WITH the cacophony of rush hour motorway traffic echoing around me, I throw a leg over the saddle.

As the first journalist to cycle across the long-awaited £1.3 million project to complete the "Bridge to Nowhere" over the M8 in Glasgow, there's a lot riding on this - pardon the pun.

I don't want to face plant in front of the dignitaries gathered below, never mind the countless hotel guests and office workers who have a bird's eye view from nearby buildings.

But I needn't worry on that count. The spiralling ramp up from Anderston is easily negotiable without having to resort to granny gears, while the newly laid asphalt is as smooth as baby's bottom, gripping my tyres with reassuring hold.

Legs pumping like pistons, I reach full flight and soar over the gridlocked cars and lorries on the M8 below, gliding effortlessly down the other side onto Waterloo Street. Not bad: a little bit of Copenhagen chic right here in Glasgow.

A blot on the surrounding landscape since the late 1960s, when it was left half-built as a link to a shopping centre that never materialised, the newly completed bridge will now provide a main artery for cyclists and pedestrians travelling from the west end to Central Station.

Part of National Cycle Network route NCN756 it links with new lanes, segregated from motor traffic, on Waterloo Street. At the other end it joins to bike paths connecting to Kelvingrove Park.

Sustainable transport charity Sustrans is behind the project, part of £3m being spent on infrastructure developments in the city, which is supported by cash from the National Lottery, Scottish Government, SPT and Glasgow City Council.

Speaking at the official unveiling Councillor Frank McAveety, Glasgow's "cycling tsar" reiterated his aim to lobby for further segregated cycle lanes to be introduced across the city, a view point echoed by fellow councillor Archie Graham, executive member for the Commonwealth Games.

"We are putting in segregated cycle lanes in other parts of Glasgow too, places like London Road and the route out to Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails," said Councillor Graham. "People feel a lot safer if they are segregated from the buses, lorries and all the other motor vehicles. That is the way forward for us and we are going to be putting in a host of segregated cycle lanes over the coming months and years.

Dependent on funding from Sustrans and the Big Lottery, he said, Glasgow City Council will endeavour to "put in another few miles of segregated cycle lanes every couple of years until we have the entire city covered".

"It's a big ask to expect people to cycle along the main roads in the city centre where there is lots of buses and lorries," he added. "I definitely believe providing segregated lanes will result in a huge increase in the number of people who are happy to cycle. We are heading in the right direction to become a city where cyclists are in the majority rather than the minority."

Which is sweet music to my ears. One of the most common things I hear from people is that they would love to cycle but are too scared to do so on the busy city roads.

But while segregated routes will provide a huge boost for our nation's burgeoning cycling population, my own hope is to ultimately see better mutual respect among all road users - although, some days, that seems about as likely as pulling up at an advanced stop line next to a pair of unicorns on a tandem and trio of unicycling leprechauns.

I loathe the "them and us" dichotomy between cyclists and drivers. Indeed one of the biggest hurdles - and my own pet hate - is seeing those on bikes not obeying the Highway Code.

The other week I caught up with a fellow cyclist who had ridden through a red light and asked him why he did it. "I'm on a bike," he said, voice dripping with disdain.

In moments like that it feels like hitting a brick wall in terms of ever making progress to get beyond the #bloodycyclists tag that is banded about as a one size fits all. That's right mate, a bike. Not carte blanche to do whatever you please.

There's a cute meme doing the rounds that says: "Every time a cyclist jumps a red light, God kills a kitten." Maybe not. But it's worth noting it's not solely your own safety you are gambling with.

Forgive me if I sound a tad Pollyanna, but every day when we hit the roads - car drivers, cyclists, white van guys alike - we each share this in common: all of us are someone's daughter or son; a sister, brother, wife, husband, mother, father, best friend.

Remember that when you screech up next to a cyclist horn blaring or aggressively weave around pedestrians on your bike. As the great Sir Chris Hoy once sagely surmised: "At the end of the day, we are all just people trying to get somewhere."