Crazy person on Union Canal, Edinburgh

I met a crazy person on the canal at about 8 this morning just after I had crossed the aqueduct heading out of town. She seemed to be out running with her dog. She was running towards me and when I was about 30 metres away she started jumping on the path waving her arms and making strange noises. As she was blocking the path I stopped and got off my bike. She then started screaming in my face something incoherent about cyclists ruining her life and pushing me backwards towards the canal. This went on for a couple of minutes and then she ran off still ranting to herself.

She was probably mid-late 30s in age and about 5 foot tall, wearing a wooly hat. Can’t remember much else about her appearance.

Anyone else had a similar experience/encountered this person?

Hope she gets some treatment for whatever her problem is.

I had something similar but a male/middle class who shoved and pushed me. I got the distinct feeling that he was trying to make me assault him (he was slight/small and me a fair bit bigger). I immediately reported this to the local Police with the additional note about the provocation incase anyone is involved with him again/they feel they have to defend themselves/justified.

I do think you should report her even if you feel she may already put a bogus claim in.

My wife is short, runs, and thinks (a) cyclist(s) is ruining her life.

Be impressed if she’d run all that way though!

no experience of this jogger but the union canal consistently bring out the worse in bike/walker aggro in my experience.

i almost got pushed in passing a group of youth a few years ago. another bonus have a fat front set up i suppose is that it would help the bike float…

Worth reporting it to police 101, just in case she starts a proper fight or gets found in the canal. Well done on not reacting too badly ***goes to check Edinburgh Evening News for reports of body found in canal***

She wanted angry sex. Can you not read the signals man!

Calm down dear, it’s a shared-use path.

no experience of this jogger but the union canal consistently bring out the worse in bike/walker aggro in my experience.

+1 from me. Seen some odd stuff along there. Last time I rode there a Class A fanny overtook me on a narrow bit (I slowed down to pass some old ladies), buzzed passed the old dears and then he nearly crashed in the canal as he was so impatient to overtake an old boy on a bike he overlapped wheels with him and the old guy looked round, wobbled and sent the douche bag onto the verge and almost the canal. Just odd.

if it happens again Op get yer phone out and video the crazy lady so we can all have a laugh.

?

I was thinking it was a shame I didn’t have a GoPro. Would be interesting to watch back and try to make sense of what she was saying.

Hoof her in the slats. 😀

Trailseeker – no I don’t think she had been on the Bucky. I would have smelled it on her breath as she was screaming at me from less than a metre away and pushing me in the chest.

Pushing in the chest is assault. I’d make sure the local Police are aware of her before someone ends up in the canal

out running with her dog

‘kin dog walkers etc etc

I had a very similar experience on the Trans Penine Trail on Saturday afternoon.

A couple with a newly born in a push chair and a Weimerana dog off the lead, As i approached the female was alerted to me by her dog, she then told him, as i got closer i started thinking he’s deliberately blocking the trail here, i shouted “excuse me” to which he replied “get off and push” i asked to get past again but he started ranting and raving about not being able to go anywhere without there being Cars, lorries, busses, cyclists, horses, i told him to stay at home and not look out of his windows, which he couldn’t quite compute.

I then asked him if he did his grocery shopping on the internet so he didnt have to mix with others, whilst he was ranting on his Mrs was trying to get the dog on its lead and get hold on to the push chair as some walkers were approaching from the other direction. Whilst the other walkers were listening in i asked him if he knew it was the Penine Trail and if he knew it was shared use.

He said he was aware but that you cant ride bikes you have to push them,
I pedalled off and told him that i hoped he stood in a pile of dog shit.

” i told him to stay at home and not look out of his windows”

Priceless 🙂

Hmmmm. A person in Edinburgh going crazy which was somehow connected to dog walking……tell me, did ‘she’ have wild shoulder length hair and was definitely NOT wearing a bicycle helmet?

union canal consistently bring out the worse in bike/walker aggro in my experience.

I run along there 2 or 3 times a week at lunch and most people seem friendly enough, never had any agro with bikes, or dogs, or jakeys even.

Not seen the man with the saxophone for a while, did someone push him in the canal 😉

Is she really really thin ? I see the same woman running in the Edinburgh streets loads, she must do a huge circuit every morning, and clearly has some kind of eating disorder. Very very sad.

hels – i know who you mean. I would see her at all sorts of times of day all over the city, almost as if she was stalking me.

hels – no I don’t think it would be the same person. She didn’t strike me as very thin – didn’t really notice her shape but her face wasn’t particularly thin.

I came up behind a young bloke on the Burnley embankment who was standing right beside the water with his pelvis kind of pushed forwards and I though it odd that three women walking separately towards him all stopped and turned the other way simultaneously. It wasn’t until I’d passed him that I realised I’d missed an opportunity to barge a flasher into the canal. I bet he got a shock when I passed silently.

My friends spot her too wmky – she always has a wooley hat on. We call her Karen Carpenter and report sightings. One day I will chase after her with a sandwich.

” i told him to stay at home and not look out of his windows”

Priceless indeed and saved for all the Chermans here in the Black Forest who are very happy to tell you what is Verboten in their opinion.

Over to Slade…

It wasn’t e JEEE-SUS Woman was it? She’s quite often on the canal, she can be pretty furious when Jesus isn’t talking to her (or is telling her to kill, possibly)

I ride on the canal a few times a week, not had any real bother but I do like to stay on the dry side when possible when I’m passing people, just in case 😆 Best thing I did was upgrade to my Super Cheerful Bell, the old “ting!” one seemed to annoy people.

What does this JEEE-SUS woman look like? It’s likely I’ve passed her before but not noticed her.

Where did you get the super cheerful bell? Might be a good investment.

Although some folks seem to make it their business to be annoyed no matter how you ask them to let you get past.

Sort of late-30s, early 40s, always has headphones on, talking or singing to herself and quite a lot of it is JEE-SUS. She’s nice unless riled, at which point it is all unsurprisingly a bit biblical, I saw her boot a bloke right down the aisle of a 44 bus and off into the street, entirely with full on gavin hastings kicks to the balls.

Super cheerful bell was from CRC I think, it has a picture of a lemon on it but more importantly it sounds like instead of a Super Gnar Mountainbiker coming up behind you, it’s probably a small child on a pink tricycle with ribbons in her hair

What, depending on what you decide to wear that day Northwind ??

shouted “excuse me” to which he replied “get off and push”

so you’re blocking the trail and you want me to get off and push, effectively making me twice as wide as I currently am, and that will help me get passed you how?

****tards.
****tards everywhere.

hels – Member

What, depending on what you decide to wear that day Northwind ??

Yeah, you know how it is, sometimes you get out of bed a bit late and you don’t really have time for all the niceties

worth reporting to the cops anyway, not that they’ll do anything

Yes have seen her and had something a bit like that, theres another guy as well that can be a bit odd and jumped out on me one night. I tend to go round the road these days, i do apologise if it was anyone off here I almost head onned a few weeks back when i misjudged an overtake ! Sorry, wasn’t really plugged into my brain.

Could be my mate’s ex wife. She’s about that tall and not thin of face, plus she lives local to the aqueduct. She does reckon he ruined her life … and he’s a cyclist!

If it’s the woman I’m thinking off then she lives in the Currie/Balerno areas and yes, she does.

Locally we have a tree-hugger. I mean an actual tree-hugger. She’s stopped me on one of the big paths hereabouts and told me that she hugs the trees to give positive energy back to them.

Edinburgh, you say? This woman will have good reason to hate cyclists 😉

and told me that she hugs the trees to give positive energy back to them.

Runs off to buy a tree fancy dress costume

Was she in Belgium at the weekend?

what’s going on there rusty?