Is it worth the risk, I ask myself..

[night rider]

some guys on the Forth & Clyde canal earlier this week.....

 

[eldudino]

some guys on the Forth & Clyde canal earlier this week.....

A mate of mine works near a canal in Glasgow and was telling me yesterday that there was a bunch of cycle couriers racing round on the ice. Chicken oriental!

 

[Brains]

I think the question is would you skate on the canal ?

I'd have thought the pounds per sqare inch/kg per M are much the same between a bikes two wheels and a skaters two blades

 

[tdr1nka]

Time again for this me thinks.

 

[chris__P]

Time for this methinks (ff to 2.30)


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2_ZhemRmSs&feature=related


Imagine if it had been as deep as a canal

 

[darkstar]

I went on the canal on my snowboard yesterday, pulled along by a quadbike. I supose the weight was spread over the board though. Recon you'll be ok on your bike but make sure you check first!

 

[mr_cellophane]

I walked on the lake at St Wolfgang in Austria one February. It was frozen solid and locals drove snowmobiles over it. Despite that it creaked as we walked across. I certainly would not step on a canal, river or pond in this country.
There were interviews on the news yesterday of people who were walking on ponds in England. The reporters were asking if they thought it was dangerous as a couple of lads had died the day before. The people were very dismissive, saying the authorities just wanted to spoil their fun. No thought that someone would have to put their life at risk if they fell though the ice.

 

[Matthames]

Have you any way of telling how thick the ice is? This would vary according to a number of factors, like how cold it is and how quickly the water flows through the canal.

If you fell through the first thing that will happen that could quite possibly kill you is that the body goes into a gasp reflex. With this you could inhale a lung full of water and drown. If you survive that then you could find yourself unconscious within 10 minutes and dead pretty soon after that.

 

[downfader]

The trouble with ice, and I've said this before -always worth stating again, is that you need VERY think ice to support your weight. If there are cracks, or water is springing through thats a bad sign. Dont risk it for the sake of a bit of fun.

If you watch programs like Ice Road truckers theres about 2 foot of ice and the forward motion and lack of width adds to the strength. Lakes are often too wide, canals probably wont have fast flowing cold water rushing in cooling the temps as rivers do either. You also may not be able to tell the depth accurately from the surface, and it may be more shallow further in.

 

[addictfreak]

After incidents like this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8450071.stm

Im appalled we are even having this discussion, and it is not an isolated incident. Fortunately not all end in diaster, but you also need to think about the members of the public, Fire Fighters, Police and Paramedics who will risk their life for your thougtlessness.

 

[irc]

I think it depends on the place. Given that we have had the coldest winter since 1963 any small still lochs are likely to be safe , at least here in Scotland. Some of the lochs have 7 inches or more of ice. I walked across a local loch here (Mugdock Loch) a couple of days ago, no problem. Canals have the problem that there can be unseen flows from pipes and outflows etc which mean that the ice won't be a uniform thickness. Cycling on a canal or loch has the problem that your going so fast that by the time you get the warning signs of the ice creaking as the ice gets thinner you will be on the thinner part of the ice.

I once saw two guys on the ice in a canal basin fall through the ice. They were standing beside an existing hole in the ice though. They were in the water along with two cops who tried to rescue them for at least 15 minutes before the fire service arrived with ladders and an inflatable dinghy to get them all out. Three out he four survived that time in the water. I arranged for the fire service to attend. Watching those guys in the water while unable to help them was a hard thing to do.

So yes, extreme caution is best. If there is any open water or obviously thin ice anywhere I'll stay of the loch completely. Before this current freeze the last time I was out on a frozen loch was in the 1980s.

 

[Dilbert]

Apparently Whitehaven harbour is frozen over but there's no roving reporter to go and get a photo of that.

It froze over a few years ago when my Dad still lived up there, but the harbour is lock-gated as its now a Marina, with a beck flowing into it so its not as salty as the seawater.

 

[marinyork]

I'm amazed these reports of spending so much time on lakes and canals further south when a lot of the temperatures aren't that low. It's a bit more understandable in Scotland.

 

[snorri]

Have you any way of telling how thick the ice is?

If there is a curling match in progress, then it is probably thick enough, but wear a lifejacket just in case, it makes it easier to recover the body.

 

[jig-sore]

the canal between rugby and Daventry today (thinks it's the Oxford Canal ?). frozen but not safe