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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
FAST trip along the canal
(18 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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1:37 It's Zazou!
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'm sure that's travlling over the 5mph speed limit....
Posted 13 years ago # -
6 is for bikes (really!!)
Boats not allowed above 4.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I did this stretch once on the Re-Union canal boat. It was lovely, but slightly slower than that clip. About 30 times slower.
Posted 13 years ago # -
6 sounds slow but the Canal authority has had some complains from other canal path users. I agree, that we must ride slowly along the canal as we don't have right of way and for some pedestrians seeing a biker flying towards them can be intimidating. Please ride responsibly as I would hate for restrictions to be placed on cycle users on the canal path.
Posted 13 years ago # -
+1
Posted 13 years ago # -
6 is slow (runners go faster than that) but I agree that it's very important to give pedestrians the protection of a speed limit. I'd hate to have cycles be banned from that route and I walk along it too!
A slightly higher limit with better signs might be more practical though.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Having rules that people break by default (I bet nobody rides under 6mph, even grannies) is a recipe for failure.
Never convinced as speed limits work so well on the roads that even with a real threat of enforcement, more people than not ignore them.
Why would anyone think this is a smart idea for the canal (especially setting a limit that is lower than the speed of foot traffic - I can jog faster than the bike limit, and I'm no runner)?
Would have been better to try and have some kind of mutual respect based thing I think. For instance, they could have signs every so often reminding riders not to buzz peds, reminding dog walkers to keep their animals under close control, etc.
Can't see videos at work, but looking forward to it now ;-)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Given that speed limits only apply to motorised vehicles, without specific bylaws, and that most bicycles don't have speedometers, I don't know that the canal "limits" are even enforceable - particularly when those with legal force aren't enforced!
Much better is the mutual respect message...
Robert
Posted 13 years ago # -
I run along the canal path a lot. I will confess to being a runner but I'm not the fastest, but I think I do about 7mph. Mr fimm did a 10 mile road race in 1h04 or something, implying that when he's properly hoofing it he can go at 10mph... I did once pass an adult cyclist when I was running, she was going very slowly, though... I don't cycle along the canal path much because there are lots of more vulnerable users to slow me down and I'd rather go on the road (and slow less vulnerable users down...) I do think some cyclists do go too fast along there. The big difference between runners and cyclists is that runners are smaller, lighter, more manoeuverable and at least appear to be able to stop more quickly!
Posted 13 years ago # -
I've only entered one foot race, it was a 10k and I finished around 44:30, my sums make that around 8.5mph
Someone who runs often would be a lot faster, marathon runners could be averaging 13mph most of the way from Edinburgh to Falkirk on the canal...
For a long time I stayed off the canal because I thought it wasn't that good for riding on, then people on this forum persuaded me to use it for a few training runs prior to PBP, and tbh if you're getting on at the rowing club and going out of town, there's hardly anyone on it in the morning (except rowers on the path!)
It's also nice in winter because it's unlit, so extremely quiet. I tested my dynamo headlight adjustment with a couple of night rides out to Ratho.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I used it a lot over the dark periods of winter, more to play with my light than anything else...
I'm not sure about the stopping distance, at same speeds (about 10 say) i'd reckon a bike would stop faster and with out doing nearly as much damage to your knees. Though the manoeuvrability is a real advantage.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Alibali, When I was a (fitter) young man I used to run at ~6mph. I could do 3 miles in 16 mins. Now I struggle to do that, but if you beleive runners go much faster than 6mph I would like to see proof.
In any case just because runner may be able to run faster than 6mph, it doesn't make it right or them to break the limit either.
I'm just trying to get everyone to get along. Surely you are not saying just because runners run faster than the speed limit, they should raise the speed limit? Where have I heard that before?? oh yes car drivers complaining that speed limits 'limit' them...
Posted 13 years ago # -
I ran/walked back from school the other day and hit 16mph at one point but did an average of 4.23mph.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Posted 13 years ago #
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"When I was a (fitter) young man I used to run at ~6mph. I could do 3 miles in 16 mins. Now I struggle to do that, but if you beleive runners go much faster than 6mph I would like to see proof."
Your maths is a wee bit off, 3 miles in 16 minutes is 11.25MPH.
As for the latter, 6mph is roughly an hour for a 10k run... something that is not so difficult to achieve, if you look at the results of a big public run like GSR 10k, where 4500 people ran at that speed for a whole hour.
I think you're making a good point - just because the speed limit is slower than people can travel on foot, does that justify ignoring the speed limit?
If we set the speed limit on an actual road to 6mph shouldn't we expect motorists to stick to it, even though foot traffic and cyclists (who aren't covered by road speed legislation) would constantly overtake them? I guess so.
Difficult. My honest answer is that I do not generally obey any law blindly, and while I would not speed in a 20 zone in my car, I do go at more than 5mph in supermarket car parks for example. Yet at the same time, I'm quite happy to criticise a motorist who "judges" that some stupid manouvre or speeding incident is safe.
Cognative dissonance?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting cognitions ( e.g., ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions) simultaneously.
Being quite happy would signal a resolution of cognitive dissonance.
We are all after all, only as interesting as our contradictions.
Posted 13 years ago #
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