Canal path "spills" - what do you do?

[Kingfisher101]

I've cycled through one of those on my mountain bike and it was really slippy and the tyre got stuck in between 2 flagstones at the bottom, I came off into the deep puddle and it snapped the rear derallieur off as well.
I've walked over the planks and wheeled the bike since at the side but I've not been on a bike there for years.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'd just put the bike onto back wheel and wheel across.
Not seen any like that on Leeds Liverpool canal.

With skill you can skim your bike along the top of the canal water, and skim back onto the towpath after the bridge.

 

[chris667]

I'm a lifelong cyclist, but I have also lived on a boat for a very long time.

My feeling is there are some parts of the canals that aren't designed to be cycled on, and cyclists should accept that. As a cyclist, you are often the fastest vehicle using that space - you should adapt yourself to the environment rather than expect the environment to adapt to you.

I have nothing against anyone riding on canals, but if you get involved with anything involved with towpaths people end up in little self-righteous groups. The boaters hate the walkers, who hate the fishermen, who hate the cyclists, who hate the joggers, who hate the dog walkers. If everyone was just a bit more considerate it would be a much nicer place to be.

If you come to an obstacle like that on the towpath, my feeling is you should not be ashamed to unload your panniers and walk across a couple of times. Or ask a passing boater if they'd give you a lift. I've done that for people in the past.

But generally, if you are on a bike on a towpath you should be prepared to walk sometimes.

 

[presta]

Are these spills found on many canal paths?

I've ridden or walked (parts of) the Kennet & Avon, Chelmer & Blackwater, Leeds & Liverpool, Lancaster, Exeter, Oxford, Monmouthshire & Brecon, Bridgewater, and Manchester & Ashton canals, and I've not seen them anywhere other than the Rochdale Canal.

they are really not designed to be cycled over

I have though, on my Horizon whilst fully laden, and I'm pretty cautious with fords if they look mossy or slippery.

don't think me carrying a loaded bike is any safer

You don't need to, take the panniers off and carry them over separately.

I've been over this bridge at Grosmont ford, which is too narrow to wheel the bike beside you, with or without panniers, by pushing it along in front of me whilst holding on to the back of the rack. (You can't ride it, because there's no room to get on and off it at the top of the stone steps at each end.)

 

[ColinJ]

I'm a lifelong cyclist, but I have also lived on a boat for a very long time.

My feeling is there are some parts of the canals that aren't designed to be cycled on, and cyclists should accept that. As a cyclist, you are often the fastest vehicle using that space - you should adapt yourself to the environment rather than expect the environment to adapt to you.

I have nothing against anyone riding on canals, but if you get involved with anything involved with towpaths people end up in little self-righteous groups. The boaters hate the walkers, who hate the fishermen, who hate the cyclists, who hate the joggers, who hate the dog walkers. If everyone was just a bit more considerate it would be a much nicer place to be.

If you come to an obstacle like that on the towpath, my feeling is you should not be ashamed to unload your panniers and walk across a couple of times. Or ask a passing boater if they'd give you a lift. I've done that for people in the past.

But generally, if you are on a bike on a towpath you should be prepared to walk sometimes.

The thing about those little plank footbridges is that they are useless for anybody who isn't on foot and able-bodied. There are 3 or 4 of them in 6 km of towpath.

I tried wheeling my bike across the planks but it is hard to balance. It isn't too bad carrying my lightweight bikes but my MTB is a bit heavy, and a chunky ebike would be a nightmare. Probably better to wheel the bike through the water while 'walking the plank', though it would be a bit of a stretch down.

The real answer is to do what they did here in Todmorden - build sensibly wide footbridges.

I agree about everyone being more considerate to each other!

 

[Peter Salt]

In my experience, they can be cycled through on a MTB, but even then, they're extremally slippery. Best to dismount and carry the bike over.

 

[ColinJ]

I have though, on my Horizon whilst fully laden, and I'm pretty cautious with fords if they look mossy or slippery.

They aren't so bad when the cobblestones are not mossy and underwater, though some of the gaps between stones are big enough to trap road tyres, which is not a fun experience!

 

[PaulSB]

Thank you, @ColinJ!

If anyone is wondering what I'm talking about, the first photo in ColinJ's post is one of the more dangerous-looking ones. After reading your account, I don't fancy trying to ride through it but don't think me carrying a loaded bike is any safer. @Mazz I assumed it was the CRT who dealt with it but will check. I'll also be looking for more news about this being improved. I suppose if I'm including that area in a tour anytime soon I'd be slightly safer just taking the road instead, which is a shame as that path is so beautiful.

As far as other canal paths go - is this sort of plank bridge thing typical or is it only on this one path?

I know this towpath having walked and ridden it. I've also ridden much of the canal paths in Lancashire and Greater Manchester. The Rochdale canal is the only place I've seen these slipways.

Generally speaking hazards on towpaths are few and far between. I wouldn't worry about it, just push or carry through one way or another.

 

[thistler]

I tried wheeling my bike across the planks but it is hard to balance. It isn't too bad carrying my lightweight bikes but my MTB is a bit heavy, and a chunky ebike would be a nightmare. Probably better to wheel the bike through the water while 'walking the plank', though it would be a bit of a stretch down.

The real answer is to do what they did here in Todmorden - build sensibly wide footbridges.

I agree about everyone being more considerate to each other!

I did start off trying to do this but the bike was too far down for me to do anything other than crawl on the "bridge". I did wonder if I could make some kind of stick hook thing to hold on to the bike while I walked across the plank but I don't have the ingenuity to do that and it doesn't sound like a sensible option. It didn't occur to me to just take off the panniers and make several trips if I were touring. It would be inconvenient as you say there are 3 or 4 in fairly quick succession but a bit more time spent getting across is far better than falling and possibly putting an end to a tour. Even so, carrying an unloaded bike across isn't that safe, for me anyway. I wonder how slippery those cobblestones would be for wading across as Hobbes suggested.

Do you have any idea when they are thinking about improving them @ColinJ or is it just being discussed? And do you know who is doing the discussing - the council or the CRT?

 

[chris667]

The thing about those little plank footbridges is that they are useless for anybody who isn't on foot and able-bodied.

Actually they were designed for horses, and they're fine for that.

I am pretty sure that those foot bridges only exist on that part of the network, and as such I wonder whether it is the right thing to keep them. You could consider replacing those "improvement" and you have a point, but their suitability for a certain group of user isn't the only consideration when you're talking about a historic environment. Some would also consider that anything which slows cyclists down on some stretches of the towpath might be a good thing, and they have a point too. Towpaths aren't for cyclists, but many cyclists think they are. I once had a cyclist shout at me for holding him up "on the cycle path" - I was tying my boat up at the time. The irony!

The half-turf locks on the K&A and South Oxford are a fine case in point - not nearly as safe as locks with brick walls, but they were never replaced because they're distinctive to that bit of the network. The cycle path routed around them along the M4 instead.

I'm not commenting on what I think, because frankly who cares! Just putting some other points of view out there.

 

[Jameshow]

With skill you can skim your bike along the top of the canal water, and skim back onto the towpath after the bridge.

I bunny hop them.. Peter Sagan and pidcock have nothing on me!🤣🤣🤣

 

[thistler]

Actually they were designed for horses, and they're fine for that.

You must be thinking of something else, as an ex-barn manager I can tell you there is no way a horse could safely get across these planks. Not only are they too narrow, but they barely take the weight of a person with a bike. Or did you mean someone might lead a horse across the cobbled spill while they are walking on the plank?

The CRT website seems to promote cycling on the paths. I'm slow and happy to stop or get off if there are walkers or boaters needing the space, but I have seen the sorts of cyclists you've mentioned.

I was mainly concerned that this might be a feature on many canals, I'm glad to learn that they aren't.

 

[thistler]

After thinking about it, if the bridges were once used for horses then they would have had to have been much stronger and wider. If they were re-instated to that kind of spec there would be no problem getting a bike across!

 

[presta]

some of the gaps between stones are big enough to trap road tyres

That's the overriding memory I have of them. Focusing on that, I wan't really thinking about slipping.

I like it as a route though, I used it several times en route between the Peak and the Dales, I used to pick it up at Middleton, north of Manchester, and come off below Mankinholes YHA. Nice and traffic free, unlike the Glossop-Stalybridge-Ashton-Oldham-Chadderton section.

Since I quit cycling I've finished off the rest of the path from Middleton to the YHA at Potato Wharf on foot.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Last time I checked there are plans to improve these spillways, but a compromise between keeping the canal heritage and modernising the crossing is being sought.

These spillways do exist on other canals, in fact if you continued on the Rochdale onto the Calder/Hebble Navigation you'd find this just outside of Brighouse.

No plank bridge but it is a spillway. I do use a canal forum infrequently so I might post something there to see how common they are.

Brighouse
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7TTzJMXJabhsf7yt6