Has anyone else taken the canal literally?.

kayo74
kayo74 Posts: 299
edited October 2013 in MTB general
Hi

Out yesterday all good and got caught out on wet, slippery uneven cobbles front end went and me and bike were in the canal....oops . A matter of seconds me and bike unhurt no damage was out but soaking wet and felt a total idiot but been laughing to my self since.
I can't be the only one!!!.

Comments

  • ednino
    ednino Posts: 684
    how fast were you going!
    Lucky it wasn't the Gloucester canal, its 18 ft deep!!
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,700
    Yep, had a similar thing when I was a nipper

    However, the best one ever was last year and was my old lady who has started getting into cycling and that. We were riding along a Sustrans path that goes next to an old, now dissused, canal which had flooded a bit and was covering the path on the left hand side. I was riding behind her and the old man in front. Dad stirred up all the silt and stuff and (you can see where this is going) and she couldnt tell the difference between path and canal and....

    I deserve a medal for not howling with laughter!

    It's not uncommon for drunk people to mistake canals for bike paths in Holland either....
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • rockmonkeysc
    rockmonkeysc Posts: 14,774
    A "friend" once fell in the canal while showing off in front of some girls on the way to school once.
    Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=13070235
  • kayo74
    kayo74 Posts: 299
    ednino wrote:
    how fast were you going!
    Lucky it wasn't the Gloucester canal, its 18 ft deep!!
    Not fast, only approx 6ft deep not in it long enough....lol.
  • stubs
    stubs Posts: 5,001
    For my 40th birthday me and my mates did a canal pub crawl. We started at Wigan and stopped at every pub heading towards Lydiate on the Leeds & Liverpool canal, there are 13 pubs on that stretch and by Scarisbrick we were so drunk I got thrown into the canal. By the time we got to Lydiate we had all been pushed, thrown and ridden into the canal at least twice. Funny but the landlord of the last pub the Running Horses wouldnt let us in the pub.
    Fig rolls: proof that god loves cyclists and that she wants us to do another lap
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    I haven't but every year a bunch of our students do, the list of medication they get put on afterwards is pretty long :lol: Full of worms, those canals.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • mattv
    mattv Posts: 992
    Had a guy about 18 months ago bring a Brompton in for a full strip down service. When queried, he said it had spent 18 hours in the canal....
  • coulddobetter
    coulddobetter Posts: 812
    Used to lifeguard at a bathing place on the Thames in Oxford . Was jumping bike into the river when my boss arrived. He reminded me of of it by getting my brother to include it in a wedding speech.
  • Kowalski675
    Kowalski675 Posts: 4,412
    Northwind wrote:
    I haven't but every year a bunch of our students do, the list of medication they get put on afterwards is pretty long :lol: Full of worms, those canals.

    Not to mention Weils disease. Canal water's foul, you really don't want to ingest it.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Kowalski675 wrote:
    Northwind wrote:
    I haven't but every year a bunch of our students do, the list of medication they get put on afterwards is pretty long :lol: Full of worms, those canals.

    Not to mention Weils disease. Canal water's foul, you really don't want to ingest it.

    This was what I was thinking :shock:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • Graham K
    Graham K Posts: 329
    Had a mate fall in the other year, dunno how he managed it, was pretty funny.

    When we were kids we used to blast up and down the canal, 1 day 1 of the lads was showing off about his new toe clips, as we were riding down the lad in the lead just came to a halt, as we all stopped the kid with the new toe clips couldnt get his feet out in time, and yes, SPLASH, fell into the canal in full ride position :lol:
    Still gets a smile and chuckle whenever I pass that area :D
  • thelonegroover
    thelonegroover Posts: 1,073
    Dread to think what else is in a canal in Manchester!
    Planet X Kaffenback 2
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  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Probably be alright as long as you don't hit the old bike/supermarket trolley/Ford galaxy (delete as appropriate) on the way in!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Graham K
    Graham K Posts: 329
    Thelonegroover wrote:
    Dread to think what else is in a canal in Manchester!

    We stopped at a pub on the canal at Stalybridge yesterday as the Canal type people were there doing a clean up, dozens of trolley's from the neighbouring Tesco and a couple of motorbikes were pulled up, no dead bodies or cars whilst i was there :cry:
  • welshkev
    welshkev Posts: 9,690
    no but a fisherman ended up in the canal once after he threatened my mate :lol:

    this was years ago and my mate pete is about 5ft 2 and weighs about 10 stone. we were riding down the tow path and a fisherman had is fishing rod over the path, pete asked him if he could move it so we could get past "feck off" came the reply. so we stepped over it, but petes tyre brushed the rod. the guy gets up going mental and effing and blinding.

    he goes for pete as he was the smallest I guess, but he's a pretty tough guy for a small kid and he dodges his grab, spins him around and kicks him up the arse....this kick sends him off balance and into the canal :lol:

    we did help him out and after a few more mutterings we go on our way :lol:
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    A couple of winter's ago, I ventured out on Boxing Day, it was about minus 10 degrees and the towpath was compacted snow, still giving enough grip on ordinary offroad tyres. About 10 miles further, there was a slight 'chute' as the path narrowed under a bridge - I unclipped a foot to stabilise myself to find that the path was polished ice, slipped sideways and propelled into the icy-depths.
    Whilst most of the open sections were frozen, it was clear under the bridge. I hauled myself onto the bank - whilst my mobile was still working, it would take my wife 20 minutes to drive and find me and worried about the effects of hypothermia, squeezed as much water as I could from clothes and set off slowly back for home. The front of my jacket and tights iced over and my hands and feet were painfully cold, blue lips and teeth chattering before I got home!
    I use studded tyres now when it's below freezing.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Do you suppose I can get away with an anal canal joke?
    Uncompromising extremist
  • Kowalski675
    Kowalski675 Posts: 4,412
    Northwind wrote:
    Do you suppose I can get away with an anal canal joke?


    keepcalmandtryanale.jpg
  • duke duvet
    duke duvet Posts: 61
    Not quite a canal but a river that runs alongside the railway from Bolton to Horwich way after a ride over Rivington

    The path was more grassy singletrack and weaved around two rocks, I remember thinking if I hit them I would probably end up in the water. Of course I hit said rocks and over into the river I went which was up to chest height.

    Even worse there was a train stopped at a red light right next to said river. So there I was in the water thinking if I get out the whole train will be killing themselves laughing so stupidly I dedcided to hide in the water... Then I thought what if they think I have drowned?

    Never again.
  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,780
    I rode into the basingstoke canal when I was 12, riding my dads fixed gear that was way too big for me
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    duke duvet wrote:
    Not quite a canal but a river that runs alongside the railway from Bolton to Horwich way after a ride over Rivington

    The path was more grassy singletrack and weaved around two rocks, I remember thinking if I hit them I would probably end up in the water. Of course I hit said rocks and over into the river I went which was up to chest height.

    Even worse there was a train stopped at a red light right next to said river. So there I was in the water thinking if I get out the whole train will be killing themselves laughing so stupidly I dedcided to hide in the water... Then I thought what if they think I have drowned?

    Never again.

    Brilliant, how long did you have to stay in the river... did you do the old reed trick :mrgreen:
  • duke duvet
    duke duvet Posts: 61
    I think I was in about 10 minutes at which point I thought Im getting out even if a train load of people are watching. I would like to say I was 12 at the time but probably in my late 20's.

    Yes the reed trick would have been the answer, hide under the water, reed aloft to a discreet place to exit said river. Not sure what tyres you need for a submersed river bed mind.
  • pesky_jones
    pesky_jones Posts: 2,890
    duke duvet wrote:
    I think I was in about 10 minutes at which point I thought Im getting out even if a train load of people are watching. I would like to say I was 12 at the time but probably in my late 20's.

    Yes the reed trick would have been the answer, hide under the water, reed aloft to a discreet place to exit said river. Not sure what tyres you need for a submersed river bed mind.

    Ha nice one. It makes me laugh because that's what I reckon I'd end up doing. And whilst doing it, I would be thinking "I'm so wierd for doing this"..apparently not
    duke duvet wrote:
    Not sure what tyres you need for a submersed river bed mind.

    Definitly 650b
  • duke duvet
    duke duvet Posts: 61
    judging by the hype going round if I had been riding 650b I would probably have been able to 'ride on water'
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Oh and shouldn't it be "fallen into the canal literally"? I don't think anyone here has literally taken a canal.
    Uncompromising extremist

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