Email to British Waterways

[Rhythm Thief]

Take the OP substitute road for canal, drivers for cyclists, and cyclists for pedestrians, tweak one or two details and it reads like a classic "might is right" daily wail moan. imo. ymmv.

When using shared spaces like towpaths and when around pedestrians generally ride very slowly and be prepared to give way, often. That's life.

Exactly.

 

[jimboalee]

And remember....

When riding past a pedestrain on the canal towpath, always give a generous three feet between you and the ped'.

 

[Norm]

This post...

Just as cars and lorries are subject to more rules on teh road than bikes, so bikes should be subject to a more rigorous code of conduct that pedestrians on a towpath.

Made me think "Wouldn't it be nice to see the Police stopping cars and lorries to have a word about how they should act around bikes". But then Gouldina said

It's the same thing on the roads - the police hand out "safe cycling" information to cyclists but don't give out "how to be safe around cyclists" information to the car and lorry drivers.

Which was pretty much the same point.

From this, thought, though, I re-read parts of the OP and thought that it wouldn't take much to switch it from canals and cyclists /peds to roads and cars / cyclists. But then Greg posted...

Take the OP substitute road for canal, drivers for cyclists, and cyclists for pedestrians, tweak one or two details and it reads like a classic "might is right" daily wail moan. imo. ymmv.

When using shared spaces like towpaths and when around pedestrians generally ride very slowly and be prepared to give way, often. That's life.

Which was, again, pretty much the same point.

So, I guess I don't have much to say on the OP but I did think that this one was hilarious...

And remember....

When riding past a pedestrain on the canal towpath, always give a generous three feet between you and the ped'.

I didn't read this thread before posting about my interactions with pedestrians in another thread, but I ride along the Thames or through Virginia Water three or four times a week and the only issue I can remember with a ped was the chap who mistook my "Thank you" for a "F**k you", although that was amicably resolved once we had both spotted the error.

 

[gouldina]

Take the OP substitute road for canal, drivers for cyclists, and cyclists for pedestrians, tweak one or two details and it reads like a classic "might is right" daily wail moan. imo. ymmv.

Oh come on now. That's extremely harsh and rather patronising IMO.

The fact is that unlike car drivers and pedestrians who have their own dedicated spaces, cyclists are always forced to share with either of these groups. In either case, we're treated like the out-group and complained about and told how to behave. In the first case to avoid endangering ourselves and in the second case to avoid endangering pedestrians. Cyclists aren't the only members of the public who can do wrong in either of these shared spaces. The other users who are sharing that space need to be informed of the rules and dangers too. There's no point in telling me to slow down at towpath bridges and ring my bell (which I always do) when I'm confronted immediately by a jogger with headphones in going faster than I am coming the other way. Dog walkers need to keep their dogs on leads on shared access paths - that's the law as I understand it but how many dog walkers know that? I've been given about ten leaflets about how to behave on the canal though.

When using shared spaces like towpaths and when around pedestrians generally ride very slowly and be prepared to give way, often. That's life.

And I never said (or indeed have behaved) otherwise. That's nothing to do with what I'm saying in fact.

 

[Debian]

I don't have much of a problem with other users on towpaths... except for dog owners. Dogs on towpaths are a worse safety risk than cyclists. The dogs are either running free without any hint of control and who dart from side to side unpredictably and sometimes jump up at a cyclist, or they are on extending leads that are hard to spot so you have dog one side of the path and apparently unconnected owner on t'other but with a piece of near-invisible string in between.

IMHO all dogs in public places should be on traditional short leads. Towpaths should be clearly signed as such.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

like I said. imo. ymmv. and clearly does.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

oh for pity's sake....

Dogs were domesticated 15000 years ago and have been living alongside humankind in cities since the first cities were established. Bikes were invented in the 19thC. Get over it.

(No I don't own a dog, nor will I ever do so, don't see the point)

It goes like this; people and other living ambulant creatures have priority over people on machines powered by sweat, people on machines powered by sweat have priority over people in machines powered directly or indirectly by fossil fuels. It really isn't that complicated.

 

[Debian]

oh for pity's sake....

Dogs were domesticated 15000 years ago and have been living alongside humankind in cities since the first cities were established. Bikes were invented in the 19thC. Get over it.

(No I don't own a dog, nor will I ever do so, don't see the point)

It goes like this; people and other living ambulant creatures have priority over people on machines powered by sweat, people on machines powered by sweat have priority over people in machines powered directly or indirectly by fossil fuels. It really isn't that complicated.

And that's an excuse for letting dogs cause an unnecessary safety hazard? Paths are shared spaces and letting dogs roam all over it is monopolising it, not sharing. All I say is keep your dog under full control on public paths; if you can't guarantee that your dog will walk to heel and obey your commands then keep it on a lead. What's your problem with that?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

All I say is keep your dog under full control on public paths; if you can't guarantee that your dog will walk to heel and obey your commands then keep it on a lead.

or what, exactly, are you going to do about it? I'm no fan of dogs on or off lead when cycling but seriously, whatchagonnado?

My take, slow down, chillax, keep cool, live a little longer maybe. ymmv.

 

[JamesAC]

As a tertiary user ( Horses pulling narrowboats first and then Bargies with enamelled tea mugs second ) I personally don't think cyclists have any right to complain about there supposed rights on a canal tow path.

There are roads for wheeled vehicles.

+1

I use the canal path both as cyclist and pedestrian. In the latter guise, I take my life in my hands as lycra clad lunatics hurtle at stupidly high speeds along narrow, winding and often badly-sighted towpaths, scattering pedestrians and other cyclists in all directions.

Pedestrians have absolute priority on the towpath; cyclists are tolerated.

The the BW towpath code.

 

[gouldina]

or what, exactly, are you going to do about it? I'm no fan of dogs on or off lead when cycling but seriously, whatchagonnado?

My take, slow down, chillax, keep cool, live a little longer maybe. ymmv.

This is a wind-up right? Or a parody of someone like Ali G?

 

[gouldina]

+1

I use the canal path both as cyclist and pedestrian. In the latter guise, I take my life in my hands as lycra clad lunatics hurtle at stupidly high speeds along narrow, winding and often badly-sighted towpaths, scattering pedestrians and other cyclists in all directions.

Pedestrians have absolute priority on the towpath; cyclists are tolerated.

The the BW towpath code.

So how come you still cycle down the canal then? This is weird. On the one hand the cyclists on it are a menace and shouldn't be allowed and on the other it's OK for you. How does that work?

 

[Norm]

Now that one has to be a wind up!

Maybe he still cycles along the tow path because he doesn't subscribe to sweeping generalisations?

Just because some cyclists behave badly, it doesn't mean that all do. There's little weird in that, IMO.

 

[gouldina]

Now that one has to be a wind up!

Maybe he still cycles along the tow path because he doesn't subscribe to sweeping generalisations?

Just because some cyclists behave badly, it doesn't mean that all do. There's little weird in that, IMO.

Aye. To be honest, I'm also a little taken back by the idea that horses towing barges are the primary users on canal towpaths. They seem to be in hiding much like the Roman Legionaries who are surely the primary users on Roman Road which runs alongside the canal by me

 

[GrumpyGregry]

This is a wind-up right? Or a parody of someone like Ali G?

Blackadder version....

Pray do tell, if you encounter an uncontrolled canine in the company of its proprietor whilst on your velocipede what course of action would you undertake? When you encounter the next beast, perhaps leashed on this occasion, with what argument will you remonstrate with its hapless erstwhile owner? When, mere yards away, a third, a fourth, a fifth and sixth animal crosses your path with what force of rhetoric will you engage those in whose custody the unfortunate beasts chance to find themselves?

How many such pointless interactions, with (insert name of which ever group you are railing at here, drivers, pedestrians, fishermen, narrowboaters, dog owners, etc., etc..), doomed to fail from the very outset, do you engage in before your begin, slowly at first, but with increasing, shattering, awareness that other people's worlds don't revolve around your wants, and your perceived needs and supposed rights? That your attempts to influence the behaviour of others, that which you find so frustrating, are almost utterly futile? When do you learn that the only thing you have control over in this world is yourself?

in short whatchagonnado?

just sayin'