Oxford..

[WildGoose]

has anyone ever has the misfortune of trying to operate a motor vehicle in this town? please share your thoughts...

never in my life have i been to a place that is so frustrating to drive around, somebody has literally gone around and dug holes in the middle of random roads and cemented metal crowd control barriers into them

of course the maps dont show you these, and i was having to annotate my map as i drove around "cant get through there" "or here" etc, round and round we go, big black lines scribbled all over the place, cant turn left here for no apparent reason, cant turn right there...

its also full of other people in exactly the same boat, if you take a turning, you will be followed by three people who assume you know a short cut, shortly followed by a dead end road with a queue of 5 cars at the end, all swearing at themselves and each other, 7 point turning to get out, its infuriating

take a wrong turning, or miss a turning in oxford and you are sunk, you might as well take the nearest road out of town, and come back in from the other side, cos you are going to have to go all the way round the ring road anyway

all this congestion charging rubbish, forget it, simply do what oxford have done in every town, and the issues with motoring will disappear overnight

signs that say no motor vehicles, can safely be ignored in most towns, not in oxford oh no! they are backed up with a minimum of rising bollards, at worst more of those metal barriers, not at where you enter, but where you try to exit

there are no exceptions for loading there either, its like they refuse to accept that commercial vehicles will want to drive close to their destination, its full of hot and bothered delivery people, humping sack trolley full of stuff, red faced across town

shithole doesnt even begin to cover it.... i'd love to line every one on the council there for the past 10 years up against the wall

rant over, i thank you
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[Mister James]

When I first got my Fazer, Oxford was one of my first trips longer than 15 miles. I was meeting up with friends who urged me to take the coach with them, but I didn't listen - more fool me!

The one-way system is a nightmare, everything is poorly signposted, and the traffic was stupid - even for a bike! Just like you, I fell foul of more than one dead-end that wasn't obvious when you went in, and was impossible to get out of because every other tit and his dog had followed you in!
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>Soultrader Mister James, I bet you are a copper
>Bazza Wow. Eyes like a shithouse rat, you...

[Dazbo666]

Haven't been around Oxford for some years, (lived outside Wallingford/Abingdon for a short while during my teens), but after reading this thread, it looks like I'm better off.
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1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
Word of the day : DILLIGAF

[Whosthedaddy]

Visited my sister a couple of times, she lived in a small village on Brize Nortons door step (Black Bourton), thankfully I only had to use the Oxford ring road.

Oxford is not car friendly.
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Silver]

I didn't read all of your post, but I feel I know what it is says...

The simple answer is...
Don't.

I live 10 miles from Oxford and avoid the place at all costs. The driving itself is not too bad when you know your way round (and which roads to avoid) but parking is a joke at the best of times. You can't even park on a Fri/Sat night and you might think getting a taxi would be a viable solution until you walk round in the lashing rain for an hour (looking for one) and then get told it'll be £40 to get you home.

[Kickstart]

Hi

pOxford has a hideous reputation. Just let the council wallow in the mess they have created with businesses screwed up due to no customers.

There is good parking. If you work for the council.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[cagiva gezzer]

It's got a funky ring-road for a reason.
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"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[daz|n00by]

Ive got to work right in the town centre for a week or two at the end of this month, i,m dreading getting to the surgery and having to get tools and materials to the job.


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"Its Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away!!!!!!" "Lifes a bitch and then you Die"
"I`m a tool, one with just enough intelligence to know it, just enough spirit to resent it...but not enough backbone to do anything about it. " Siggi 2006 pure class.

[Major_Grooves]

Yeah I live in Oxford and love it!

re: parking - we always managed to get the car parked close to town when we go in at night. Admitedly it's not obvious if you don't know where to go. Parking for bikes is quite good though.

If this is how Oxford is 'screwed up with no customers' then I expect most towns would like to be similarly screwed up. Seems to have a very vibrant and busy town centre.

The town centre roads are screwy. I once tried my old GPS there and it didn't have a clue. Not car friendly. I can't see me bothering with one while I live in Oxford. The ring road is very busy and I end up filtering half the way to work. Wouldn't fancy it in a car.
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About me|@Major_Grooves|My company|Digg|Flickr

[Kickstart]

[Silver]

[ncrn]

i live near oxford, carterton, near witney, just down the a40 from oxford, for work i sometimes have to ride to botley (once a week usually) getting there is alright, but i have never been brave enough to ride any further than that, because ive taken the bus in and i know what the roads are like

basically never drive through oxford, if you have to get into the center try take a bus in, but if you need to drive/ride there get a park and ride, you can get a bus to anywhere in oxford, the bus system is good in there during the day.

there is a ringroad there to avoid driving through, but i find that confusing also

[killa]

[Trixie]

I worked in Oxford centre many moons ago and it was a nightmare to drive.

I did my CBT when I lived in Reading, and for some reason I was shipped off to Oxford for the day to do it, so that was interesting. A brand new rider on a bike I wasn't used to riding round roads I wasn't used to!

Don't get me wrong, Oxford is nice; I like it, but it's probably as much of a nightmare as Reading to drive round these days.
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Dead nobodies in company cars...

[Luke_Retrofly]

Hi
Try branstaple in north devon, the ring road goes right through the middle of the town

Luke
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Flounced - Long overdue
Fuck you bitch I'm in the top 10 list I can do the what the fuck I want!

[Silver]

[Whosthedaddy]

My brother-in-law (in the RAF) calls it 'Cartoontown' as the people living there are a bit simple
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[ncrn]

[ncrn]