I ride my bike all over the little island of Gozo and love the challenging steep climbs and fast descents and the wonderful scenery all around.

The only downside to this healthy pleasure (other than the occasional appalling road surface) is the constant belch of diesel particulate smoke from badly-maintained cars.

The irony is that on the steepest hills – out of Ħondoq, or from Ramla to Xagħra, for example – the worst emissions, when struggling vehicles have to shift down a gear or two, coincide with those moments when I’m gulping in the greatest volumes of air!

Such disgusting emissions are the subject of great debate at the moment and surely, on these crowded islands, it must be of even greater importance to control them, for the health of everyone, not just the odd cyclist struggling up hills.