A cyclist has been injured after being knocked off his bike by a rope that was tied across a cycle path in Edinburgh.

The man received a cut on his nose and burns on his cheek during the incident at 18:30 on Monday on the path behind Tesco Metro at Davidson Mains.

Witnesses said there were two ropes tied across the busy cycle path, one at head height and the other at knee height.

Police are investigating and have appealed for witnesses.

The injured cyclist was thought to be in his 50s.

Another cyclist, a 27-year-old school teacher who managed to stop before she hit the ropes, said she found the man dazed, bleeding and looking for his glasses.

She told the BBC Scotland news website: “We found his glasses but one of the lenses was missing. We were nervous because it was dark on that stretch of path as it is not lit and we wondered if anyone was watching us to mug us.

“The ropes were tied with lots of knots and completely designed to trip up cyclists.

“I am completely horrified at how it was premeditated and so well designed.

“It could have seriously hurt someone. The path needs to be lit.”

‘Incredibly dangerous’
Alex Robertson, 27, whose girlfriend avoided the rope, said a cyclist could have been killed if they had hit it at high speed.

He said: “This is not a laugh but instead incredibly dangerous.

“The rope was tied very securely. I am very angry and upset that people have set this up to injure and maim people.

“This part of the path is darker than the rest as its not lit and that’s why the rope has been tied there.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police are investigating following an incident that happened around 18:30 on Monday where a cyclist collided with a rope that had been placed across a cycle path in the Davidson’s Mains area of the city.

“Anyone with information that can assist our inquiries should contact Police Scotland.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-24912111

Just why?

im going to ask the obvious but is it a strava segment.

i ask because its a matter of time before the locals take matters into their own hands on the deeside way from what i see on my commute – and its behavior i can only attribute to that as theres no other reason to be that rude and impatient.

Nasty. I think I heard that edinburgh cycle paths were taken off strava? Some Pentland routes have been classed as dangerous too.

Reminds me of a group who were using ropes to trip people and mug them in the meadows a few years ago, stupidly they didn’t move after mugging the first target and the police just came and nabbed them.

scary, very close to where I grew up, ridden through that way many times. Once had a chav throw a trolley towards me but nothing like that 🙁

turns out it is a strava segment and the top speeds 40kph.

and you wonder why folks get pissed shame you cant see the times they were recorded as folks doing it at peak time are going to cause this sort of aggro.

i flag all the segments on the deeside way shared use path now – after the last incident with the tacks.

I wouldn’t condone that stretch being a segment, but its also where a load of scrotes hang out. I’ve been subject to abuse for no reason before and seen the paths barricaded just for fun.

this isn’t a strava thing, this has been going on for years. Blaming strava is easier than blaming the idiots who think it is a laugh!

A friend of mine got a nice scare across his neck about 20 years ago when he cycled into some fishing line.

Se also the news item yesterday about the old lady throwing dog crap at cyclists.

im going to ask the obvious but is it a strava segment.

It takes a spectacular leap of logic to blame this on Strava. Frankly, it takes a spectacular piece of logic to blame it on cyclists at all…

what because its what happens round here ? maybe we just have a different class of ned 😉

ive had ropes tied across the trail before back in arbroath – it was disgruntled dog walkers that didnt think cyclists should be using the tracks in the woods – i caught them stretching them up again the next day.

My mum regularly walks the grand kids (sub 10 yrs old) on a path bt the river Severn in Shrewsbury. Notwithstanding the fact that cyclists shouldn’t even be on it, she regularly has a go at cyclists that speed past her from behind without giving any warning or slowing down. All it would take would be for one small kiddy to suddenly see a squirrel/rat/cat/something shiny and step to one side and massive smash. Point is that a rope across a path is plainly the work of a sicko, but cyclists riding without due care and attention amongst pedestrians, pretty much fit into the same category as drivers driving similarly amongst cyclists. Furthermore, any dickheads trying to set strava times on shared use paths should be whipped to within an inch of their lives with old inner tubes.

My mum regularly walks the grand kids (sub 10 yrs old) on a path bt the river Severn in Shrewsbury. Notwithstanding the fact that cyclists shouldn’t even be on it, she regularly has a go at cyclists that speed past her from behind without giving any warning or slowing down

which is fair enough, but

A cyclist has been injured after being knocked off his bike by a rope that was tied across a cycle path in Edinburgh.

Shared use path means shared use, it means keep your dog under control, on a short lead, it means keeping kids under control. What is also clear is one persons idea of sensible is not someone elses. IF i approach people on a shared use path i will slow and give room, but i am not slowing to walking pace, just going from 20+mph to 10-15mph, which i suspect is still to quick for some.

Have had various potentially incidents on the cycle paths in Edinburgh, not out the back of D Mains directly but close by; those were in daylight with lads simply blocking the path and acting intimidating. Anne-Marie had the same, probably in the same general area.

So, disgruntled locals / dog walkers or lads ‘having a laugh’ — both obviously criminal, but with a different starting point (and perspective). You just don’t know..

Oh, and obviously Strava jockeys are all ages, of course, but “The injured cyclist was thought to be in his 50s.” /might/ make the chap being directly culpable less likely. Or not…

Furthermore, any dickheads trying to set strava times on shared use paths should be whipped to within an inch of their lives with old inner tubes.

Or, they can feel free to set Strava times so long as they slow down if there’s people on it? There’s one or two near me that are possible to hammer down if you want, but if there’s people on it you need to slow down, and everyone I know does. Even them dude who has the KOM on it.

Or, they can feel free to set Strava times so long as they slow down if there’s people on it?

While thats a good idea, do you really think most of them do that?!
Its always the bad few which spoil it for the rest, just like bad drivers. You’ll always remember the ones who just about killed you, but forget about the majority who don’t.

After someone came flying past me on a road bike the other month and then stopped at the end of the cycle path and then went flying back up the cycle path the way he had come, I decide to have a look to see if there were segments on the shared path because I had never bothered to look before.
I couldn’t believe the number of segments and the stupid speeds people were averaging for them, some were over 25mph!
I flagged all the ones I could find because there is a place for segments, and it is not on shared, busy cycle paths.
Its a similar reason I flag segments that go through traffic lights!
I know there are actually segments set up that go through Edinburgh centre and several sets of lights!

Shared use path means shared use, it means keep your dog under control, on a short lead, it means keepingwatching for kids under control. What is also clear is one persons idea of sensible is not someone elses. IF i approach people on a shared use path i will slow and give room, but i am not while slowing to walking pace, just going from 20+mph to 10-15mph, which i suspect is not good enoughstill to quick for some.

There you go,that’s my approach .
I don’t think that’s too hard ,is it ?

It takes a spectacular leap of logic to blame this on Strava.

this.

as has been said, this problem has been around since long before strava.
is the stretch of path even a strava segment? it’s unlit and unsurfaced after all. not very appealing for your typical bike path TT segment chaser i’d have thought.
from what I can tell they struggle enough with decent well lit tarmac. they’d get their posh tubs all in a twist.

I live round the corner from it, and cycled past the end of this bit of path last night. If I had gone along and been nicely garrotted, I doubt I’d have immediately blamed it on those pesky strava kids.

Christ, there are really some numpties here, a cyclist is a victim of a crime and he is to blame! You are actually making excuses for criminals attacking cyclists, you retarded **** imbeciles!

“Christ, there are really some numpties here, a cyclist is a victim of a crime and he is to blame! “

please enlighten me to where exactly it states that

my point is that due to OTHERs (no where did i say the gentleman who was injured was stravaing)inconsiderate acts that shared use paths round here have been sabotaged.

lee/lightman who lives in the area seems to have grasped that simple concept

exactly!

Maybe bike thieves tied the rope across, when cyclist down and if bike good then strike, easy dazed victim?

So often had trouble on that path commuting in the days before the internet and Strava. Barriers on the path, things chucked at bikes, dogs set on you, broken glass.

There’s a reason for going through there at speed…

fair enough – as i said above davidson mains has always been renound for a different class of ned 😉

sorry fasthaggis is was right as it was, i am going from a to b, traffic, if your on a cycle path then you expect cyclists and behave accordingly. If your walking along a main road you expect cars ditto. I watch for you but you have responsibilities as well. My experience is far too many dog walkers forget they are legally obliged to keep the dog under control.

To put this in perspective if your dog gets in the way i will kick it as hard as neccesary to ensure i don’t get bitten, i have been polite and slowed down before and been bitten as a result, so i don’t bother with the polite anymore.

if your dog gets in the way i will kick it as hard as neccesary

i am not slowing to walking pace, just going from 20+mph to 10-15mph

and cyclists wonder why people don’t like them…

please enlighten me to where exactly it states that

my point is that due to OTHERs (no where did i say the gentleman who was injured was stravaing)inconsiderate acts that shared use paths round here have been sabotaged.

lee/lightman who lives in the area seems to have grasped that simple concept

Your very first comment showed absolutely no concern for the victim, instead just imagining excuses for a criminal attack, I hope to god you are never trusted with jury duty.

im very sorry your mind works in that way as to take that as an excuse.

its more of a warning to others to be careful not to piss folk off on shared paths as this is the sort of crap that will come out. – i dont fancy hitting a rope at 40kph – knew a lad back home that was taken out by a rope on his motorbike in a place where motorbikes went often but were not popular with the locals – it wasnt a pretty outcome – he doesnt speak anymore.

the revolution will not be televised.

meanwhile enjoy your imaginary day.

😕 Now your just talking nonsense. If you didn’t want to blame cyclists for justifying the attack, then you should have written something else, its nothing to do with how my mind works, it is what you have written. 🙄

I ride a piece of path joined to this, I doubt very much that it is a Strava segment as is very busy with dog walkers etc. There is a junction nearby at Silverknowes and it is a regular congregation point for kids* as a hangout. It is not my experience that cyclists are moving at any great pace here.

*possibly and most likely neds.

To put this in perspective if your dog gets in the way i will kick it as hard as neccesary

I’d like to see this as the act of kicking the dog, I wager, would send you off balance. After which the dog would eat you in the face. Perhaps.

“cyclists”

is very much different from “THE cyclist”

its not justification – its reasoning.

if many folk ride like dicks someone will suffer in the retaliation – and unfortunantly as is usually the case its often the folk who havnt been antagonising the locals that sadly get hurt.

round here they throw tacks on the main shared path commuter route into town where ive been passed at speed by folk shouting at me to get out my way as im going past pedestrians and dogs slowely

which was my first thought(from my experiances) as to why there would be a rope tied up across a cycle path – maybe i just am not sick enough to think that people tie ropes at head height for fun but then again they are a funny bunch of people down there.

back home they were using fishing line to try and drive us off the paths.

Mrmo – your attitude is astounding – I know this is stw and all, but everything you’ve said is exactly the sort of thing that winds non-cyclists up. In fact, it’s plain bloody dangerous and you need to change that behaviour, assuming you’re not trolling…

Kids can’t be reliably controlled 100% of the time. Try running over someone’s excited toddler and see what happens. Unbelievably shit attitude.

Where exactly is this section of path, as I cant quite place it?

if your dog gets in the way i will kick it as hard as neccesary

No you wouldn’t. Unless the dogs owner was female or old. If the dogs owner was a male you wouldn’t would you. Be honest.

Hmmm, reminds me of a ride I did with a bunch of mates about 2 years ago.. hacking down a lane, turn right into a single lane road past a stable and lo and behold a rope about 3mm thick tied across the lane.. Mate caught it first, sent him over the bars I stopped in time, we all pointed at him and laughed but it was dangerous but we don’t think it was meant for us, more the number of horse riders who use the lane to get from the Pub to the stables..

This is sick. I ride with my dog and whilst it is very unlikely she would get in a cyclists way she is an incredibly friendly animal and might run up to say hello. If you kicked her you’d be getting a boot back!

Its amazingly how quickly these threads veer wildly off topic. Kicking dogs?? WTF

There could have been any number of reasons for the rope/logs. Even a method of bike theft.

Trail rat, I’d have to agree 100% with MSPs comprehension of what you typed, if you want anyone with even a basic understanding of the English language to understand what you are trying to convey I’d suggest brushing up on your grammar, spelling and punctuation. Even with your poor explantion backtracking concerning what you meant, you’re still coming across as a stuck up strava hating idiot!

Innocent old dude gets hurt intentionally by rope placed to hurt another human (by who we do not yet know). There is absolutely no justification for the actions of those who put up the rope . only an arsehole would argue otherwise.
.

Kids can’t be reliably controlled 100% of the time. Try running over someone’s excited toddler and see what happens. Unbelievably shit attitude.

If we’re on a shared use path, my toddler is going to be under my protection. It’s my responsibility to make sure she doesn’t do anything dangerous. On a shared use path parents should really be using the same level of control as you would when next to or crossing a road.

On a shared use path parents should really be using the same level of control as you would when next to or crossing a road.
On a shared use path cyclists should be riding as they would in any area with a lot of pedestrians…especially children. No one should be encountering ropes tied across the path anywhere.

gordimhor…

I think you’ve got it exactly right – a shared amenity means there’s a responsibility on us all to use it considerately and safely.

If someone has an issue with someone acting like a fool, take it up directly with them. Don’t assume that all cyclists/drivers/pedestrians/whoever are deserving of punishment or are all the same.

Jesus, that’s some embarrassing bullshit up there.

I cycle this path at least weekly and also past there most days.

It’s a rough “off road” short cut to the back of Tescos. About 100m long. About as far from Strava and dog lovers as you’ll find.

Lightman: it’s in the middle of here:

http://goo.gl/maps/4fDQC