This weekend...

[Cab]

...sees the return of most of the students to Cambridge. It is therefore the start of the 'silly season'.

You know the kind of thing... Thousands upon thousands of students suddenly take to the road on bicycles. They'll be descending on the city en masse, and by Sunday/Monday every motorist in town will be fed up to the back teeth with them.

It isn't that the majority are bad cyclitst, in fact I'd say they're no worse than most other inexperienced cyclists. Its more the sheer rise in how many cyclists there are. Todays 'score' of how many cyclists I overtook on the way to work was 15, next week it'll be 25 per trip, minimum.

Now that kind of annual increase makes it look like theres a heck of a lot of incompetent cyclists on the road, and thats true, there are, but proportionally there isn't really an increase. But there is a clear increase in how badly cyclists here get treated by motorists, usually it gets progressively worse until Christmas (partly 'cos of cyclists with no lights as the nights draw in).

So if it seems like I start moaning lots, you know why.

 

[magnatom]

This might be a good time to go on holiday!


(Notice I was unclear if Cab should go on holiday, or we should, to get away from Cabs moaning. That takes skill that does

 

[domtyler]

Would you rather they all stuck to driving [single occupied] cars, Daddies 4 litre X5 for example?

 

[Cab]

Would you rather they all stuck to driving [single occupied] cars, Daddies 4 litre X5 for example?

We'll have enough of that this weekend. In fact, its well known as a weekend to avoid the city if you possibly can

I'm not bothered so much by the cyclists as the response from motorists to the increase. I think its great that this city has so many bikes, but it can get pretty harrowing on our roads here at this time of year.

 

[Cab]

(Notice I was unclear if Cab should go on holiday, or we should, to get away from Cabs moaning. That takes skill that does

Clever... Almost too clever...

 

[Maz]

...So if it seems like I start moaning lots, you know why.

Cab? Moan? Never!
I drive a lot when I'm in Cambridge visiting family...those students do tend to weave around a bit on Riverside down by the Cam, don't they?!
Much better than driving, though.

 

[Cab]

Cab? Moan? Never!
I drive a lot when I'm in Cambridge visiting family...those students do tend to weave around a bit on Riverside down by the Cam, don't they?!

Ahh, yes, Riverside

I don't mind your typical cyclist down there, but I do find it a little frightening when I encounter the cyclists out coaching the rowers. You must have seen them, they're watching the river rather than the road, they're often on the wrong side of the road, and they've sometimes even got a megaphone in one hand.

At the moment, theres a building site down there, they're building a ped/cycling bridge from the old factory site over to where the new flats are (along by the museum, behind Tescos), so the road is closed and theres a temporary shared use bit. Not as bad as it might be, but still, it ain't going to be fun with all the other cyclists back.

 

[trustysteed]

more importantly, this is the start of the great season where loads of fresh 18yr old totty moves into your respective areas!

 

[GrahamG]

more importantly, this is the start of the great season where loads of fresh 18yr old totty moves into your respective areas!

That's what I'd be thinking - although Ox/bridge really pale in comparison to other university towns IMHO

 

[fossyant]

There is the plus side

 

[Cab]

Well, yes, you can view it as an opportunity for letchery. Although to be honest I found most fresher girls quite extraordinarily dull and insipid even when I was a fresher myself. Give me a lass in her mid twenties any day.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

hardly anyone had a bike in my student days. possibly something to do with sheffield having hills everywhere.

 

[gambatte]

and now theres bikes all over Sheff

 

[Morrisette]

Have to say I didn't think Cambridge was too bad today - mind you I am going out of town up Arbury Road at 7.45am so maybe not too many freshers are up and about as early as that!

The thing that's peeing me off about Cam at the moment is the amount of glass on the road, there is loads, and it stays there for weeks on end. Now it's starting to get dark it'll be even worse, cos you can't see it to avoid it.....

 

[Cab]

The thing that's peeing me off about Cam at the moment is the amount of glass on the road, there is loads, and it stays there for weeks on end. Now it's starting to get dark it'll be even worse, cos you can't see it to avoid it.....

Terrible, isn't it? Made worse by the fact that getting the City Council/Highways people here to do anything about it is like herding cats.