THE boss of Clydebank landmark eatery McMonalges has said he won’t stop cycling despite being by hit by a car for the fourth time in four years.

Grandad John McMonagle hopped back on his bike just days after being injured in a Cardross Road crash and plans to join a cycling club to maintain his favourite hobby.

But the 56-year-old has called on drivers, and cyclists, to be more careful and use their “common sense”, for the safety of all road users.

John, who owns McMonagle’s fish and chip shop, was just one mile from his home nearing the completion of a 50-mile spin when he was hit on May 24.

He was thrown from his bike as the impact of the crash separated him from the clips he uses to secure himself to the bicycle and he was knocked unconscious. Ambulance crews rushed him to hospital, where he was kept overnight for observation.

His bike has been wrecked as a result of the crash.

John said: “I’ve got bruising on my back and arm and my head and neck are sore because you’re 56, if you were 26 maybe your body could take it but your bones are older.

“But these guys get up and do it on the Tour de France so you’ve got to keep going.”

He added: “I’m a granddad now and that puts it in a different perspective. Are we genuinely believing that you shouldn’t cycle because you’re taking your life in your hands? If you apply that theory to it, nobody would cycle.”

Two years prior to last Wednesday’s accident, John was left with serious head injuries and was forced to take time off his beloved work at the canal-based chippy after he flipped over his handle bars, causing him to hit his head on the kerb after a vehicle drove too close to him.

Before that he was involved in a multiple vehicle pile-up on the A82 after a driver failed to notice him until the last minute and pulled into a lane full of traffic to avoid hitting the businessman. But he was hit anyway. John recalls a helicopter having to land in the road to airlift some of the other injured victims to hospital.

And last year, John was thrown from his bike as he was travelling down hill.

Yet, the father-of-two is still determined to take on his long-haul journeys and he is heading to the Alps next month to take on his latest two-wheeled challenge, having already completed tours in Majorca and Mount Teide in Tenerife.

Speaking about the local roads, he said he wishes cyclists and drivers alike would be more careful and use their “common sense”.

He added: “I believe that all cyclists should be diverted off the 70mph roads and put through Old Kilpatrick and Bowling on the A82, for example.

“I know cars drive at 70 mph and you’ve got a cyclist going up at 10mph, but diverting cyclists removes the danger for everybody.

“But my granddaughter is seven months old and I think by the time she’s 56 you could ask the same question of how to sort it. All the education in the world isn’t going to educate people – oil and water don’t mix.”

Gordon Dick, the chair of Lomond Roads Cycling Club, admits cyclists are not always in the right, but the majority of accidents would be avoided if drivers took extra time to make sure the road was safe.

He said: “We try to live in as much harmony as we can with motorists. It’s very seldom our group goes by a motorist without a communication and it’s generally not positive but I understand some cyclists don’t advocate for it – but we don’t promote that.

“John’s accident, and others, aren’t deliberate but could be avoided by taking a few extra seconds to determine who else is using the road.”

Following the incident on May 24, a 28-year-old man was reported to the procurator fiscal for alleged careless driving.