i have just come back from falling in the canal lol.
it wasn't intentional i can assure you, i was just cycling to the supermarket to go some shopping and my old duster bike that i have neglected when i tried to change to the lower chainring the chain came off completely so i was spinning like an idiot,along with being off balance at the time too i just toppled straight in to the canal 9along with my bike.
man i thought i was going to die as it happened so fast and i took a big gulp of canal water but thankfully i didn't breath it in jus drank the water (not intentionally) i was scrabbling around to try to get to the surface (but thankfully the edge of the canal is guite shallow so i could scrabble upwards and grab the foliage on the side to pull myself up. luckily my bike was on the plants at the edge so i could rescue my bike.
a very nice couple heard my falling in or such as they came over and helped us out of the canal again (and asking if i was ok etc) they were very kind and i want to thank them. once i got out i just laughed and explained what had happened regarding my chain and what an idiot i felt but also just glad to be alive too.
now i am back home again and dried off so obviously the first thing i do is make a thread about it lol.
am going for a bath now lol.
apologies for the stream on conscious thread i must add i just had to write it down for some reason (not a clue why it's a stupid idea lol)
CANALRIVERTRUST.ORG.UK Haha....but hate to be the bad news bloke but watch out if you have any broken skin, and as you swallowed some. Nasty rat wee Weils lurks, if you get 'flu' in the next few days / couple of weeks get to the GP or drop in centre for precautionary ABs
I met some rowers who rowed on the Thames.
They said everyone who fell in drank a can of coke.
That was quite some time ago, so not sure how good this advice is.
Hope this just remains a funny story!
The Coke idea doesn’t work. We all drank lots after our swift water training at Holme Pierrepoint and we were all still very ill!
I had a similar fate on Boxing Day a few years ago - not remarkable except it had recently snowed, the temperature was about -10C and I didn't have studded tyres. I got some false security from the newish snow, but didn't account for the local kids making a luge track as the path dipped under a bridge - I even took my foot out to stabilise myself, but a combination of velocity and zero friction propelled me and bike into the water. I remember looking skywards under the water and admiring the brilliant blue sky! Fortunately, the water under the bridge wasn't frozen over with thick ice and I was able to hook my bike with my foot and throw it up onto the towpath. I proceeded to wring the water from my clothes, but I was a fair way from home and a location not easy to find - it would probably take 20-30 minute for Mrs DB to drive over and find me, so I decided that keeping warm by riding home was the better option than standing around getting hypothermic. By the time I got home, I had a good crust of ice down my front - I just got into a hot shower fully clothed to thaw-out.
i took a big gulp of canal water but thankfully i didn't breath it in jus drank the water (not intentionally)
I feel ill just reading that!
I would honestly be prepared for some really dodgy stomach stuff over the next couple of days - canal water is vile.
I don't want to BARGE in, but it sounds like you CUT it fine and had a NARROWBOAT escape. Maybe it was the WINDLASS. Best not to trust your sat NAVVY in future and LOCK your bike away. You don't want a GRAND reUNION with the canal again.
Drinking the canal water was all part of a cunning plan to be able to watch the World Cup on your death bed, right? 🤣
POIDH.
🙃
One year i had a look back at a few years worth of uk drowning statistics. More people drown cycling than surfing.
THEWIRH.COM thanks for the replies 🙂
i feel ok atm (hopefully will stay that way fingers crossed) but definitely plan on contacting my doctor tomorrow morning about drinking the canal water and if i can get any shots etc for any diseases etc as a precaution.
at least i had 2 baths today now.
Better than getting squashed by a car. I'd take that.
Another vote for drinking coke, as recommended by medics after a Triathlon and a terrible after taste after the swim when I had finished. What a shock! Hopefully in a few weeks you can look back and laugh at the whole thing. I hope you stay illness free.
This has the potential for some explosive updates over the next couple of days
Lepto soup... Delicious
Does the type of coke matter - i.e. does it have to be full fat or will diet be ok? - just curious.
Back in 1976 I went on a canal trip with a couple of drinking partners after finals. There was a certain amount of drinking involved. One morning we were pootling along the Macclesfield canal, I was on the rudder, the other two sitting on the roof with cans in hand. They had been having a bit of banter and I then saw a massive nudge of one against the other. "Other" then went over the side into the canal. He emerged victoriously waving the can that he had kept hold of and took a swig. 50 years later he is still alive.
50 years later he is still alive.
... he's been blind ever since and lost the use of all of his limbs, but he's still alive.
but you didn’t die - so maybe it did work!The Coke idea doesn’t work. We all drank lots after our swift water training at Holme Pierrepoint and we were all still very ill!
Nearly happened to me once. Luckily there was a narrowboat moored at the potential point of entry for me to smash into instead. 🤕
I went to the bottom of the Kennet and Avon canal many years ago when a narrow boat took out our raft. I felt like utter shit for 3 weeks after that.
but definitely plan on contacting my doctor tomorrow morning about drinking the canal water
Please don't. Call your doctor if you get symptoms of something, like stomach cramps, or fever, or diarrhoea. The GP is just going to say to you "Call us back if you are ill"
If you don't feel any symptoms, than just go about your day.
Aye, don't call doc unless you are ill.
And stomach acid is far more powerful that the dafty Coke drinking idea. Your body is way more powerful than a sugary drink.
I was thrown into the Grand Union in Islington (dressed as a mermaid) in a shopping trolley when I finished my apprenticeship in the print. A ceremony known as "banging out". Then proceed to drink very heavily, including my one time in an illegal drinking spot in Clerkenwell as the pubs still shut at lunchtime.
I felt properly ill the next day but I'm not sure how much the canal water had to do with it.
I have been for a wade in the canal twice. Once getting into a kayak and once while getting out. The getting out incident was at Worsley where the canal water is orange as is the mud on the bottom. It was very hard to get out of the canal as the bank was high and the mud soft and I had to finder a bit of solid debris on the bottom to kick of.
You experience could have been worse we pulled father and daughter out of the canal who had upset a canoe and the father had lost his car keys and phone.
The coke thing was on the guidance for Holme Pierrepont the first time i went, about 3 months after it opened. I have a vague recollection that there was still a sewage outlet about 4 or 5 km upstream then, long since sanitised and/or closed i guess. But probably reopened in the last 15 or so years.
Think they recommended Diet.
I think whiskey or some other strong spirit might help. My sister went to someone's house for a nice meal, they had candles out (so light was dim) and were served chicken. After a few bites they realised the chicken was completely raw as the oven somehow hadn't been turned on. They'd all eaten several bites. Someone had the bright idea of drinking whiskey so the four of them got stuck in to a bottle. No-one was ill, but I think a good evening was had by all.
I had a cold one time, so I rubbed a toad on my face and a week later the cold had completely gone!
The coke remedy is bullshit. My sister swam across the local river when on a trail run a couple of years ago and ended up with a kidney infection, it took 3 rounds of antibiotics to finally clear it up. Hospital doc told her they have seen an increase in kidney infection since the popularity of wild swimming.
My job involves working in and around rivers and brooks and I told her we do our utmost best to stay out them if we can but obviously not possible most of the time.
HPP was like an open sewer when it first opened and for a long time after could almost guarantee someone would have s and d for a few days even with cokes . still go now and then rafting and usually get a coke in it is better than it was but would rather not go now.. as above flu like symptoms should get to docs or Ed good luck
Is he still alive?
Probably still on the toilet 🙂
Which is the one that all the urban wakeboarders used to get? Leptospirosis? The one from rat pee.
OP's probably fine, just hope that there is enough toilet paper and a bucket within easy reach.
He has my sympathy, having eaten a ‘dodgy’ prawn last Saturday, I’m still suffering the consequences. I recommend a catering big roll pack.
