Hazard in Tenerife

[theloafer]

from ctc forum

Anyone cycling in Tenerife this winter be aware of a potentially lethal hazard in the village of Tijico Bajo - a drain cover laid across the road with slots in line with the direction of travel, wide enough to take a road bike tyre. Two of my cycling companions were hospitalized because of this last week - legal action is being taken.

Pic at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedalpushers/8401090109/in/photostream

 

[ColinJ]

That's a crazy thing to have across a road, and a very good reason to practice bunnyhopping!

I hope that the two cyclists make a quick recovery.

 

[RWright]

There is a storm drain in my town with the grid going that direction. It is about 2 feet wide running out from the sidewalk into the street. I cringe every time I ride by it on my bike. All the way across the street like that is a nightmare.

 

[ankaradan]

Sadly these are very common here; you get used to crossing them on the diagonal, and hoping no cars coming behind you

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

That's mental really shocking

 

[lulubel]

We have a couple of those in the town where I live, and at least 2 or 3 more in the next town towards the coast (and I haven't explored that one thoroughly, so there could be more).

They're pretty common in Spain.

 

[numbnuts]

Very wide tyres comes to mind

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Nasty business.

 

[bigtoe]

Nope nawt wrong with them, standard cycling grid to keep cyclist outa town centre.

 

[PocketFrog]

Awful!! You wouldn't see that until it was way too late!

 

[ColinJ]

Awful!! You wouldn't see that until it was way too late!

I agree that they are awful, but I'd spot those a mile off and make damn sure to bunnyhop them. No excuse for some idiot choosing to put them on the road though!

(I'm sure that somebody will now post a picture of a road with two sets of them close together, the second set being where a bunnyhopping cyclist would land ... )

 

[ColinJ]

I've spoken to a friend who spends most of the year in Tenerife and he thinks he knows that grate. If not, he has encountered one identical to it. He was admiring the scenery when he came to it so he didn't react in time to bunnyhop it. The result was two punctured tubs and two dented rims. He didn't actually crash but it was a near thing.

 

[lulubel]

I've spoken to a friend who spends most of the year in Tenerife and he thinks he knows that grate. If not, he has encountered one identical to it. He was admiring the scenery when he came to it so he didn't react in time to bunnyhop it. The result was two punctured tubs and two dented rims. He didn't actually crash but it was a near thing.

I suspect they're not very common over there, then. In this part of Spain, they're something you know to look out for when you're cycling in unfamiliar places.

 

[Biker Joe]

Whoops!
Thanks for the info.

 

[Norry1]

I'm in Tenerife at the moment and have ridden over a few drain covers that looked dodgy. The first one seemed to half grab my tyre. I've hopped them all since.