Cattle grids - How to?

mherbie

Whats the best way to ride over a cattle grid, is it best to ride at speed, slow down or just avoid because the bike will shatter into a cloud of carbon and I will thus die?

Cheers

amaferanga

Straight. That's all that matters.

nathancom

With skis attached to the wheels

scrumpydave

Sideways probably not a good option.

Apart from that, don't worry. Only thing to be careful of is that they are slippery in the wet, so best not to try to accelerate/brake over them.

The Little Onion

I used to be really scared of them. Treat them like short sections of wet cobbles - don't worry about being too fast or slow, don't try to change your speed, take them perfectly perpendicular to the bars, and relax your body (out of the saddle, cranks parallel to ground, bent and relaxed knees and elbows). Confidence is key.

Bordersroadie

There's one that I cross on a regular route, on a downhill section, at about 35mph. A quick lift of the front wheel so that only the rear touches it, is my tried and trusted technique. The matching one is a mile before, on a 10% uphill gradient, so slowly at 90 degrees to the rails is the key.

We have loads of grids round our way. The flat steel type are fine. If you come across on old style steel tube type, it's a different ball game altogether. . .

mherbie

All good advise, thank you

marcusjb

Bordersroadie wrote:

We have loads of grids round our way. The flat steel type are fine. If you come across on old style steel tube type, it's a different ball game altogether. . .

Agreed - meet the tube type going uphill on a wet day and they are a right pain in the behind, as the wheel will just spin as you pedal.

As others have said - square on - be confident. Speed is not overly relevant (though very high speed can be a little scary - some people will bunny hop them at high speeds).

The only thing I dislike more are train/tram tracks - especially when the do not intersect the road at 90 degrees.