tredford01

I'm now in the penultimate week of term (translation: one week to go before Easter break) and I was thinking how it has been, adapting to life in Manchester. For a start, there is the natives strange insistency on calling bread rolls "Barm Cakes". Putting aside bread related differences, there are other things that have been really strange. To totally further a stereotype, there is Wilmslow Road as it passes through Rusholme. Along the stretch known as Curry Mile, there is a definite hint of the sub-continent. The smell of curry, the traffic chaos, and the general atmosphere, all shout Asia. Then, before you know it, you are in utterly middle-class Didsbury, with its poulterers, fishmongers and provision merchants. I suppose the real difference is the diversity in everything. Edinburgh has diversity, but not like Manchester.

The other main difference that I've noticed, is the relationship that most Mancunians seem to have with their cars. The way that people would walk along a footpath in Edinburgh, is the way that Mancunians drive. It is not uncommon to have to dodge out of the way of a car as it mounts the pavement so that the owner can park and go to the ATM, or buy a hot-dog. It gets worse if you happen to want to cycle anywhere. Then you have to contend with the busses. There is this thing in Manchester called the 'bus wars'. Basically, in the name of free trade and capitalism, the bus service is highly unregulated. Therefore all of the bus companies in the city are engaged in trying to outdo each other in terms of cheap fares and frequency of service. Sounds good? It is not. The result is Oxford Roads status as the busiest bus route in the whole of Europe, and very lax standards in training and safety from the operators. One company was recently taken off the roads because one of their poorly trained drivers knocked a man out of a cherry-picker on a pavement. Even without that company, the standards of driving are very, very poor. A couple of days ago, I was cycling through Rusholme, and a bus stopped on my right hand side to let passengers off. As a result, I had to sit there, unable to move on, as all of the passengers tried to leave the bus and walk around me. No trained driver should act like that.

But to leave the rant behind, I have only one week and two assessments between me and a three week holiday. As usual, I have offered to do some volunteering work in the first week of the break, so I'm looking forward to that. I think it will be leafleting and other campaigning stuff for the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May. I should also, all going well, be embarking on a week long placement at the Scottish Executive, in the Scotland-Malawi Development Team.

Speaking of international issues, my blog has now had visitors from fourteen different countries. Most of it was sparked by my number one position on Yahoo! Search for the Cumbria train derailment, so I doubt it will mean repeat visitors, but the dots on my visitor map of the world are building up. Still no one from South America or Africa has visited, but hopefully it is just a matter of time!

Yesterday was a big shock. I took the train out to Falkirk so that I could cycle back to Edinburgh on the Union Canal towpath. I thought that it wouldn't be too bad. After all, the towpath is completely flat. My thinking this must have brought about an apathy towards planning. I neglected to check over my bike to make sure it was in a good state; I neglected to measure the actual distance of the route (30 miles); and I neglected to bring anything to eat.

In short I just stepped out the front door, cycled to the station, took the train to Falkirk, and didn't think about any of the practical things that I will always think of now. The biggest shock was the fact that 30 miles on a flat path is hard work. There are no places to freewheel, it's just constant pedalling for four hours straight!

I was absolutely exhausted when I got home. I'm only just recovering now. Anyway, at least I now know what to do before any other long rides - plan!