Cyclists Rant

[harleyj]

Having been on the canals, hiring for the last ten years and now a very proud owner of our own narrowboat , I feel that I am entitled to my first official rant!

Well here it it is, if some of the lycra mafia don't start to slow down around me and "the boss" and abide by the signs(ring their bell & give way) we will be feigning deafness & blindness and staying in the middle of the towpath and may accidently trip and nock one the clowns into the canal. They have taken over the towpath it's time to fight back.

[MissMax]

I confess to rding bikes on the canal (except when geese baby season starts) and i have been down right terrified of some cyclist treating it like it is a race track. Canals are not meant to replace the road, it's to pootle along to get you

to where you want to be without dealing with cars. You can't pootle when your trying to break the blooming sound barrier Grrrrr

[frangar]

Centre rope across towpath as you hold boat in....they soon get the message.....

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[harleyj]

I confess to rding bikes on the canal (except when geese baby season starts) and i have been down right terrified of some cyclist treating it like it is a race track. Canals are not meant to replace the road, it's to pootle along to get you

to where you want to be without dealing with cars. You can't pootle when your trying to break the blooming sound barrier Grrrrr

I will qualify my rant as a minority are very courteous and do as you say but some are just like the lycra mafia of our roads at home, pig ignorant!

Centre rope across towpath as you hold boat in....they soon get the message.....

Cheers

Gareth

Love it!

[Boat&Bikes]

Centre rope across towpath as you hold boat in....they soon get the message.....

Cheers

Gareth

Centre rope across towpath as you hold boat in....they soon get the message.....

Cheers

Gareth

Hate it.

[frangar]

Hate it.

Why? If they are going at a sensible speed they can stop while you sort boat out......and if they arent.....well they won't forget to slow down next time will they? Or would you rather they just hit people...animals etc?

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[Guest]

I walked part of the Monmouthshire and Brecon today.

 

Very popular with cyclists, I guess because of the good condition of the tow path.

 

Most were considerate and approached from behind with 'two tings' to let me know they were there, I gave a wave to acknowledge and they passed with a 'thankyou'.

 

Only a couple were inconsiderate.

 

One German speaking group had bells that sounded a bit like gentle cow bells which they sounded, I liked those as they were a bit less 'urgent'.

Hate it.

Indeed, I don't know why potentially seriously injuring a cyclist is seen as some sort of resolution to the problem.

 

I think it's been suggested previously too but I don't think it would solve anything.

Why? If they are going at a sensible speed they can stop while you sort boat out......and if they arent.....well they won't forget to slow down next time will they? Or would you rather they just hit people...animals etc?

Cheers

Gareth

So if you bring down and seriously injure a cyclist you feel you have gained some sort of moral victory?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

I will qualify my rant as a minority are very courteous and do as you say but some are just like the lycra mafia of our roads at home, pig ignorant!

Love it!

As both a boater and a cyclist I think that you are slightly overplaying the hand a bit. Much the same as elsewhere in life there are some right nobs riding bikes on the towpath but are they really in the majority? The mother,father and two kids I saw pootling along the towpath today, do they deserve to be lumped in with the idiots? I always give way and walk past pedestrians, am I one of your 'majority'?

 

Whilst travelling on the South Yorkshire canal last year year I had a boater shut the lock gate as I approached and begin to drain the lock before I got there, is this evidence that the majority of South Yorkshire boaters are ignorant oiks?? I'm all for calling out those who show ignorance but it doesn't help to lump them all together as the majority.

 

As an aside, this idea of having a bell, well I fitted one the other year on my bike but rarely use it. Why? because people walking take it as a call to get out of the way and often take umbrage whereas all that I am saying (when I used to use it) was that I am there so that I don't make them jump as I appear behind, get off and walk past them. Now I just walk past (often with a greeting) rather ring the bell (once when I used it) and then put up with some snide comment along the lines of "You don't own the towpath you know".

[magnetman]

Having been on the canals, hiring for the last ten years and now a very proud owner of our own narrowboat , I feel that I am entitled to my first official rant!

Well here it it is, if some of the lycra mafia don't start to slow down around me and "the boss" and abide by the signs(ring their bell & give way) we will be feigning deafness & blindness and staying in the middle of the towpath and may accidently trip and nock one the clowns into the canal. They have taken over the towpath it's time to fight back.

Just don't give way to them. I know its a bit awkward but I don't think there are that many who will actually collide with people. Always make sure the cylist is on the watery side of the path and do NOT give them excessive room to pass as if they have some god given priority because they DO NOT. just because they are moving faster and present a physical danger should not give them freedom to be complete and utter -insert own word here-s.

 

Its difficult to do this but it has got to be done or they begin to think they have some sort of priority.

 

Sad state of affairs really - the idiot bikers have really spoiled what is an enormously valuable public amenity in a lot of places.

 

C'est la vie !!

I confess to rding bikes on the canal (except when geese baby season starts) and i have been down right terrified of some cyclist treating it like it is a race track. Canals are not meant to replace the road, it's to pootle along to get you

to where you want to be without dealing with cars. You can't pootle when your trying to break the blooming sound barrier Grrrrr

Commuter cyclists are saving the planet for everyone else. Remember they are higher beings and very important to the long term survival of the species

 

Other than that they are a pain in the arse

Edited July 15, 2016 by magnetman

[NickF]

I confess to rding bikes on the canal (except when geese baby season starts) and i have been down right terrified of some cyclist treating it like it is a race track. Canals are not meant to replace the road, it's to pootle along to get you

to where you want to be without dealing with cars. You can't pootle when your trying to break the blooming sound barrier Grrrrr

Riding on a canal! Very impressive! One up from Jesus, he only ever managed to walk on water!

Edited July 15, 2016 by NickF

[Victor Vectis]

Hate it.

Don't be boring

[MissMax]

Cyclist ‘nearly decapitated’ after he rode into booby trap tripwire

 

 

 

 

http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/15/cyclist-nearly-decapitated-after-he-rode-into-booby-trap-tripwire-6009199/

 

Not funny

[nbfiresprite]

There have been a number of cyclists who have been murdered by the tieing of a rope or wire across a path or road at head height over the passed few years in Dorset alone. The police treat this as premeditated 1st dregee murder and you will be facing 25 to life without parole if you kill someone. An old girfriend hit a rope tied across country road near Wimborne while leading a ride for the local CTC section. Fortunately she's a tall lass so hit the rope across her breasts and not her neck which would have killed her. She had some nasty rope burns afterwards which left scars. So think before you act, Jail is no hoilday camp.

[bassplayer]

Hawthornes stopped me from cycling on the tow path many years ago. Even Teflon tyres and green slime are not immune. Now I find a road route back to the car or boat.

[frangar]

I'm not sure that legitimately holding a boat into the side with a rope is the same as a cheese wire across a road but of course cyclists are never in the wrong are they??

 

If you are going so fast that you can't see a rather large boat & rather large bloke joined by a bit of 14mm rope then I think perhaps you need to think about your speed and attention.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth.

[NickF]

In defence of cyclists there are loads of considerate cyclists out there but I do sympathise with the OP those that aren't considerate are a nuisance. I must admit up on th Rochdale last year I prefered mooring where the tow path was a cycle track as it felt safer when there were people around rather than being all by yourself.

[Mac of Cygnet]

In defence of cyclists there are loads of considerate cyclists out there but I do sympathise with the OP those that aren't considerate are a nuisance. I must admit up on th Rochdale last year I prefered mooring where the tow path was a cycle track as it felt safer when there were people around rather than being all by yourself.

 

Whereabouts on the Rochdale was that, then? Did the cyclists come past all night?

[furnessvale]

There have been a number of cyclists who have been murdered by the tieing of a rope or wire across a path or road at head height over the passed few years in Dorset alone. The police treat this as premeditated 1st dregee murder and you will be facing 25 to life without parole if you kill someone. An old girfriend hit a rope tied across country road near Wimborne while leading a ride for the local CTC section. Fortunately she's a tall lass so hit the rope across her breasts and not her neck which would have killed her. She had some nasty rope burns afterwards which left scars. So think before you act, Jail is no hoilday camp.

Sorry, but you have been watching too many American police TV shows.

 

In this country, murder is murder. "25 to life without parole" is pure Perry Mason.

 

A rope tied across a public highway or path can be considered an obstruction and is therefore an illegal act.

 

To prove murder the court would have to be satisfied that the offender INTENDED to kill or inflict GBH on the victim, which is why so many offences are downgraded to manslaughter where the burden of proof is so much less.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[wishful]

In defence of boaters there are loads of considerate boaters out there but I do draw to the attention of the OP those that aren't considerate are a nuisance.

 

 

 

To those that have made comments concerning wilfully harming cyclists, are these meant in jest or in seriousness? If the former, they are devoid of humour. If the latter, you are being given an opportunity for their retraction.

 

Boaters and cyclists should have mutual respect and consideration. Advocating assault is not a solution to those from either group that don't share such values.

[magnetman]

I think towpath users should all be equal from the 2 year old toddler to the Lycra clad Eddie Merckx racing cyclist.

 

For this reason it is important not to 'jump out of the way' of cyclists. Let them slow down and pass safely. The more they think people just flee as they approach the more dangerously they will behave. Once they have a might is right mindset then you have a group who apparently have more rights than others to use the space available in the way they wish to use it.

 

Why is it the default that one must give way to someone on a bike? Is it jus fear. Its very sad if it is that

Edited July 16, 2016 by magnetman

[nbfiresprite]

Sorry, but you have been watching too many American police TV shows.

 

In this country, murder is murder. "25 to life without parole" is pure Perry Mason.

 

A rope tied across a public highway or path can be considered an obstruction and is therefore an illegal act.

 

To prove murder the court would have to be satisfied that the offender INTENDED to kill or inflict GBH on the victim, which is why so many offences are downgraded to manslaughter where the burden of proof is so much less.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Police stated at the time that it was premeditated attempted murder (section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981). Tieing a rope or wire at neck height across a road or path at neck height is both deliberately and having a spectfic intention to cause the death of human by decapitation.

[cuthound]

Police stated at the time that it was premeditated attempted murder (section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981). Tieing a rope or wire at neck height across a road or path at neck height is both deliberately and having a spectfic intention to cause the death of human by decapitation.

A rope or wire tied deliberately across a road or path is very different from someone trying to pull their boat in with a centre rope.

 

Please keep a sense of perspective.

[Boat&Bikes]

Don't be boring

Sorry to have bored you. I hate the suggestion as i have a friend whom many years ago i had the pleasure of calling an ambulance for after he rode into a rope tied across a narrow lane whilst we were out on motorbikes. Luckily it caught across his chest and resulted in only a broken arm and ankle. Few inches higher then who knows? Anyway lets all crack on with suggestions for trying to harm each other...

[Victor Vectis]

Can refer you to post no. 22, above.

[Guest]

Can refer you to post no. 22, above.

So if you see the cyclist but they don't happen to see your line and you bring them down deliberately causing an accident and they injure themselves that's OK just because they are going fast?

 

That's as bad or actually worse than riding a bike too fast in my book.

 

I'd like to see your explanation the police.

 

"Well I saw him coming fast but I raised my line anyway"

 

I think the expression is "two wrongs don't make a right"