Commuter cyclists urged to avoid Regent's Canal

[Tim Lewis]

Foe all those of us who have been mown down on the towpath:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20782950

 

Tim

[Lady Muck]

I wonder if anyone will listen though? It is so busy in town and now it costs squillions of pounds to get the bus or tube, bike ownership is exploding.

 

I don't mind the cyclists up here so much, there aren't as many, the path is really wide and cyclists tend to use the marsh paths, which are even wider and in better condition.

[mrsmelly]

Foe all those of us who have been mown down on the towpath:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20782950

 

Tim

 

Why are the powers that be AGAIN being pc and namby pamby. Ban the idiots.......if ya buy a vehicle use it on the roads where it belongs and leave tow paths to boaters, walkers etc.

 

Tim

[Lady Muck]

Please no, don't ban cyclists - especially us female boaters rely on our bikes to get back to our boats safely without being mugged when it is dark.

[mrsmelly]

Please no, don't ban cyclists - especially us female boaters rely on our bikes to get back to our boats safely without being mugged when it is dark.

 

You need to get back to Nottla, a site safer place to live and oodles of proper rivers and canals to live on. If the world had piles they would be in London. Drop an atomic bomb in the centre and it would do 50 pence worth of damage

 

Tim

[Tim Lewis]

You need to get back to Nottla, a site safer place to live and oodles of proper rivers and canals to live on. If the world had piles they would be in London. Drop an atomic bomb in the centre and it would do 50 pence worth of damage

 

Tim

 

Probably the most predictable post of the day :-)

 

Tim

[jenlyn]

Probably the most predictable post of the day :-)

 

Tim

Absolutely. Greenie!

[mrsmelly]

Absolutely. Greenie!

 

Glad to oblige you boys

 

Tim

[Jerra]

Please no, don't ban cyclists - especially us female boaters rely on our bikes to get back to our boats safely without being mugged when it is dark.

 

Does that imply it is impossible to be mugged if you are on a bike?

[Lady Muck]

[larkshall]

I find a length of piano wire strung across the path at neck height, sort of stops them quite well

[Lady Muck]

can someone msn me when we get to the post where someone says they use an air rifle? It can't be far away...

[mrsmelly]

can someone msn me when we get to the post where someone says they use an air rifle? It can't be far away...

 

Air rifle.......naaaaaaaaaah shotgun is mooocho more reliable

 

Tim

[Grace and Favour]

I find that speeding cyclists happen to catch a leg of my Zimmer in their rear wheels, with quite 'arresting' results

 

Slower, more courteous cyclists seem to have no such problems

[grey wolf]

Interesting that to stop cyclists speeding on the canal towpath they want to spend loads of money creating a cycle lane down the centre of the road .Whilst i am all in favour of more safe cycling routs rewarding morons rather than educating them to safe practice rankles a bit but i guess you are better off keeping all the morons in the same place LOL. Would cobbled surfaces help slow bikes down do you think.

[Derek R.]

There was broadcast a program on the 'box' over the so called 'war' between cyclists and vehicle users on our roads recently. Must admit I was so sickened by the attitudes put forth from the first five minutes - I switched off. I had already had enough experience of the burgeoning race of urban geurillas during a period of over twenty years of delivering.

 

One of the problems arising from the seemingly new generation of cyclists, is that given so much in the way of lanes and priveleges, they have become self appointed eco-warriors doing battle with the poisonous motorised vehicle. Making segregated lanes and prioritising road space for selected vehicles creates antipathy amongst road users. It also create congestion.

 

Towing paths should be havens away from wheeled traffic other than lock wheelers and maintenance vehicles. On the roads, cyclists would need to accept and respect that they are part and parcel of all road traffic without any such segregated and prioritised lanes. In doing so, not only would they get more respect from other road users, but they may be able to appreciate where roads in general could be safer for all through education and the acceptance that road safety is all generated between the ears.

 

The 'eco' has gone Ego.

 

I ride a bicycle when I need to, and during the sixties rode regularly from Wood Green to Regent's Park home to work - and yes, there was a lot of traffic even back then - nothing new. What is new are underpasses and far too many traffic signals which create grand prix driving. Take most away and traffic engages in blending more safely together and through any junction - less risk to all.

 

Mountain bikes - where's the mountain? Dayglo, Lycra, flashing led lights aimed to dazzle = aggression.

Edited December 20, 2012 by Derek R.

[Guest]

flashing led lights aimed to dazzle = aggression.

 

To be fair to them _ I appreciate these types making themselves much easier to see after dark than the idiots who ride around in the dark with poor or even worse no lighting at all.

[Machpoint005]

You can address the same criticism to mere pedestrians: surely we all have a duty to make ourselves more visible to the poor motorist with steamed-up windows and the radio turned up, who is trying to compose a text message?

[Guest]

You can address the same criticism to mere pedestrians: surely we all have a duty to make ourselves more visible to the poor motorist with steamed-up windows and the radio turned up, who is trying to compose a text message?

 

Sorry I don't understand your point _ I don't txt while driving, nor drive with steamed up windows and actually rarely have the radio on at all. But yes some pedestrians could indeed make themselves more visible especially if walking on a road with no footpath.

[Derek R.]

This is digressing from the strictly towpath behaviour of some cyclists, but our 'duty' whilst out and about is surely to use care and consideration to all others, regardless of whether we walk, ride or drive. Dressing up like Christmas trees and using daytime lights is only buck passing, creating a world in which ones responsibilities for being aware of others is being passed on to another through another not wearing or using so called safety paraphernalia. Lights are to be used during inclement weather and after lighting up time. The downside of using lights during daytime is that they can cause dazzle and 'camouflage' another hazard emerging.

 

So much of health and safety is in the creation of administration and legislation that feeds directly into the litigation courts - and there's only one winner in that lot.

[Guest]

This is digressing from the strictly towpath behaviour of some cyclists, but our 'duty' whilst out and about is surely to use care and consideration to all others, regardless of whether we walk, ride or drive. Dressing up like Christmas trees and using daytime lights is only buck passing, creating a world in which ones responsibilities for being aware of others is being passed on to another through another not wearing or using so called safety paraphernalia. Lights are to be used during inclement weather and after lighting up time. The downside of using lights during daytime is that they can cause dazzle and 'camouflage' another hazard emerging.

 

So much of health and safety is in the creation of administration and legislation that feeds directly into the litigation courts - and there's only one winner in that lot.

 

I don't think I said other wise did I?.

[Derek R.]

No you didn't, nor was my comment aimed at yours, only to point out that some cyclists do in fact set their led lights to point higher than would be expected and thereby cause dazzle.

[grey wolf]

Ditch the racing bikes with loads of gears for the old bone shaker bikes with one gear.Reduce city speed limits to 20 miles an hour and triple road tax and err..... How about kicking speeding and enjoy the journey again with consideration for others Nah never work

[larkshall]

If boats are limited to 4mph, then towpath traffic should be limited to the same. I mean I might want to tow a boat with a horse one day. Oh and put some really nasty speed humps in . Cyclists seem to think the can use towpaths at faster than walking speed, which is wrong.

[furnessvale]

Shouldn't this thread be in the section specifically dedicated to cyclists etc.?

 

George ex nb Alton retired