Recently I went on a fact-finding mission to Oxford.
Hoping to bump into Phillip Pullman, he who wrote all those wonderful books about magic, destiny triumph and adversity, so that I could discuss with him his uncomfortable appreciation of cyclists [Ed - see Pullman's 28 October 2021 tweet], I had to settle instead for a guided tour of the suburbs. This was OK. The city centre, with its proliferation of antique sandstone colleges and antique sandstone academics walking around and muttering to themselves in Latin, was far too hot and far too busy. I was happy not to join the throngs of tourists.
Instead I met up with my co-presenters of a podcast called Streets Ahead, Adam [Tranter] and Laura [Laker, Cycling Plus columnist]. For the last couple of years, we three have been podcasting regularly about active travel.
Laura and Adam are experts in the field (the former an acknowledged journalist in the field, the latter the Cycling and Walking Commissioner for the West Midlands). We had come to Oxford to see what was what.
The city has one of the highest rates of cycling in all of the UK. Cambridge has a little more, but Oxford is second.
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