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news
Bath Bristol Bike Path- riding in the snow.JPGCyclists go too fast on Bristol-Bath railway path, says cyclist injured by speeding cyclist
A female cyclist who suffered cuts and bruises when she was hit by another cyclist on the Bristol to Bath railway path has said that riders should slow down to avoid potentially life-threatening injuries.
Kim Tanner, 28, was involved in a collision with a female cyclist on the Clay Bottom bend of the path.
She told the Bristol Evening Post: "I was involved in a head-on collision with another cyclist who was wearing full racing gear and standing up on her pedals.
"She was hurtling towards me on the wrong side of a blind bend despite there being signs clearly warning cyclists to slow down and keep left. I had no time to avoid her.
"Despite my protests that she was travelling too fast and on the wrong side of the path, the woman simply said, 'these things happen'.
"I began to shake, and burst into tears. I had to phone my husband to come and pick me up as I was too shaken up to cycle home."
Mrs Tanner said that she still finds it hard to get on her bike.
She said: "The trauma of the incident is still causing me to shake and feel physically sick at times.
"I consider myself a pretty strong person. But when I got back on my bike to cycle to work on Monday, I was jumpy and anxious when anything came into my vision.
"As I approached the bend where the incident occurred, I began to feel nauseous, and slowed down to an almost complete stop.
"I feel my confidence may take some time to return and I hope that the woman who caused the collision will have learnt something from it. I hope she will refrain from such reckless cycling in future – especially if she could see the photo of my injuries."
The 13 mile off-road path has 'slow' signs at points along its length. It is open to walkers and cyclists, and becomes very busy during commuter rush hours and on sunny weekends. It was built more than 30 years ago by Sustrans on the site of the former Midland Railway.
Most of the path is owned by Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council or Bath and North East Somerset Council.
Latest Comments
- grOg 1 sec ago
Going by your logic, no motorist should pass a cyclist in case the cyclist suddenly chooses to turn in front of a motorist..
- trenzalorian 1 hour 4 min ago
try deleting cookies and re-logging in. That worked for me (I also changed passwords so both site and fantasy passwords were still identical....
- chrisonabike 2 hours 16 min ago
Thanks! A great trip and a nice write up, more so for memories of places on that route....
- wtjs 2 hours 54 min ago
Maybe the Government could introduce a set monthly fee that allows drivers to be caught out as much as they like! ...
- wtjs 3 hours 5 min ago
there is a very big inner tube factory in Wuhan...
- David9694 3 hours 15 min ago
car crashes into...horse trough...
- LordSandwich 4 hours 23 min ago
The official advice is bollocks! They tell you to click when you see a potential hazzard, but anything could be a potential hazzard....
- andystow 4 hours 43 min ago
Here's where I got it. Not sure if they ship outside the US, though. https://magicpine.com/products/will-bike-for-beer-unisex-tee
- Pot00000000 7 hours 11 min ago
But some people do want that 🤷🏼♂️ these are race bike that also happen to be purchased by middle aged men who don't race. ...
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46 comments
Was this a hit and run? Sounds like furious driving, doesn't it?
Rule #5 !
I agree! As we don't have the other side of the story we can't point the finger at anyone! Accidents happen guys!
If you will build such infrastructure, people will use it, the problem (if you want call it a problem) with the cycle path is that it's popular, and different groups of people have different expectations placed upon it. It cannot be everything to everyone, it's a fast, direct, traffic free commuter route into Bristol or Bath, it's where people go for their daily exercise regime, it's where people spend the day, it's a nature reserve, children walk to school on it, children play on it, people walk their pets on it, people go there and have picnics on it, how can you encourage all of these uses and not have conflict?
Isn't it called consideration for others?
And if it is signed then I'd guess it is for a reason - why do some people always think they know better?
Simple solution ... paint lane markings on blind corners.
The "racing" cyclist was clearly in the wrong but talk about being melodramatic!
"I consider myself a pretty strong person."
She obviously isn't.
Rob
Its simple, the offending cyclist was not in control of her situation and not in a position to read what was coming towards her, she was a danger to herself and others.
Being able to ride faster than others is not an excuse for doing so in an area of mixed users.
Regardless of what some cyclists think, this route is for a mixture of different uses, that also goes for the dog walkers who allow the dogs to wander when they can see a cyclist approach or pedestrians who walk 3 a breast oblivious to anyone else etc etc.
But to get back to the point, its not the place for training, if you enjoy the buzz of riding fast don't be a dick, enter a race and if your in a hurry it shouldn't be at the expense of others.
I ride along the canal path in Woking regularly and often encounter this type of rider, If I was spoken to like that after an incident by another cyclist, they would find their bike in the canal because "these thing happen".
Strength or weakness are clearly relative concepts, however I can entirely relate to a "strong" person being upset by being knocked over by cyclist at excessive speed and not in proper control of her bike, as is evidently the case here.
We criticise motorists - and rightly so - for exceeding speed limits or for driving without consideration for other road users. We like to see them prosecuted for this, even if sadly that happens all too infrequently.
The Bristol-Bath path is a shared-use facility, for cyclists, walkers, dog-walkers, horse riders, the disabled etc, indeed anyone not using a motor-propelled vehicle. It is not a race track and should NEVER be used as such.
Idiots on all modes of transport I'm afraid - Bristol to Bath path can be ridden quickly and safely on quieter sections with no intersections, but unfortunately many people carry that over in to the busiest bits in Bristol.... or the busiest times when the whole lot should be avoided by anyone wanting a quick journey!
Sounds like someone was going too quick for their own good.
The moral of the tale - if you want to ride fast, man up and use the road.
the path has been full of mamilnodders stomping on the pedals on their hugely expensive sportive weapons for a few years now.
it's like the thunderdome in mad max, but with a crazed weekend warrior on a lapierre, busting out some high-end dhb armour, on a collision course with a hapless family on tagalongs, rather than a bemulleted tina turner.
Sounds like some of the cycle paths in Derbyshire.
We have the added bonus of 1/2 mile former railway tunnels with dog owners who have their black labradors off the lead.
Unlike a motor vehicle crash, everyone survived with what seem minor injuries. The people involved clearly talked afterwards, and I would think more was said - perhaps even sorry - than what quoted.
Lets get more paths and better road infrastructure created so more options open to the growing number of people who ride.
Ensuring there is a thorough cycle training regime at schools will help generations grow up knowing more about safe cycling. Parents can help too by setting a good example.
I find it a bit depressing that commentators are in turn knocking pedestrians. Surely the duty of care and consideration extends from the 'stronger' to the less strong. So in general, motorists should yield for cyclists, and in turn cyclists should yield for pedestrians.
There's actually nothing wrong with dogs off the leads, or children playing. Slow down -if you want to speed along get on the road or a non shared use path
All this comments seem to miss the point that Ms Tanner appears to have been riding a bike actually.
The newspaper photo shows her in cycling garb holding her bike, and the text clearly states "knocked off"
Does look like the other party was at fault based on the onesided evidence given.
I wonder if people would say that if it was a car on the wrong side ?
But your right we dont have the full story.
I blame Strava
Probably right, in a way, about dogs off leads, but dogs on those extending leads?! They make life 'interesting'.
I blame strava too. completely ridiculous to have a segment along the path. it should be removed. in fact i've tried to report it in the past
on a separate note, strava is the fucking pits. i hate it.
How is it okay to have a dog off the lead close to people on bikes? How slow should a cyclist go to pass a dog ?
This rankles as I used to commute on this type of path but was increasingly frustrated at having to slow every few hundred yards to walking speed for people or dogs. On one occasion a guys dog jumped out of the hedge and nearly took me down at which point the dog owner shouted at me!
I wasn't speeding - I was on a hybrid riding conservatively on a dead straight path.
Anyway I now ride on the road to work instead but its annoying that this path has been funded by money designated to improve cycling facilities but instead its a dog exercise track and toilet.
On a separate note I really hate the term 'mamilnodder'. What is exactly wrong with middle aged men in Lycra riding expensive (or indeed any) bikes? Is cycling only a pastime that's to be reserved for specially 'pure' cycling types who were born to it or something and ride their bikes in an approved keepers-of-the-true-flame style?
Sorry to go off on one, but terms like 'nodder' and 'fred' piss me off… but you might have guessed that already
On a separate, separate note you're right about it being like Mad Max down there… the most stressful ride I ever did was on the bike path one May bank holiday more than 10 years ago now when my then five year old daughter and a hundred or more other kids took part in the Blue Peter Ride for Life. They weren't so much the problem, nor were the families and dog walkers out on the route, but then add in all sorts of other people on bikes with lane disclipline and handling skills on about a par with the kids and top it off with blokes on race bikes and in various club colours, and who weren't Johnny-come-lately cyclists, barrelling through the throng at breakneck speeds heading home from training rides I'd guess and accidents were bound to happen. And they duly did. I've never been so glad to finish a bike ride. Oh, and that was a good decade before Strava existed.
point taken regarding mamil/nodder - it was a flippant comment. however, i think you're overly defensive here. it's not like it's inaccurate - the middle aged man in lycra is one of the singular defining features of the current bike boom - or offensive. we're getting our fair share of mamils and nodders into the bristol clubs these days and they are all entirely welcome. if we were keeping the flame we'd be riding fixed over the tourmalet and whispering 'assassins' at the organisers.
anyway - club cyclist, nodder, chopper, racing whippet, etc - they all need to ride slowly and considerately on the cycle path or ride on the road. unfortunately it just doesn't happen.
On a shared use path? As I say, to me there's an unspoken hierarchy of sharing with the other sections of users. id suggest you be prepared to slow to a halt if you see pedestrians ahead, its just good manners, as mentioned if you're out breaking speed records then try the road?
Yes, totally agree that's the way it should be, but too often it isn't.
And sorry wasn't meaning to have a pop at you, just one of my pet hates that I haven't had the chance to sound off about,(being middle-aged and not averse to donning Lycra*) and you gave me the opportunity to unload.
*Sometimes even to go cycling
Have to say I resent dogs off the lead on a shared path, and ts got nothing to do with strava or speeding. Why does curtious behaviour only sit on the shoulders of the cyclist? Whetger you are riding at ten or twenty mph, a loose dog is a damn right pain in the arse. If they arent trying to run under your wheels, they are trying to bite you.
A shared path is after all a public highway of sorts, and no dog owner would let their dog loose on a road with cars hey?
I say, want rag along on your bike... Find a road, want to let your dog off the lead, find a footpath or field.
Agreed. Also see rule #81.
I've been ridden into by a rather large gentleman travelling at speed squeezed into his race gear on the Railway Path. He blamed me for being in the way when he was coming the other way. Still, I'm sure having several holes in my ankle from my chain-ring puncturing it, shredding my shoes and ripping a pair of jeans was worth it if it meant he got nearer the top of the Strava leaderboard!
As has already been said, there's a time and a place, and blind corners and intersections with schools and local neighbourhoods on a shared use path isn't it.
Near sunderland there is a hardpack path among trees with a few blind turns and while it is very fun to fly past them at top speed, once you actually think of what could happen it's not hard to slow down.
etc etc etc
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