As an outsider who has has visited London a couple of times: yes, it is obviously an infrastructure thing. I wouldn't dream of cycling on the streets of London;

As an outsider who has has visited London a couple of times: yes, it is obviously an infrastructure thing. I wouldn't dream of cycling on the streets of London; I don't have a death wish. (I'm in Sweden. Most of the time there's dedicated bike lanes/roads, but sometimes in the inner city parts we have to share the roads with cars.) I still think your fellow cyclists are being silly/immature. You should lobby for more isolation of car/bike traffic. However... Rejecting this kind of safety spray out of political reasons would be like rejecting bike helmets out of political reasons. You're wearing it to protect yourself...