More photos later.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
Riding the canal
(37 posts)-
Posted 14 years ago #
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Posted 14 years ago #
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I wonder what Radio Scotland's Tom Morton* would say!
Looks like you did it just in time! D
* He's written a good piece about wind farms in Shetland today in Sunday Herald. Will try to find link.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Sorry I missed the fun. Saw a track down the middle of the canal towards Yeaman place bridge Sunday morning, and hope they got there okay, as it was already slushy around the big willow right where the tenements end.
Posted 14 years ago # -
damn - I guess I missed my chance
Posted 14 years ago # -
We were on the Ashley to Meggetland section.
Clearly other people had tried it and other sections.
We didn't cycle under any bridges ON the canal.
A day later and we might have said "no". The thaw set in on Sunday.
It was fun (and safe).
It was strange to get strongly disapproving looks from a couple of people cycling on the towpath.
It was good to see the "Danger Thin Ice" sign - it was definitely thick when we tried - no flexing or creaking.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Even very very solid ice can creak quite a lot. The canal ice is pretty thick (I still haven't measured it). the problem is just that it is unevenly so, and melting with astonishing quickness in some places - I presume where the storm sewers feed in. But it is hard to see where these are.
Posted 14 years ago # -
"and melting with astonishing quickness in some places - I presume where the storm sewers feed in. But it is hard to see where these are."
Hadn't thought about that.
Certainly the Union Canal isn't stagnant. One reason it still exists is that was used by various companies as a water source for industrial processes - notably The British Rubber Company at Fountainbridge.
This was replaced by Scottish and Newcastle - not sure if it used canal water either for cooling or beer.
The North British Distillery in Gorgie took water near the railway tunnel at Meggetland. I don't think it still does.
Obviously the water under the ice is above freezing so this could be melting the ice at a significant rate if there is runoff from roads.
Though I'm not sure if there are m/any. There are definitely storm drains that flow into the Water of Leith which used to add sewage. I think the worst bits have been dealt with.
Tell tale signs are things like cotton buds.
Posted 14 years ago # -
the canal drains into the water of leith from the aquaduct
there are a few places you can see water pipes from road drains along nearer to wester hailes and there is the drain above the rail bridge opposite the rowers sheds on the other side of the canal between Ashley Terrace/meggetland.
I think SEPA will have sorted any sewage due to eu lawPosted 14 years ago # -
"and there is the drain above the rail bridge opposite the rowers sheds on the other side of the canal between Ashley Terrace/meggetland."
THAT is where NBD got/(gets?) its water.
http://www.northbritish.co.uk/history/index.asp
"I think SEPA will have sorted any sewage due to eu law"
In general yes, just not sure if there are conditions of high (river) flow where it's allowed - plus the realities of pipe capacity to deal with all the urban run-off - like when lots of snow melts quite fast.
Posted 14 years ago # -
I just presumed storm sewer runoff because of how it froze. Even/esp at bridges -- eg yeaman place it froze faster on one side of the bridge than other, and I am almost positive there is a storm sewer run-off on the un-frozen side and the spot spytfyre mentions on the bridge opposite rowers sheds was also surprisingly slow to freeze, which made me suspect run-off/in there too. On water-of-leith run-off is often above water level so easier to see.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Typical I go off for a spot of skiing in the Alps (it rained on Christmas day!) then come back to find Edinburgh has more snow and this... :-(
Posted 14 years ago # -
Cycling on the canal? Tch, pathetic.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Yeah i read that and thought of you guys.
Posted 14 years ago # -
ha, you bet me to it
lolPosted 14 years ago # -
I have to say the best I managed was walking out to the island on Blackford Pond and that was scary enough!
Done on Saturday before the thaw started.Posted 14 years ago # -
Just thought you'd love to see this photo!
Seen at http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/01/lakes-ice-and-reclaimed-spaces.html
Posted 14 years ago # -
that is a crackin photo :)
Posted 14 years ago # -
"
Cycling on the canal? Tch, pathetic.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8454242.stm
"
Frozen Union Canal driver given community service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11790895
Posted 14 years ago # -
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! Priceless!!
Posted 14 years ago # -
Nisbet, 25, labelled "mad" by police, "stupid" by his own lawyer, and "possibly insane" by one sheriff
"We must have been doing more than 30 miles an hour before we noticed the puddles up ahead."We decided to go for it anyway and the front end just gave way on the ice.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Doing more than 30mph - on the canal - do they win a world record?
Posted 14 years ago # -
They were extremely close to winning a Darwin Award..
Posted 14 years ago # -
"Doing more than 30mph - on the canal".
That's an interesting thought. One of the reasons (the reason?) for the canal speed limit (for boats) is to avoid the wash from the boat damaging the banks.
If the canal was frozen and you sailed down the middle breaking the ice as you went then presumably the ice would stop any canal bank damage?Posted 14 years ago # -
"If the canal was frozen and you sailed down the middle breaking the ice as you went then presumably the ice would stop any canal bank damage?"
More likely to be more damage due to sideways pressure. Anyway progress would be slow.
Much better to put heat pumps under the bridges (where the water stays warmer - not sure why) and keep the whole surface solid and run a high speed snowmobile service.
Too much ice might affect the fish.
Posted 14 years ago # -
"under the bridges (where the water stays warmer - not sure why"
Because the ground never freezes here, and the bridge similarly maintains a higher temp. so edges of canal and under/near structures warmer and less solid. Exact reverse happens where ground freezes first, and you can take vehicles on ice once solid. In those cases, the middle is the last to freeze, here it tends to freeze first and solider than on edges.
Posted 14 years ago # -
"Because the ground never freezes here, and the bridge similarly maintains a higher temp."
So it's the thermal mass of the stone - possibly maintained by tyre/tarmac friction - more than the sheltering from cooling air flow?
Posted 14 years ago # -
So it's the thermal mass of the stone - possibly maintained by tyre/tarmac friction - more than the sheltering from cooling air flow?
well, I think so, but unlike the rest of my family I am neither an engineer nor a physicist.
Posted 14 years ago # -
From the Beeb article on our 406 driving friend:Defence agent Raymond McMenamin said Nisbet, who was banned from driving in September for 15 months for driving without insurance and who had a list of previous convictions for other driving offences, was "the only person daft enough" to try such a stunt.
So the convicted dangerous driver who's own defense described as one of the daftest people in the region will be back on the roads in about a year
Let be careful out there people...
Posted 14 years ago # -
Indeed, watch out in West Lothian. Might be a while before he can afford to buy another car though, if he is actually made to pay the costs. Having said that he could always "liberate" one...
Posted 14 years ago # -
@holisticglint - interesting defence calling your client a numpty, was this supposed to make us feel better... that the chap is clearly a moron and a cretin, but a moron with a driving licence, yea gads, that is worrying.
It's that old chestnut that if you are thick then you cannot be expected to know how to behave properly and get away with all sorts in the name of stupidity!
Posted 14 years ago #
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