Cycling UK Forum

Had a nice ride today, saw some llamas in a field, which was slightly unexpected, stopped off at the Hogs Back brewery in both directions for some ale (protip: decant beer into plastic bottle before attempting to cycle). Only slight annoyance was the heavy traffic coming back (rush hour) and the obnoxious idiot who came up behind me on the Basingstoke canal towpath dinging his bell.

I ignored him as I was doing about 14mph which I felt was more than fast enough on a narrow shared path, so he said 'shall I come left or right'. I said 'up to you mate', so he said 'I'm just trying to make it easier for you'. He passed me then I sat on his back wheel at 19-20mph, while he blasted away through the dog walkers, other cyclists, the old lady trying to prune the flowers alongside her barge, each time dinging his bell three or four times and not slowing down at all. He was on a white mountain bike and wearing fingerless gloves, looked like a regular cyclist from the size of his thighs; we went our separate ways after 3 miles or so, when he for some reason he continued along the towpath on the slow overgrown side rather than the wider, surfaced side, while I continued along the road, which from that point was much straighter than the meandering canal.

Unfortunately I missed the obvious opportunity to point out that if he wants to ride at 20mph, there's a perfectly cycle-friendly road running roughly parallel. Hopefully some day someone will stand their ground when he comes blasting towards him, and then push him in the canal.

Just to check.

He was riding way too fast on the canal path - and you were following him?

Well he did do a very good job of clearing the way.
Why annoy/inconvenience everybody twice.

This is a sign of us cyclists gaining popularity, no longer is it the polite elite (like my good self (where is the halo smiley)) on cycles, rescuing damsels in distress. Now you have common scum out on bikes too, with all their horrible modern inconsideration.
The price of success, I think I'll go back to my motorcycle chapter where gentlemen still reign.

thelawnet wrote:Hopefully some day someone will stand their ground when he comes blasting towards him, and then push him in the canal.

And then we'll have years of debate about whether cyclists should wear buoyancy aids - no thanks.

horizon wrote:

thelawnet wrote:Hopefully some day someone will stand their ground when he comes blasting towards him, and then push him in the canal.

And then we'll have years of debate about whether cyclists should wear buoyancy aids - no thanks.

No need - wear a helmet to help you float.

Someone working in a bike shop once told me he crashed with another cyclist and ended up in the canal.

horizon wrote:Someone working in a bike shop once told me he crashed with another cyclist and ended up in the canal.

A group of use were running alongside the canal once and one of the guys simply ran off the edge.
Hysterically funny (at least once we'd realised he wasn't going to drown).

I'd never realised up until then just how shallow canals are.

A workmate's brother stopped on a canal towpath, put his foot on what looked like grass but it was covering the edge of the canal, fell right in.

As for the guy in the original posting, some people are speed/adrenalin junkies. Not much different to the idiot motorcyclists you see hogging the back right side of your car before overtaking at way beyond the speed limit.

gilesjuk wrote:A workmate's brother stopped on a canal towpath, put his foot on what looked like grass but it was covering the edge of the canal, fell right in.

As for the guy in the original posting, some people are speed/adrenalin junkies. Not much different to the idiot motorcyclists you see hogging the back right side of your car before overtaking at way beyond the speed limit.

you can speed on a bicycle on any road you choose, it is not necessary to do it on a canal towpath.

thelawnet wrote: then I sat on his back wheel at 19-20mph, while he blasted away through the dog walkers, other cyclists, the old lady trying to prune the flowers alongside her barge, each time dinging his bell three or four times and not slowing down at all...

and in so doing, appearing to the innocent public at large, as not one, but two obnoxious cyclists! Oh Dear.

Err how was he being obnoxious, other than riding perhaps a little fast for the conditions. He was giving an audible warning of his approach. How many times do we get other users of footpaths / towpaths tell us we should have a bell?
He wasn't yelling obscenities at the other users, was he?

I guess that fact that he was "riding perhaps a little bit too fast for the conditions" and failing to slow down around other path users combined with Lawnet's idea that other path users would need to "stand their ground" implies that he was intimidating them to get out of his way.

Rather like the car horns it is impossible to draw a line between a warning of presence and "get out of my way".

I should imagine he was breaking the terms of the permissions you have for cycling on a towpath.
Round here you (theoretically) have to have a permit- and to get one have to accept a code of conduct. He was clearly breaking the one I signed up to.

^ Still? That used to be the case for British waterays but isn't any longer as far as I am aware

Isn't it? I got mine only a year or two ago.
Beg pardon if I'm giving duff gen.