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Cyclist in canal


Ray T

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14 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

@Kendorr that is great news, i learned to canoe in my youth with Scouts in Elland basin so have been in several times doing capsize drill and eskimo rolls. I now don’t have to submerge again as i’m already a proper boater 👍😁

I think you have to fall in once from each mode of transport to be fully qualified.

 

I've only fallen in off a boat once in forty years. Did it properly though -- on Xmas day, after a pub session, *through* the ice... 😞

 

Never fallen into the cut from a car, train or plane though -- must try harder... 😉

Edited by IanD
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2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Having clipped a pipe bridge that was lower than i thought it was i’d disagree :) 

 

Only time i’ve come close to going in was avoiding a puddle by skirting it on the cut side rather than the hedge side and my tyre slid off the path edge. Unfortunately my wife was with me on this occasion and will mention it at least twice if i head off to cycle the towpath to this day. The incident was at least 20 years ago :( 

Maybe if you had walked through the bridge you would have been OK

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Never mind about all that.  Sad story.   But David Schweizer has invented a very useful new word.  HYPOCRACY   This  obviously means 'inadequate government with overtones of its homophone'.     A perfect description of the present regime .  Now move it to the politics section B)

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2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Having clipped a pipe bridge that was lower than i thought it was i’d disagree :) 

 

Only time i’ve come close to going in was avoiding a puddle by skirting it on the cut side rather than the hedge side and my tyre slid off the path edge. Unfortunately my wife was with me on this occasion and will mention it at least twice if i head off to cycle the towpath to this day. The incident was at least 20 years ago :( 

I now get "Don't fall in!" every time I go out for a ride...

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3 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Whilst I have the greatest sympathy for the gentleman and his family, I have never really understood how so many cyclists manage to fall into the canal, unless it is due to careless, reckless or unobservant riding. As already mentioned towpaths are often narrow with obstructions, so why do cyclists fail to take these factors into account when using the towpath. Of course there are the head down and pedal like hell merchants who are destined to cause themselves (or someone else!) serious injury, but I am not a particularly fast or adventurous cyclist, and always slow right down when any potential hazard presents itself (also have a bell and loud voice!) In more than fifty years of being associated with the canals, I have never managed to cycle into, or fall off a bike, into the canal.

 

I fell in once, perhaps I may qualify for the 'reckless' label?  My cycle commute was a shade over 20 miles one way, a bit of road, and then mostly Thames towpath and Basingstoke Canal.  To avoid as much road as possible, I found a link up along the River Wey, but it could be very muddy.  No problem with knobby mountain bike tyres, but i didn't fancy the drag of such tyres for the other ~19 miles.  So I took on my chances on slicks, and one day it caught up with me.   Sideways, and then backwards slip into the river.  No damage done.

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On 12/01/2022 at 16:35, Kendorr said:

Having been a boater for just over 7 years, I've often joked about not being a fully fledged boater because I've never fallen in.

 

Last year I stopped for a few days on the Peak Forest canal and had a couple of days cycling. One of these rides took me back into Macclesfield along the towpath. When I went under a particular bridge, I remembered from a few days earlier that the towpath was closed, so turned and headed back through the bridge. Lucky I had my helmet on because this bridge had some extra brick pieces jutting out by about 4 inch, they are probably there for added strength. Anyway, these bits follow the shape of the bridge, have been rendered over and painted to blend in. I rode through and gave one of these invisible protrusions a glancing blow with my head which knocked me off balance and over I went into the canal. I think had I not been wearing the helmet, the knock to my head would have been much worse. Luckily, the canal was only about 5 foot deep and I was able to stand up, push my bike out and climb out myself - and my bike came out cleaner than when it went in.

 

So, am I now a fully fledged boater? 🙂

Had you not been wearing your helmet Your head would have been an inch lower and you would not have hit the brick, Classic case of the helmet causing the accident.

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7 minutes ago, rasputin said:

Had you not been wearing your helmet Your head would have been an inch lower and you would not have hit the brick, Classic case of the helmet causing the accident.

Or maybe he'd still have hit it and the injury could have been a lot worse, as he said. No way to tell without analysing a video of the accident... 😉

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1 hour ago, rasputin said:
2 hours ago, IanD said:

No way to tell without analysing a video of the accident... 😉

exactly, so no way of saying the helmet saved him.

 

I'm not intending going back through Macclesfield this year, and next year I'm considering  a trip across The Wash, but maybe in 2024 I'll get back and ride through the bridge again, only this time I'll set up a video camera and leave my helmet off, then we'll be able to analyse things more closely.

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11 minutes ago, Kendorr said:

 

I'm not intending going back through Macclesfield this year, and next year I'm considering  a trip across The Wash, but maybe in 2024 I'll get back and ride through the bridge again, only this time I'll set up a video camera and leave my helmet off, then we'll be able to analyse things more closely.

Dismount when going under a bridge.

Safer for everyone.

👍 

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I witnessed a completely mad cycle in canal incident a couple of years ago. Limehouse cut towpath side. The canal path is about a metre above water. Egress ladders every couple of hundred feet. 

 

I was moored up with a Dutch Tjalk about 15ft in front of me. Ladder between the boats. 

 

Cyclist came bombing along at really quite a high speed probably getting on for 20mph. There was a pedestrian going same direction as him so he ding ding dinged her but she did not alter her course. 

 

Realising he was going to collide he dropped the bike and somersaulted into the cut narrowly missing the rudder blade of the Tjalk. 

 

Submerged completely he then surfaced and climbed up the ladder with phone in one hand. 

 

Apologised to the pedestrian lady and walked back the way he came, with the bike. 

 

It was all a bit too silly but quite impressive to watch. 

 

 

Cyclists need to be able to stop when pedestrians do not behave as expected. And more pedestrians on towpath need to completely ignore cyclists. 

 

Time trialling has no place on towpaths. Go somewhere else. 

 

I was told the problem is partly due to modern smartphone apps which people upload data to. 

 

It's likely that the type of people uploading the data are those who are into competitive cycling or commuting so the average speed of travel is biased towards those who are moving unacceptably fast. 

 

People just out for a slow jaunt probably don't add their data to the great big cloud machine. 

 

Makes sense. 

 

 

Edited by magnetman
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  • 4 months later...
7 hours ago, wastenben1 said:

What's up everyone? What's going on these days? My first visit. Thanks for having me join the community. As a hobby, I enjoy exploring new items in the world and trying to improve myself. Plz tell me good outfits for trip. Does anyone have any recommendations with previous experiences?

 

This is very cryptic and unless you explain yourself, so we understand what you are talking about this topic is likely to descend into aspersions about alcohol and jokes at your expense. What is this trip, and what is the "outfit" you are asking about?

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52 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

This is very cryptic and unless you explain yourself, so we understand what you are talking about this topic is likely to descend into aspersions about alcohol and jokes at your expense. What is this trip, and what is the "outfit" you are asking about?

 

 

Or, it could just be :

 

 

 

 

Spam Can.jpg

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13 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

It’s just a bot or shill account

Oh, I thought it was someone with no English, so I suppose we should report it and have the account expunged?

Edited by LadyG
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9 hours ago, wastenben1 said:

Spam or ham?....

I'll attempt to answer your questions.

1 What's up everyone?

For most people, Shetland is pretty much up, though if you already live there perhaps Greenland is upper.

2 What's going on these days?

A group of billionaire kleptocrats is making a final push to secure the wealth available on the planet. If you read Grapes Of Wrath and thought that was bad, imagine the same with a dash of The Road.

3 Does anyone have any recommendations with previous experiences?

Buy a good pair of boots since you'll probably be doing a lot of walking once industrial society collapses

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1 hour ago, Puffling said:

1 What's up everyone?

For most people, Shetland is pretty much up, though if you already live there perhaps Greenland is upper.

Unless you are using a proper map, then Antarctica is up.

Reversed_Earth_map_1000x500.jpg.ad8b130b7591c560bf89429ff5f3b11a.jpg

By Poulpy, from a work by jimht at shaw dot ca, modified by Rodrigocd - self-made, from Image:Earthmap1000x500compac.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3692020

 

1 hour ago, Puffling said:

2 What's going on these days?

A group of billionaire kleptocrats is making a final push to secure the wealth available on the planet. If you read Grapes Of Wrath and thought that was bad, imagine the same with a dash of The Road.

3 Does anyone have any recommendations with previous experiences?

Buy a good pair of boots since you'll probably be doing a lot of walking once industrial society collapses

It will be fun watching the billionaire kleptocrats leaving on their rockets for Mars when they are through though.

In this map, heaven is up.

929px-Hereford-Karte.jpg.9b5790517e3f489a447ca3fbb01f5294.jpg

By Unknown author - unesco.org.uk, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41201813

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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