Petrol Panic and Stocking up on Inner Tubes

As I was cycling out to Chinnor yesterday, I cycled past a traffic jam of cars queuing up for the petrol station. I couldn’t help feeling a little smug as I cycled past the long line of cars, it was a little like passing a Ferrari stuck in a traffic jam. Not only was I not in a traffic jam, but I wasn’t having to spend £50 for a tank of petrol to get to work.

My smugness at the petrol panic, slightly evaporated as I soon realised that I would soon be needing my car to drive 200 miles to a cycle race in the Yorkshire Dales this weekend.

It is wonderful to be able to rely on the bike for getting around town, but for getting to cycle races, you can’t beat the old motor car. I’m sure there’s an irony in there somewhere. But, for the moment, I will stick to enjoying the relative cost of petrol and inner tubes.

I somehow don’t fear that the country is going to grind to a halt as petrol supplies run out. But, we seem to enjoy a little panic about something every now and then.

But, even if the country did run out of petrol, I wouldn’t mind so much. Yes, I wouldn’t be able to cycle races so easily, but in the old days, people would just take the train, cycle 100 miles and sleep under trees; the days when men were men, and a motor car was a rich man’s toy. Sometimes, it’s not so bad for people to face different circumstances. Imagine roads without cars, people might actually find that cycling two miles into town is really quite fun and pleasant.

A very popular slogan at the moment is the old world war two slogan ’Keep calm and carry on’. In the second world war, petrol was only allowed for essential vehicles, the rest of the population still managed to get around. , although, If the keep calm…’ motto had not been done to death already, I would suggest

‘Keep calm and get on your bike‘ would be a very good motto for a petrol panic Britain.

One thing that sticks in the mind is my old landlord, he used to always drive the 1.5 miles to work through the centre of Oxford. Then he lost his automatic right to a car parking space. He had to find other form of transport. He bought a bike, and loved cycling to work. It got him fitter, it was quicker to work and it saved him money. He soon took to cycling all over the city. A few days without petrol, might have some very positive upsides.

I’m off to queue up for some inner tubes. Hopefully the weather, will keep fine for the Circuit of the Dales on Sunday.

I do always keep a good stock of inner tubes, you never know when you’re going to a rash of punctures. At least it’s not a fire hazard to keep a jerry car of rubber tubes.