ridiing in early (7.30) this morning along the canal towpath, its dark and snowy still, canal iced over, doing 5-6 mph at most as theres a few inches of snow and I approach a woman walking towards me. Towpath is pretty wide, around 10 feet, so I move over canal side as she is near to the hedge. As i do this she moves towards the middle of the path. She looked like a 'bag lady' loads of coats etc…..and I sensed she was deliberately going to get in my way. I slowed to a virtual standstill and as i draw level with her she lunges at my head with a brolly or stick or something shout '" you f' scum" etc etc… luckily I saw it coming at the last second and ducked into the blow as something whacked on my helmet knocking my joystick off (thank god for lanyards). she then took a misaimed push to get me in the canal but only connected with my rucksack. I carry on a bit shocked for 20 feet and stop and turn around as she's still shouting obscenities, call her a fruitcase and start laughing at her. if she was a baglady, she was probably late 20's early 30's…..anyway, she then decides she's gonna chase me as I'm laughing at her, and she goes ARSE OVER on the snow…. by now I've had enough and carry on chuckling to myself and reliving my reflexes etc…

So, if I had'nt ducked in time, or I'd ended up in the cut….hmmm.

If I'd lamped her and put her in the cut….

what did she hit me with?

what if it had been a youngster on a paper round?

crazy woman.

Listen to Zammo – just say no to drugs kids.

ducked into the blow as something whacked on my helmet knocking my joystick off (thank god for lanyards

is that a euphemism ?

Yeah, some mentally ill people have a lot of pent up anger. Often, unsurprisingly, the anger is based on some very unpleasant events which they have experienced. I would have resisted calling her a fruitcase and laughing at her though.

Karma for you punching that WW2 veteran and kicking his 3 legged dog. She may have hit you with a junkie needle, you need a Hepatitus and Rabies Jab, just to be safe.

'former head of wedgwood attacks cyclist'

she'll be waiting for you under a bridge this evening

n00b error…………when she fell on her arse, you should have gone back and kicked her in the face.

Yeah, some mentally ill people have a lot of pent up anger. Often, unsurprisingly, the anger is based on some very unpleasant events which they have experienced.

yes, and some people are just assholes without any real reason.

some people are just assholes without any real reason

How do you know Snakebite ?

How do you know Snakebite ?

How do you not know scruff?? eh?

Quite presumptuous to assume people are nuts just cos they act a bit different to the norm.

meths head. I'm gonna ride home the same way, just because….

Yes, silly of you. Fancy assuming that some woman who attacks you, & tries to push you in a freezing canal is nuts.

grynch – Member

ducked into the blow as something whacked on my helmet knocking my joystick off (thank god for lanyards

is that a euphemism ?

😆 😆 😆

I got a full walking stick across the knuckles from an old boy last year, luckily i had my fox dh gloves on with carbon inserts and my brakes/shifters deflected alot of it, he was shouting that unlike him i wasn't using the canal bank for its intended purpose, i politely pointed out out that its intended purpose was horses pulling barges along, he shook his stick a bit and said i should have a permit or something, i have one in my wallet thank you very much, yeah well says he and wanders off muttering…………………… good job i'm not easily angered.

And for the record i gave him fair warning as i do whenever i'm on the canal bank.

my ex wife lives not far away – early 40's, 5'2", carries a brolly/stick. a lot of pent up anger.

You should have bombarded her with snowballs …

😆

My dad once hit a shelfstacker on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper during a walk round Tesco for no reason at all. Thats was about 5 years ago and he still can't explain it. Old folk are allowed to get angry and do some stupid things. They've earned it.

Mrs PP is prone to going a bit nuts. She once whacked a teenager on the gead with her motorbike helmet (It was sorta gentle, but there you go…) when he was giving us some lip. He did shut up though…….

garvebairn

"My dad once hit a shelfstacker on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper during a walk round Tesco for no reason at all."
😆
That's the funniest thing I've heard today!!

Welcome to my world. The canal is a magnet for mentally unstable people. We spent the morning dealing with a lady tramp's campsite. Thankfully it was EA land. We try and ignore them as much as possible.

Obviously a lesbian,cyclist hating woman.

I'm riding home with a tin of antifreeze at the ready, i'll teach the witch!

raging cyclepath

Can't abide riding canal paths, they really do attract nutters and/ or unstable members of the general public.

attract nutters and/ or unstable members of the general public.

Like fishermen? As above, I've had these guys shouting at me to get away from the canal so it can be used for it's intended purpose which is apparently sitting there smoking pot and shouting at innocent passers by. I've had a punch thrown at me by one guy and I've had another chap (for no reason at all), phone his mate who was a bit further down the canal to stop me, I was a bit too quick for that one though.

You should have invited her to the inaugural Singletontrack SausageFest that seems to be brewing over here.

Why is it that canals are such a fruitloop magnet? Fishermen, dogwalkers, childrenwalkers…

She was trying to hit on you 😀

Similar thing happened to me on the Basingstoke canal near Woking on a night ride last summer. Some bloke hiding in the woods jumped out in front of me blocking the towpath, started behaving in a very odd manner. I decided not to entertain said bloke, then he got rather abusive and gave chase.

Was she fit?

Maybe shes a friend of Debs and has hatched a plan to push you in the cut and claim on the life policy….

Had a woman like that in the shop a while back. after I took a quick look at the bike she had brought in (whilst gagging on cider fumes!) I sugested we take it over to the workshop and I would get a mechanic to book it in. On hearing this she flips and starts swaring at the top of her voice about how we won't fix it there and then, casting aspersions on my partentage and orientation (I didn't even mention the 2week wait!) She stormed out of the show still swearing past some very shocked customers.

I simply waved and said loudly "Thanks, don't hesitate to go else where next time" which got a chuckle from the customers left in the shop

In response to the inevitable posts about living with mental health issues, I am qualified and employed to fix bikes, not people.

Alex

You ought to mention this to the police, even if casually – if she does this often, she could kill someone by drowning, esp in this freezing weather.