CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting

Innocent Path Grit Boxes?

(27 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from Cyclingmollie

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Remember the end of last year and the start of this when conditions on the Innocent saw riders going down left right and centre? Well I do cos I was amongst them!

    Questions were asked of the Council (I believe they were repeated on here) as to whether the main off-road cycling commuting routes would be 'treated' this year. The debate will obviously rage as to whether you want mushed salt or grit getting into your bikes moving parts, but at the time the response from the Council was that grit boxes would be provided at the entrances.

    This brought with it fresh questions as to exactly how the whole path gets spread in that instance, with wonderful designs on bike mounted grit spreaders mooted for the first person along the paths.

    Anyway, this morning, leaving work later then normal I just decided to take the road in, thinking the Innocent would be icy (I'm lead to believe it was indeed the case by Kirst) and started pondering if I'd seen any grit boxes installed. I can't think of any, but I may have been selectively blind - has even the inadequate promise of the Council been kept to? Or did they decide instead that they WOULD treat the paths? Hmmm?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. steveo
    Member

    I think CEC need to engage with LBB and stakeholders in the CCE community to employ a RTGS to ensure the synergy between our off road and highway networks.

    Translation for the rest of us.

    The council need to get Laidback to rent them a 'bent trike, get have some one rig up a spreader attachment then get Min or Anth to ride down there in the morning with the grit supplied by the council.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. Min
    Member

    There are no grit bins. I thought of that this morning as I approached the corner I came off at last year. It wasn't really icy though, more a layer of frost over everything but you couldn't really tell until you were rolling over it.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    "There are no grit bins."

    Didn't there used to be one at bottom of steep path near bottom end of tunnel?

    And/or top??

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. Kirst
    Member

    As I pointed out to my councillor though, grit bins are sod all use unless someone actually grits the path with the grit from the grit bin. And how do you manage that on a bike? And who would do it? Do we have an agreement that the first person each way every morning has to have special holey-bottomed panniers? And how are they supposed to manage being first with the path ahead ungritted?

    The Innocent had thick frost this morning, but the puddles were thick ice, so that counts as icy for me! I came off on the ice last year, hurt my coccyx very painfully, so I'm wary. I nearly hit a very stupid dog this morning, but I was reluctant to brake any harder. And a big greasy drip landed right in my eye as I went through the tunnel, so now I'm convinced I'm going to get Weil's disease.

    It was not an enjoyable commute. :-s

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. ruggtomcat
    Member

    I almost never go through the tunnel anyway, its cold wet and full of broken glass, besides the short sharp hill up to the road is a great way to simulate cardiac arrest. :)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. SRD
    Moderator

    "And how are they supposed to manage being first with the path ahead ungritted?"

    a handlebar bag/basket to hold the grit? with a good rhythmic swing you could probably throw it in front of the bike as you pedal...sort of a la Johnny Appleseed?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. wingpig
    Member

    If you had a sort of trickle-feeding funnel-arrangement leading from a grit-hopper in the front basket channelled down through a hole in the front mudguard just aft of the apex of the wheel it would fling little grains forwards into your path. 'Twould permit both hands to remain on the controls, though would result in lots of bits of grit in the eyes if it was too windy.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    wind powered underpath heating??

    In another land

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. Min
    Member

    "I almost never go through the tunnel anyway, its cold wet and full of broken glass"

    Just ride over all of the broken glass, then your tyres will grip the ice easily.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. Min
    Member

    "The Innocent had thick frost this morning, but the puddles were thick ice, so that counts as icy for me!"

    I think my standards have been raised since the ice-athon earlier this year. ;-)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. spitfire
    Member

    The Roseburn - Greenacres Path, same problem
    Would need council to grit it properly
    Not going to happen, they can't afford the £80k to buy the salt/employ a vehicle and driver to go down there

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    "Not going to happen, they can't afford the £80k to buy the salt/employ a vehicle and driver to go down there"

    Yes but -

    What do the grass cutting people do in winter?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. steveo
    Member

    Hibernate...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. Stepdoh
    Member

    Leith > Trinity > Granton > Cramond was pretty frosty, didn't feel particularly confident on West shore road and had a couple of floaty rear wheel moments.

    My baby-steps with being attached to el Gunshot also didn't help.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  16. spitfire
    Member

    "What do the grass cutting people do in winter? "

    They're what is known as "seasonal labour", in effect thay are not employed for the winter...

    And why is it this thread is called "Innocent Path"
    Why is it the only path in Edinburgh anybody seems to care about? Roseburn-Goldenacre has to be at least twice as long...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  17. chdot
    Admin

    "They're what is known as "seasonal labour", in effect thay are not employed for the winter..."

    Thanks, suspected that might be the case.

    Of course it could be argued that (with a finite sum of money assumed...) that too much is spent on grass cutting and not enough on other things, for instance...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin

    "why is it this thread is called "Innocent Path""

    Partly because quite a posters here use it most days, and plenty others occasionally, but mainly because it was pretty awful last year for quite a while.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  19. wingpig
    Member

    I care about the Roseburn - wherever - Newhaven path and shall start using it to get to work as soon as I get my waking-up time earlified. Don't think it ever gets quite as bad as the less tree-protected Innocent.

    There were some treacherous clumps of frozen icy leaves on the Argyle Place - Marchmont Road path and through Bruntsfield Links this morning, too. Accelerating on them is quite similar to trying to accelerate off one of those metal drain covers they've put just before all the stop lines along Princes Street. It's possibly the only thing which could persuade me to use that daft island thing at the north end of Argyle Place so that I get to hit the dropped kerb straight-on rather than attempting to hit it sideways whilst turning.

    On the other hand, there was some delightfully tacky and sticky incipient frost on the path underneath the Crags this morning. OK going uphill but I'd have been extremely careful heading down it.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  20. spitfire
    Member

    "Don't think it ever gets quite as bad as the less tree-protected Innocent."
    last year I had two offs on the Roseburn path, it was every bit as bad as the photos you show there. Wish I had taken some shots of my own

    Posted 13 years ago #

  21. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    "And why is it this thread is called "Innocent Path"
    Why is it the only path in Edinburgh anybody seems to care about? Roseburn-Goldenacre has to be at least twice as long..."

    Mainly because it's one I ride and am therefore affected by it, and there was a specific pondering about grit boxes that had been promised on this specific route - doesn't mean a thread can't be started for other routes?

    And the ice in the pic from chdot (I think it's one of mine?) was there for about 2 weeks!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  22. spitfire
    Member

    GENIUS! if the council planted trees alongside every road we'd be fine.
    I get it now.
    Also, there for 2 weeks, ditto - yes I took the road route home to avoid Roseburn. one trip before the slush turned completely to ice took 45 mins as opposed to the usual 20 as I was skidding all over the place and as fragile as a new born antelope in an earthquake

    Posted 13 years ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    "if the council planted trees alongside every road we'd be fine"

    Perhaps

    It's certainly true that areas with trees often stay slightly warmer - less wind chill - but they also keep the sun off.

    All about micro-climates and local knowledge.

    So a bit of selective intelligence/gritting would be better than blanket coverage (or lack of...)

    Also attention to path profiles, drainage, leaf clearance, maintenance etc. etc.

    A proactive 'services' for communities department would help PLUS some political leadership.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  24. Kirst
    Member

    "And why is it this thread is called "Innocent Path"
    Why is it the only path in Edinburgh anybody seems to care about? Roseburn-Goldenacre has to be at least twice as long..."

    But what the Innocent lacks in length, it makes up for in quality and excitement. Burnt-out mopeds, sofas in the burn, corpses in the undergrowth, it's got the lot.

    I've just been down to Portobello and back. All the damp which melted during the day is freezing over again. And the bottom section of the bridge from Hope Lane down to St Mark's Place is very slippery.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  25. spitfire
    Member

    "A proactive 'services' for communities department would help PLUS some political leadership. "

    All sounds very "big community" to me - Iain Duncan Smith will have the jobless gritting it with the salt sachets they get from McDonalds...

    "Burnt-out mopeds, sofas in the burn, corpses in the undergrowth, it's got the lot."

    VW Golf driving along Trinity path... someone on here posted they saw that once...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    "All sounds very "big community" to me"

    Actually that's what reorganising CEC services and creating SfC was supposed to be all about.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  27. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    I've not seen any grit on the Innocent yet this year (surprise) but I did encounter a gritted path on my commute last week. It was the path around the Scottish Parliament. If they can grit that why can't they head off down the Innocent? On a happier note I saw an East Lothian Council mini-sweeper thing sweeping the leaves from NCR1 and the North Esk path in Musselburgh yesterday and a very fine job they were doing too.

    Posted 13 years ago #

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