[Closed] Canal Towpath "let me see your permit" aggressive rambler content

stilltortoise- no issues in Scotland because of the different access rights up there.

Q: "Can I see you permit?"
A: "Can you swim?"

[url= http://www.dorkd.net/ ]Ladies and Mentlegen, I give you The McLovin Fake ID Generator[/url]

tell him to phone the police.
then ride off.

This is my standard response to any have-a-go-heroes who tell me that it's illegal to ride on the footpath. Apart from in the Peak District, where'll I'll give them a lecture on the Kinder Trespass and how I'm carrying on the tradition which won walkers like them the right to access.

I used to have a nice little ride down the river Lea towpath, but rarely bother with it now, the towpaths are too busy with walkers, runners (often listening to music) and other cyclists.
Regents Canal in London - the horror, the horror!

whilst weaving in/out of pedestrians..

If pedestrians had their wits about them a bit and didn't wonder all over the place then we probably wouldn't have to weave about so much 😛

Next time, ask him if he's heard about the latest plans from the Council, who had been given a grant from the EU to drain the canal and tarmac the bottom to create an uninterrupted high speed cycle path, or 'bicycle motorway' to encourage green commuting 😀

no issues in Scotland because of the different access rights up there

Neither British Waterways nor the Canal & River Trust were solely about access though. I realise this is slightly off-topic, but I was curious about who looks after Scottish waterways if British Waterways is no more. I realise I could ask Google 😆

Shared space is rubbish..everyone hates it. Walkers one side of canal..cyclists on t'other

And your real world solution is................?

alex salmond [img] [/img]

whilst weaving in/out of pedestrians..

It never ceases to amaze me how pedestrians complain about cyclists on pavements but then, given shared space, how many of those same pedestrians will quite willingly walk right down the middle of the lane marked "Cyclists" thus inviting as much confrontation as possible...

Shared space is rubbish..everyone hates it. Walkers one side of canal..cyclists on t'other

I assume walkers get the towpath side. After all we are gnarly off roaders.

Next time, ask him if he's heard about the latest plans from the Council, who had been given a grant from the EU to drain the canal and tarmac the bottom to create an uninterrupted high speed cycle path, or 'bicycle motorway' to encourage green commuting

That's actually a brilliant idea!

I used to work in Paddington basin which meant towpath from the station to the office. Some days I rode, some days I walked.
People riding often seemed utterly incapable of dealing with the crowds of pedestrians - still riding at full tilt, no covering of brakes, swerving instead of stopping when faced with oncoming pedestrians... etc - just looking panicked when they had to make any kind of manoeuvre...
As an experienced cyclist, I agree it was tricky with the sheer numbers of pedestrians but the very obvious solution seemed to me to just slow up until space was available around the walkers, stopping if necessary...

I do think there's more training required on how to cycle in either heavy traffic or in shared space - you wouldn't need new infrastructure if people rode with more skill.

And at the same time, driver training and pedestrian training might help! As always, conflict comes from ignorance rather than anything else

Agreed on the 'shared space being rubbish' suggestion.

Rather than build proper infrastructure we tell commuting cyclists to use a relatively narrow towpath and act all surprised when there's conflict.

the subject will never go away, how many times has the "three lane footpath" debate come up? or pedestrians who bury their head in the phone debacle. while out riding on a massive bridleway the other week we were ticked off by a group of ramblers for not having a bell. the fact they had moved out of the way of their own accord because they saw us coming from a mile away (litarally! it was a wide open field?) didn't seem to have registered? it made us think for 5 seconds about the need to over warn a group of walkers who are a) stood still at the time b) facing your direction when they have clearly spotted you? c) were not causing an obstruction when we got to them? and then we laughed..... 😆 it's not like we were tramming it at the time.

Yes, shared space is crap.
The sooner we ban bikes from the road the better.
😀

The solution is to be considerate to everyone.
Costs nowt, cheap, makes the world a happier place.

Used the towpath around Tod/Hebden for years.
Everyone does, cyclists, fishermen, ramblers and locals.

If you accept it's going to be busy, be polite and relax, stop and smile, it's fine.

some people will never be happy...just chill [img] [/img]

You get dickheads in all walks of life. Have had no trouble in years from cycling, always slow down and am polite to walkers. On Saturday I saw a couple of dog walkers on a bridleway ahead. I was cycling slowly as I was carrying a large backpack and a fishing rod, and when around 20m away from them I slowed to a stop, put a foot down and said "Excuse me please". The woman grabbed hold of her dog (which was stood right next to her, and I was stationary 20m away anyway) and shrieked "For God's sake you need to slow down you're going to kill someone!". I started to laugh and pointed out I was standing still, her husband then shouted "slow down mister, you're going way too fast". She then proceeded to tell me that she was having a lovely day and that I had just totally ruined it for her. After them refusing to believe that I was standing still, and getting a load of abuse, I snapped, told her she was absolutely ****ing mental and rode off. Perhaps I should have bitten my tongue, but I've ridden that bridleway for the last 20 years and have never had such a reaction in my life. Basically 99.9% of walkers are fine, but there will always be irrational ****s in every walk of life.

I'm sorry but I can't see why we should be agressive to other users of the Canal Paths..

If they're agressive then FairyNuff, but IME all I've encountered are either
a) a bit annoyed that they've been "buzzed" quite a lot by dicks on bikes and are a bit pissed off
b) happy to move over if you approach at walking pace and say "Hi, excuse me, Thanks"
c) have earphones on and jogging/walking and you startle them by tapping on thier shoulder..

Live and let... yadda yadda

You get dickheads in all walks of life

This

I was out on a family walk in Richmond park yesterday and as a semi-regular cyclist there I am very aware of the lack of awareness of pedestrians to cyclists. We were crossing the road and very wary of the MAMIL brigade ensured we had lots of space and time to cross (Mum's with buggies etc). With a vast gap between the next set of riders we crossed the road to then hear (from a long long way away) some complete knobjockey in his all in one Bianchi outfit screaming telling us to get out of the f***** way etc etc. We finshed crossing the road and i counted a FULL 12 seconds before he cycled past. Some people just need an excuse to shout, they probably have shitty lives so i wouldn't worry about it.

What has happened to the road rule of keep left
Not on a towpath it seems you have to use special senses to work out where the Sheep like Pedestrians will go even when they have seen you 500 yards away .

I was also following a lady on a bike the other day and she knew I was behind but carried on in the middle of the path I waited for a grassy bit to open up and passed her to which she said dont you have a bell
I guess if i had tinkled she would have sided up

Have just bought a bell so we will see if it makes like easier

No rants against fishermen with their rods extending into the towpath ?

Visitors should use common sense

No rants against fishermen with their rods extending into the towpath ?

Q: "Can I see you permit?"
A: "Can you swim?"

What has happened to the road rule of keep left

In fairness the rule of the road for pedestrians is keep right.
I think the rule of the road for towpaths is keep the other person between you and the canal 🙂

Just read a few bits of the [url= https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/consultations/completed-consultations ]consultation[/url] that the Rivers and Canals Trust did on towpath sharing recently.

Everyone hates cyclists on towpaths apparently, even other cyclists. 🙁

I had two people yesterday tell me I needed a bell...I was unfailingly polite to everyone I needed to pass, but apparently this counts for nothing. I was thinking about getting one of those boxing bells on the handlebars 😀

I'm always amazed at how walkers are obsessed by bells (or the lack of them). Thing is they really don't want you to have a bell, they just want you to not be there, and not having a bell is the only thing they can think of that gives them some ammunition with which to have a whinge at you.

No doubt they'd complain if you had one of these instead [url= http://www.airzound.co.uk/ ]http://www.airzound.co.uk/[/url]

So why not have a beel and defuse that particular argument? Perhaps then we would discover what the real gripe is.

Call me a bike snob, but I'm not putting a bell on my uber-expensive carbon road bike. Same goes for pedal reflectors.

rule #1, don't be a dick

I have long thought that all laws should be repealed and replaced with this one all-encompassing one.

Granted it might be difficult to work out the penalties depending on the level of dickheadedness, but I'd be prepared to be the arbiter of that if it's OK with everyone else.

Call me a bike snob, but I'm not putting a bell on my uber-expensive carbon road bike. Same goes for pedal reflectors.

why are you riding your [i]uber-expensive carbon road bike[/i] on a shared used path....

So why not have a beel and defuse that particular argument? Perhaps then we would discover what the real gripe is.

Because on ringing your bell they will either

a. Jump out of their skin and otherwise act as if you've just tried to frighten them to death.

b. Completely ignore you and then, after your polite "excuse me" grumpily mumble "shouldn't you have a bell?"

or rarely

c. wait till you've come past and then make sarcastic comments like "ooooh, a cyclist with a bell".

You just can't win.

agree with that...
not everyone has the complete picture on everything...as in

The Highway Code does not stipulate that bells must be used, but rather suggests that cyclists: ‘be considerate of other road users, particularly blind and partially sighted pedestrians, letting them know you are there when necessary, for example by ringing your bell.’

"Haven't you got a bell?'

"Yes, it's in my pants, you pervert."

I find people over 60 react better to a "ting ting" on my bell & move over & usually smile with comments like "oh a bell, takes me back that does" whereas younger folk take no notice as
A)they don't know what it means
B)they can't hear it because they are listening to something on their head phones

in my experience:
50% of walkers tell me off for not having a bell if I politely ask to overtake
50% of walkers look at me as if I've just wee'd in their shoes if I do use a bell

I suspect strongly it's mostly the same people being dickheads and the rest are happy so long as I slow down and give plenty of warning.

Whilst not written about towpaths, this letter was in last week's Malvern Gazette 29/8/14 and nicely sums up use on shared space I thought ( although almost certainly there will be people writing in with the opposite view next week)

"ON behalf of the many considerate off-road cyclists who enjoy the hills I would like to apologise to a previous letter writer who had a bad experience when walking recently.

I know that many walkers dislike not having the hills to themselves, but it's a fact that they are there to be enjoyed by many people for many reasons.

There are inconsiderate riders, walkers, dog walkers and litter louts but that's what they are... inconsiderate!

I ride the hills often and I always slow down when approaching people. To be honest, if they have a dog I don't always trust that they will control it (not a uncommon occurrence) or that people won't just stand directly in the way even though they have seen you approaching from a distance (sometimes they like an argument).

I appeal to fellow riders to slow down when needed and be polite.

I appeal to walkers to accept that the hills are not just for them alone.

I appeal to dog walkers to control their dogs and not think that putting dog mess in a little bag and then leaving them everywhere while they pretend that they are going to pick them up on the way back is 'leaving no mess'.

The hills are lovely and their for all of us... just be considerate please!"

I've got a bell on my BSO.

Because on ringing your bell they will either

a. Jump out of their skin and otherwise act as if you've just tried to frighten them to death.

b. Completely ignore you and then, after your polite "excuse me" grumpily mumble "shouldn't you have a bell?"

... this. Invariably, one of two things will happen when I ting the bell on a towpath. People either massively overreact, grabbing their children / hounds and clutching them fearfully to their bodies with the expression of a teenager in the cellar in a horror movie, as their harbinger of doom trundles gently past with barely enough forward momentum to prevent me falling sideways into the cut; or, they'll adopt the stance of the professionally bewildered, going "did you hear something?" and looking skyward or accusingly at the canal or something.

The best is when two walkers walking side by side hear the bell and decide the both need to be on the opposite side to where they are & walk into each other. Often tempted to give a round of applause when this happens

If you try and ride a bike on canal paths in London during Monday-Friday its a total nightmare due to the huge volume of bikers, runner, walkers, dogs, people on scooters, etc.

Many cyclists going WAY too fast, not acting sensibly, not giving any warning either with a bell (polite) or voice (less polite).

Even with a "permit" 😉 and a bell its very unpleasant and not an efficient way to get around...

I gave up a long time ago, and only use the canal paths slowly if I want to spend 1 hour going to work (its a 25 minute ride by road) or its Saturday/Sunday and I have had enough of motorists trying to run me over on the roads

bells bells bells

get one here...£4.20!!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-7-Sounds-Ultra-loud-Electronic-Bicycle-Bell-Bike-Horn-Siren-/360717496799?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item53fc7031df
go wild with the ramblers 8)

hope hubs and a "morning" or whatever usually enough,
most peeps seem to have headphones on so not that effective anyway- air raid siren a bit heavy for the bars- but may work