard on scooter (not cycle) seats to stop them cooking in the sun (Boxing Day, and it's in the mid- to high thirties Celsius).

'If they don't see you, you don't exist' - poster on a bus stop opposite Montevideo city hall. In two months I didn’t once seen a bike with lights. It doesn't seem to matter.

There's a remarkable amount of cycling in Montevideo, although there's almost no cycle parking. Drivers are pretty mellow (especially compared to Argentina!) and the roads are safe.