What to do about aggressive cyclists

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

I have a general disinterest in people getting killed in accidents. It doesn't bother me. Be it bikes, cars, aircraft, people drowning or whatever. I am not concerned by these things happening

...

If their removal from towpaths killed a thousand innocent children I would not be remotely bothered. 

[Mike Hurley]

 

This is what it is like.

 

[Iain_S]

7 hours ago, magnetman said:

(snip)

There is never a situation where a cyclist needs to be on a towpath. There will be other routes for them. 

(snip)

Nobody ever needs to ride a bike on a towpath. Everyone needs access to safe and pleasant outdoor environment for light exercise such as walking. 

 

 

I am a volunteer locky on the East side of the Forth and Clyde canal. 
The locks divide into two flights. One is 14 locks on a three mile stretch. The other is 4 locks over about two miles and is about 5 miles from the first flight. We use bikes. What would you suggest as an alternative, bearing in mind that boats travel a bit faster than walking pace?

 

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

I am a volunteer locky on the East side of the Forth and Clyde canal. 
The locks divide into two flights. One is 14 locks on a three mile stretch. The other is 4 locks over about two miles and is about 5 miles from the first flight. We use bikes. What would you suggest as an alternative, bearing in mind that boats travel a bit faster than walking pace?

 

 

Jetskis ... 

[magnetman]

Devizes flight they used quad "bikes"(non sequitur) when we went there in 2001 and 2002. I would allow this for lock flights. Not ideal but it does make sense. 

 

I'm rather surprised someone would use a pedal cycle for such a hilly job.

 

[Mike Hurley]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Devizes flight they used quad "bikes"(non sequitur) when we went there in 2001 and 2002. I would allow this for lock flights. Not ideal but it does make sense. 

 

I'm rather surprised someone would use a pedal cycle for such a hilly job.

 

Quad bikes in use at Caen Hill last week

[Iain_S]

11 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Devizes flight they used quad "bikes"(non sequitur) when we went there in 2001 and 2002. I would allow this for lock flights. Not ideal but it does make sense. 

 

I'm rather surprised someone would use a pedal cycle for such a hilly job.

 

Quad cycles  are surely more of a risk to pedestrians than bicycles.

It’s not that hilly, really, and we get a break from cycling after each small hill 

[magnetman]

3 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

Quad cycles  are surely more of a risk to pedestrians than bicycles.

It’s not that hilly, really, and we get a break from cycling after each small hill 

I'm glad you put the smiley at the end or I might have taken the first few words seriously. 

 

 

[Jerra]

51 minutes ago, Iain_S said:

I am a volunteer locky on the East side of the Forth and Clyde canal. 
The locks divide into two flights. One is 14 locks on a three mile stretch. The other is 4 locks over about two miles and is about 5 miles from the first flight. We use bikes. What would you suggest as an alternative, bearing in mind that boats travel a bit faster than walking pace?

 

That they be allowed to work the locks themselves without the problem of Volockies.

37 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

Quad bikes in use at Caen Hill last week

I thought motorised vehicles weren't allowed on towpaths.   Is this a case of do as we say not as we do?

[ditchcrawler]

7 minutes ago, Jerra said:

 

I thought motorised vehicles weren't allowed on towpaths.   Is this a case of do as we say not as we do?

I think the wording is no unauthorised motor vehicles, I would suspect a CRT quad was authorised. They have been using it for years

[haggis]

8 minutes ago, Jerra said:

That they be allowed to work the locks themselves without the problem of Volockies.

 

This is in Scotland though where boaters are not considered capable of working locks 😀

[LadyG]

8 minutes ago, haggis said:

This is in Scotland though where boaters are not considered capable of working locks 😀

Does this mean they are maintained so normal people can use them without difficulty?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

55 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

Quad bikes in use at Caen Hill last week

My memory of the Caen Hill quad bike is the a lazy sod riding it who locks and unlocks the flight. 
Otherwise I don’t think the Lockies use a quad ? Do they?


 

[LadyG]

On 17/04/2023 at 14:54, LadyG said:

As title, walking on the towpath with windlass in one hand and Calder and Hebble spike in the other.

An adult came past, on the inside, with respect to my boat, and essentially told me to get out of the way, followed by two others, with no comment but they were fairly close and fairly fast. I was annoyed so threw my spike on the ground at the last one, he's got annoyed. He told me they were ringing a bell "for ages". 

Now I did not hear any bell, it was quite windy, but regardless, I consider that a pedestrian has the right of way over these cyclists. They could easily have slowed down, or diverted from the towpath but they did not. They could see me, it must be obvious I can't see them.

I'm going to log this with CRT as it's time they did something about it.

 

Had a very nice email from CRT aparently there are signs asking them to use two pings I've not seen any signs, but I'm not going to complain that there are not enough signs!

[Jerra]

19 minutes ago, haggis said:

This is in Scotland though where boaters are not considered capable of working locks 😀

I did know that, but I was asked for an alternative to using a quad.  The answer seemed simple and cheap.

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, Goliath said:

My memory of the Caen Hill quad bike is the a lazy sod riding it who locks and unlocks the flight. 
Otherwise I don’t think the Lockies use a quad ? Do they?


 

The same use to happen at Atherstone but no locking up at night 

[Jerra]

1 minute ago, LadyG said:

Had a very nice email from CRT aparently there are signs asking them to use two pings I've not seen any signs, but I'm not going to complain that there are not enough signs!

Two pings are no use when you are losing your hearing.  A voice can politely ask, at the required decibels and virtually every bike has one.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Just now, LadyG said:

Had a very nice email from CRT aparently there are signs asking them to use two pings I've not seen any signs, but I'm not going to complain that there are not enough signs!

 
i thought it was a “ting ting” or have I heard wrong?

 
you’ll never hear the 3rd ping, by then you’ll be brown bread. 

[magnetman]

It is bad psychology to give the impression that because someone makes a noise you need to get out of their way on a footpath.

 

Maybe walkers should be given bells they can ring to indicate that they do not wish to give way. 

 

There could be a list of how many pings or tings they give. 

 

There could be a capitalisation function using extra volume. 

 

PING 

FOAD

TINGTINGTING splosh

[LadyG]

6 minutes ago, Jerra said:

Two pings are no use when you are losing your hearing.  A voice can politely ask, at the required decibels and virtually every bike has one.

In not losing my hearing though, I can hardly sleep through the dawn chorus, and last night Fernando had some worry which required me to find him in the undergrowth from a distance of about twenty five yards . I assumed he was stuck up in a tree, but he wasn't.

Edited April 18, 2023 by LadyG

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The same use to happen at Atherstone but no locking up at night 

Quads on the Atherstone flight ?

what ever next

Quads at Glascote?

3 minutes ago, magnetman said:

It is bad psychology to give the impression that because someone makes a noise you need to get out of their way on a footpath.

 

Maybe walkers should be given bells they can ring to indicate that they do not wish to give way. 

 

There could be a list of how many pings or tings they give. 

 

There could be a capitalisation function using extra volume. 

 

PING 

FOAD

TINGTINGTING splosh

I have seen cyclists with a plastic stick sticking out with a high viz bit of thing on the end to ward off those vehicles passing too closely. 
as a walker one could walk with a hi viz fist out stretched at cyclist head height. 
 

[Momac]

 

There are almost certainly more cyclists than boaters 

So perhaps C&RT should do what they usually do and hold  a consultation including cyclists in order to see who should have priority in any cycling/boater situation.

The result could be a compromise where  the mooring of boats should be prohibited at any location where a cyclists often gain access. While other areas could prohibit cycling and  allow mooring.

Problem solved.

 

 

[magnetman]

I lost my lifering so went out with my long boat hook to see if I could retrieve it. 

[ditchcrawler]

11 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Quads on the Atherstone flight ?

what ever next

  

Now there is no "Lock Keeper" there is no quad 

[Ianws]

Back to bike on towpaths. No problem as long as they are ridden slowly and considerately, but a lot of people won't do that. Also, pretty impossible to enforce any restrictions. It feels like the genie is out of the bottle and ain't being put back. All you can to is try your best to be aware of what's around you on the towpath and keep safe as best you can. Not great and more incidents will happen.