Just rode my bike into the canal. What to do?

Hit a branch that jerked my bars to the right, wrenched them round to the left to avoid a steep, high, bramble drop and managed to ride right in.
If it had to happen it happened pretty well – I wasn’t hurt, I was wearing old gear, my phone survived. I lost my sunglasses but they were a cheap and replaceable PX pair.

The bike is a rigid on-one whippet (they float quite well, who knew?). It dried out by the time I got it home so I’m leaving everything till tomorrow. So, what steps do I need to take to minimize damage?

As I was in the canal all I could think was “what a shame my mates aren’t here. They’d love this”.

Have a beer. (And maybe a call to the Doctors on Monday if you swallowed any of the water)

Oof – glad you’re keeping your sense of humour about it.

I wouldn’t worry about the bike. I’d worry about your guts!

Take the seat post out and hang upside down in a dry room. Other than that, spray the chain with rust inhibitor and keep riding it.

I run my OnOne Inbred through tidal river water all the time. Bearings are mostly water but the bike runs fine.

Tetanus up to date.

Watch for flu like symptoms which could indicate leptospirosis. Scary but keep it in the back of your mind.

Cover it in rice and leave it in the airing cupboard over night.

Make sure you lock it.

Local scroates swim in canals by me in summer so I wouldn’t be unduly worried. Bike will probably be fine.

I did that once. Tip it upside down to drain and chuck any pale socks in the bin. They’ll never come clean.

Get out of the canal?

Glad you are OK.  As for the scroats swimming, it’s probably too early yet so the water should not be affected.

Don’t forget to check your fenders, and give your brakes a tug while you’re at it.

The towpath should be properly maintained.To be honest I’d call the authorities and give them a stern talking to.

Were you the person who drove the Renault van into the Bridgewater canal?

That’s fantastic!  Well the story is.  Was it deep?

I had a road bike mate who done that.  Damaged his bike.  Told us that something fell on it in his garage.  His niece told us (as he was cycling to hers when it happened) that he had not been concentrating, crashed on a path and ended up in the river.  He denies it to this day, goes mad if you even dare bring it up.

Were you the person who drove the Renault van into the Bridgewater canal?

A Half Man Half Biscuit tour de force

One of my colleagues dislocated her shoulder riding into someone who stepped onto her path on the canal towpath, as it was that or the water.

The punchline to this is that her should was so knackered from previous dislocations that she’d managed to pop it back in before she got to A&E.

Bearing overhaul, I’d pull the cables out and WD-40 the inside of the outers, same inside shifters

At least it wasn’t November in the dark, that was surprisingly warm. Bike floated, lights survived (exposure only after I’d dried it out – probably cos I’d not bothered to put the cover over the charging port) and I also lost my glasses.

Just regrease moving parts, headset, jockey wheels, chain.

Take the seatpost out and forks out. Allow to dry and reassemble with water proof grease.

We’ve all done it, haven’t we? 😳

Why dont you have a gopro fitted ?. That would have been funny as hell.

Glad you weren’t cut. Sounds as if it was a narrowboat escape.
You need to improve your navvy-gation.
Pulling your bike out it must have been a grand re-union.

More people per year drown cycling than surfing

More people per year drown cycling than surfing

Get in the sea!

I had tea, not beer.

Thank you everyone, I didn’t swallow much so should be ok. I’m a SCUBA diver so I know to breathe out when in the water without a reg.

Bike upside down with seat post removed is great advice – I did that.

I am ashamed I didn’t think of covering it in rice. Good work wordnumb.

The towpath is pretty well maintained, I don’t blame whoever does it. There have been high winds recently, and loads of trees have moved. If I complained they’d be more likely to close the path than maintain it.

dyna-ti – it has made me consider getting a GoPro, which I’ve never wanted before.

dvnjhn – why would anyone deny something like this? Half of the fun in life comes from cock-ups … those of others AND our own. I look forward to a couple of weeks of being told I’m a tw*t (whilst keeping a list of names so I can eventually pay it back).

didnthurt – name checks out.

Anyway, bike seems ok. I’m going to hose it down in a bit then get to re-greasing. I’ll let you all know next time I do something daft.

Glad you’re ok. A dog walker admitted to me that she throws the unbagged dog dirt into our local canal. I explained that this upsets the balance of nature, also what if several people did this everyday.

I went in to the canal near my local after refreshing myself at length at said hostelry. Still clipped in, which was probably for the best or I may well have lost the bike. That was probably about 13 years ago. Threw the bike back in the shed when I got home, and haven’t done any maintenance on it, ever, except oil the chain and service the cup and cone hubs once before the canal incident. Rode it in to town last week. Runs perfectly.

Go back and trim the branch.

qwerty

I like your suggestion, but it’s not really a branch – it’s one of those trees that has split almost in two. I’ve cycled that path hundreds of times and never clipped it before, so I think the high winds and wet weather might have caused it to slip a bit. I’d rather a qualified tree-surgeon took a look instead of a know-nothing like me hacking away at it.

I’ll take a look tomorrow as I’m heading that way again, but I reckon there’s still plenty of room and it was poor judgment on my part.

I cycled the route again today, I thought I’d best do it soon.

I had a good look at the tree – there was plenty of room for me to get past, I think I clipped the tree because I was trying to avoid a muddy puddle.

I wouldn’t like to cut off the offending branch – it’s not exactly half the tree but it’s a good thickness and grows upward into multiple smaller branches, you’d have to remove a good portion of the tree to make difference . Interestingly it was clear that someone who knows what they are doing has sawn off one of these smaller branches, so it’s a known issue.

Anyway, bike is working fine, I’m ok, and my workmates had something to cheer up their monday morning when I told them – could be worse, eh?

If the On-One was lighter you could’ve barged through the brambles and dock leaves and tugged the bike on the tow path.

why would anyone deny something like this? Half of the fun in life comes from cock-ups … those of others AND our own. I look forward to a couple of weeks of being told I’m a tw*t (whilst keeping a list of names so I can eventually pay it back).

Well said. We need more people like you in this world. I know a few people who take themselves and their image far too seriously and it doesn’t convince anyone.

I rode a unicycle into a canal once. Dark, foggy night, failing light batteries on an unfamiliar path while away with work (not my finest decision making…) I ducked under a low bridge but it was lower than I thought and there was nowhere left to go but in…

I had some funky red string lights around the wheel, I remember thinking they looked very pretty floating just under the water, illuminating all the floating grime I had just kicked up.

Glad you’re ok. A dog walker admitted to me that she throws the unbagged dog dirt into our local canal. I explained that this upsets the balance of nature, also what if several people did this everyday.

We’d privatise them and put then in charge of providing our clean water….

I hope when you surfaced you shouted “Mr Grimsdale!” at the top of your voice

Open hubs, bottom bracket and headset, pedal bearings, drain water, clean and re-lube. If there is water there, open the seals of the bearings and clean + relube.

I have done the same, except it was seawater that was flooding the road. I thought no biggie, I will just pedal through, but it got deeper and deeper, I could not stop, and eventually the water level was higher than the hubs. Powered on through, thought about dying if there is a washout underneath and I fall with my feet attached to the pedals and go under. Stayed upright, but bottom bracket and rear hub were full of salty water. Did a full stripdown and regrease the next day, there was plenty of water inside the bearings and frame + bottom bracket.