Tour de France
Jul. 8th, 2014 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackI successfully cycled down to near the botanic gardens in the hope that it would be a little bit quieter than the centre of town, and waited ten minutes or so to see scores of cyclists come past.
It's lovely to see people cycling without constantly having to stop for traffic jams and traffic lights.
It occurred to me how useful it would be if there was a website or app that showed where the crowds were busiest, both for individual people (so they could go to the quiet bit) and for the city as a whole (because people would clog up the busy bits less).
My natural inclination is to say "why would I care to see 10 seconds of cycling". After all, almost everything you get a better view of on TV than by being there.
But I've been trying to err on the side of doing more things, and not defaulting to opting out. I think my cynicism is a defence mechanism against being embarrassed if I like something but then people devalue it, whereas it's better to just not care if people think that.
It felt companionable to know that people I knew where watching the same thing in Parkers Piece, in King's Parade, in Trumpingdon road, in Shelford, and all the way in London.
It's lovely to see people cycling without constantly having to stop for traffic jams and traffic lights.
It occurred to me how useful it would be if there was a website or app that showed where the crowds were busiest, both for individual people (so they could go to the quiet bit) and for the city as a whole (because people would clog up the busy bits less).
My natural inclination is to say "why would I care to see 10 seconds of cycling". After all, almost everything you get a better view of on TV than by being there.
But I've been trying to err on the side of doing more things, and not defaulting to opting out. I think my cynicism is a defence mechanism against being embarrassed if I like something but then people devalue it, whereas it's better to just not care if people think that.
It felt companionable to know that people I knew where watching the same thing in Parkers Piece, in King's Parade, in Trumpingdon road, in Shelford, and all the way in London.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-08 11:12 am (UTC)(Also, I feel Cambridge is greatly improved by banning motorcars from the centre, just as Mill Road is greatly improved by the exclusion imposed for the Winter Fair. More of this sort of thing.)