[Closed] Canal tow path 'banter'

I'm inclined to agree with the OP. Cycling is permitted along the Cromford canal and although its wise to try and avoid it on a weekend the amount of self righteous walkers is getting worse. I had 2 couples last weekend who refused to outright move even though a polite request was made on both occasions.

Bravo I say!

Cheers.

It was a touch busier than I had expected and so i dropped down to the rugby club at the first opportunity......

We do usually road it after 10ish if we are heading out / back using this route

95% splendidly agreeable peeps.

He was not incensed by me not having a bell - he was incensed at sharing.....the bell was his outlet.....

Some people are just looking for something to be annoyed about. Some of these people are walkers. I presume they get some pleasure from having something to moan about, who are we to deny them their pleasures?

Sounds like both parties are as bad as each other. Doesn't take much to say '[i]excuse me[/i]'.

Shared paths can be frustrating places for everyone to be in my experience. I'm always polite, but the constant slowing down and stopping doesn't make for an enjoyable ride. And similarly for walkers being buzzed by cyclists, it's not surprising sometimes they take the attitude they do.

I'm always defending cycling. It's such a simple activity, and I don't believe there needs to be any 'rules' to do it. But sadly too many cyclists suffer from the same impatience as the motorists we always complain about. I see the exact same attitudes. [i]I'm going faster, so you're going to move![/i]

Not what I said.....but that would not suit you, would it now......

Not what I said.....but that would not suit you, would it now......

Whichever way you look at it, there's no real need to call someone a bellend just because they don't move straight away, and suggest you alert them to the fact you would like past.

Riding along the Calder and Hebble canal I encountered an angling competition;
Ting Ting went my bell
Don't do that, said the angler, it scares the fish
Fair do's says I,
Further along..........
An angler pipes up..
Is that one of those silent bells you have?
Me, first bloke back there says it scares the fish....
Yeah, but he's shit at fishing, says the angler.
1-0 to the anglers I feel.........

[quote=butcher said]
Whichever way you look at it, there's no real need to call someone a bellend just because they don't move straight away, and suggest you alert them to the fact you would like past.

This. Rather than passive-aggressive bike buzzing and expecting walkers to obediently move out of your way, try speaking to them.

The original story gave me a bit of amusement as part of my commute involves using my local towpath.

As I always use one of my mountain bikes I don't have a bell so if they don't hear me coming I usually say something along the lines of "excuse me can I pass" No matter how polite you are at least once a week I'll get a sarcastic "oh sorry didn't hear your bell"

I just usually reply "probably because I haven't got one" and ride off leaving them to their miserable existance 😆

Hah - where do I say that my comments where because they did not move straight away or that I buzzed them?

Or did you two make that up to make your point better??

😀

If you changed the OPs post so that the towpath became a road, the walkers were cycling two abreast and the OP was in a car, then we'd all be in a proper tizzy.

There's knobs in all walks of life, best to try and not lower yourself to their level.

On a wider point, complaining about walkers on the Cromford Canal is like complaining that the sun sets each day! Is it still owned by the Canals & Rivers Trust, so subject to the usual access rules, or is it owned by the Friends of Cromford Canal, in which case access could be withdrawn if they had enough complaints?

Did I complain about Walkers?

Or was it a one particular instance??

I just usually reply "probably because I haven't got one" and ride off leaving them to their miserable existance

I think we have a new AWESOME

🙄

A rather cockish friend of mine used to have an airhorn on his bike as well as a bell.

If anyone got arsey because they didn't hear the bell and told him to use his bell his reply would be to say "Alright then" and ring the airhorn as he went past.

Junkyard; why?

I dunno it just really winds me up...

Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click...

I know he can hear my free hub (it's a Hope doncha know)...

Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click...

I'm not gonna say anything, He must have realised I have a Hope free hub and he'll be jumping into the undergrowth any second so I can unleash my awesomeness...

Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click Click...

Just say 'rider up' or something, rather than relying on your mechanical percussion....or get a bell. 😀

I get the same annoyed feeling when someone roars up behind you when driving and starts trying to come past the second you start indicating over, rather than waiting for you to get out of the way. Funny how it always takes me longer to move over, than if they'd just been a bit more patient.

Did I complain about Walkers?

Or was it a one particular instance??

Bearing in my previous comments, I'm not going to lower myself to your level 😉

If you changed the OPs post so that the towpath became a road, the walkers were cycling two abreast and the OP was in a car, then [s]we'd all be in a proper tizzy.[/s] the car driver could move to the opposite side of the road to overtake.

Fixed

Funny how it always takes me longer to move over, than if they'd just been a bit more patient.

Good to know it's not just me!

Speed up a little, slow down a little, lane wobble a little, etc. Just make it awfully awkward for them to overtake...!

Did I complain about Walkers?

Fun fact. In Europe, they're called Lays.

I have actually now bought a klaxon siren and looking forward to using it......

Please have your GoPro running when you do!

On a canal towpath? Make sure you're right behind them and positioned so that they're between you and the canal before letting it off 😈

Is it still owned by the Canals & Rivers Trust, so subject to the usual access rules, or is it owned by the Friends of Cromford Canal, in which case access could be withdrawn if they had enough complaints?

A good chunk of it is owned by Derbyshire County Council I think. Cyclists have no right of way (it is part of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way footpath I believe) and access for cyclists is permissive.

There are signs up all the way along the canal instructing cyclists to give way to pedestrians. I got sick of asking people to move a few years ago and bought a bell. I have found it far easier since.

^ this
And rightly or wrongly alot of the people that walk down there at a weekend are quite anti cycling
Only last week I was defending cyclists rights to use that path on a completely unrelated story in the Derby Telegraph
There is a lot of anti cycling feeling in that part of the world at the moment and the local Derby rag is doing it's very best to stir things up
The canal path is a brilliant little route to get about between all the cheeky bits of riding between Ambergate and Cromford, so much better than risking life and limb on the A6 of a weekend, let's not add any fuel to the fire by being arseholes
Besides these people get far more annoyed if your just polite to them in return, it denies them the opportunity to rant and goes against their preconceptions

I think we have a new AWESOME

Thanks, having the ability to return a sarcastic comment and then leave miserable people to get on with their own sad lives without it ruining my day is pretty awesome 😉

Its an attitude that comes in quite handy when using this forum 😆

[b]kevdog68[/b] - Member
Riding along the Calder and Hebble canal I encountered an angling competition;
Ting Ting went my bell
Don't do that, said the angler, it scares the fish
Fair do's says I,
Further along..........
An angler pipes up..
Is that one of those silent bells you have?
Me, first bloke back there says it scares the fish....
Yeah, but he's shit at fishing, says the angler.
1-0 to the anglers I feel.........

Scapegoat - Member
I've tried calling out "Ding Ding" on occasions but it only ever comes across as sounding slightly sarcastic........

try...

[img] [/img]

I tried a bell, didn't work. So I simply wait until in about fifty yards astern, slow and say "Hello there! Passing on your left/right".

It's amazing how few people can tell their left from their right, which is why I give fifty yards grace. 99% of the time, the response is positive and allows sufficient time for people to collect their errant dogs. On the 1% of occasions I get a grumpy "Where's your bell?", a sarcastic "Ding-A-***ing-ling!" generally does the trick.