Be careful cycling on the Luas tracks in this location

gurramok · 17-10-2011 7:51pm #1

This fella nearly tumbled this morning, if he had fallen my four wheels were waiting to stop;) I cycle myself quite a bit too so was aware to keep a distance especially after his shock and to give him time and room to compose himself when cycling off again.
This happened as when crossing from Butt Bridge(Tara st) to Beresford Place heading to Gardiner st northbound in Dublin city centre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeVMoB1RHHw

meercat · 17-10-2011 7:53pm

that was close

seamus · 17-10-2011 9:18pm

Plenty of places like that with the tracks tbh. Fair play to him for staying upright. His mistake of course is that he should have taken the lane between you and the truck, rather than trying to slip up the outside. In your lane he would have been able to cross the tracks at a better angle.

I hate them anyway, they're unpredictable. Lean even slightly the wrong way in the wrong conditions and you might go down.

The road outside my workplace runs parallel to the Luas tracks, so in order to get into work, I have to turn and cross the tracks at the same time.
So I swing left, turn 90 degrees to the right, in the middle of the road and cross the tracks upright. Works fine cos it's a very quiet road, rarely any traffic following me.

marcus2000 · 22-11-2013 11:08am

i had a fall myself yesterday at the tracks outside St James. They take a wide turn into the grounds and I have to cross them to go straight on . everyday i cycle over them thinking a sharp right turn over them will stop me from going down....no idea what happened, but i slipped into the tracks, and went over the handlebars...there is no alternative at that point, as far as i can remember, to avoid cycling over them. Wouldn't matter so much if I could approach perpendicularly, but you cant.. hopefully it wont put me off cycling. the fall was also very embarrassing.....and my thumb hurts

. I suppose I should be glad I didn't have a car following close behind me.

seamus · 22-11-2013 11:15am

Yeah, that can happen, hope you're not too bruised by it. In addition to hitting the tracks straight on, you also need to be as upright as possible. You can turn the bike so it's perpendicular to the tracks, but if you're still leaning into the turn when you hit the tracks, you can lose it.

Yesterday was also particularly slippy. That really light rain on dry roads we had last night is lethal.

marcus2000 · 22-11-2013 11:49am

It may have actually been that I was leaning and slipped. To be honest, I don't remember - all happens very quickly and suddenly your skiddin along the ground hoping ur not dead!!It did scare me - and for the next 20minutes I had sworn myself off cycling.....Actually, I should add that i did hit my head, and if i wasn't wearing a helmet, it may have been alot more serious. (just a few scrapes on my chin and cheek and legs and a broken thumb...I may be exaggerating the thumb a little (its just very sore!!), but hopefully it wont scare me off the bike for too long. I dread going back to the buses!!

Harrybelafonte · 22-11-2013 12:19pm

I had a work colleague who came off his motorbike on the exact spot in the video. Lots of damage to him and bike. Be careful out there.

Harrybelafonte · 22-11-2013 12:20pm

Also, did he not check over his shoulder before coming into your lane?

godtabh · 22-11-2013 12:57pm

I have to cross luas tracks at least twice a day and guaranteed each time I do there is a wobble. This morning it was particularly bad

The worst was cross the luas tracks in Sandyford as the track comes from/goes to Central Park. I was following the road back wheel slipped and eventually got caught in the track. Came off the bike but thankfully the only thing that was damaged was my ego. I was also only doing about 10kph

listermint · 22-11-2013 1:00pm

hop the front wheel over them, the back will follow suit.

old school

marcus2000 · 22-11-2013 1:03pm

listermint wrote: »

hop the front wheel over them, the back will follow suit.

old school

there are always four tracks in close succession. thats alot of hoppity hop in a short distance!! :rolleyes:

SpaceTime · 22-11-2013 1:15pm

I remember seeing a woman in Amsterdam's bike go into the groove of a track and she just came straight off over the handlebars! Scary stuff. She was OK though.
Narrow racing wheels and tram tracks are even more lethal.

listermint · 22-11-2013 1:15pm

marcus2000 wrote: »

there are always four tracks in close succession. thats alot of hoppity hop in a short distance!! :rolleyes:

Not able for it ? no need for rolls eyes. Its just silly.

Morgan · 22-11-2013 1:21pm

marcus2000 wrote: »

i had a fall myself yesterday at the tracks outside St James. They take a wide turn into the grounds and I have to cross them to go straight on . everyday i cycle over them thinking a sharp right turn over them will stop me from going down....no idea what happened, but i slipped into the tracks, and went over the handlebars...there is no alternative at that point, as far as i can remember, to avoid cycling over them. Wouldn't matter so much if I could approach perpendicularly, but you cant.. hopefully it wont put me off cycling. the fall was also very embarrassing.....and my thumb hurts . I suppose I should be glad I didn't have a car following close behind me.

You can follow the bike-path on the left to avoid crossing the tracks on the road - that does involve awkwardly returning to the road at the hospital entrance though. Alternatively, if you keep alongside the track and cross them just as they're turning left into the hospital you'll be pretty close to 90 degrees.

marcus2000 · 22-11-2013 1:22pm

listermint wrote: »

Not able for it ? no need for rolls eyes. Its just silly.

Never attempted it. It is an option that beats falling over!!

and the smiley face is just a funny smiley face - however in this message you can take it's literal meaning :rolleyes: ...followed by a

(that's me emphasising that I'm being funny- just incase!!)

marcus2000 · 22-11-2013 1:25pm

Morgan wrote: »

You can follow the bike-path on the left to avoid crossing the tracks on the road - that does involve awkwardly returning to the road at the hospital entrance though. Alternatively, if you keep alongside the track and cross them just as they're turning left into the hospital you'll be pretty close to 90 degrees.

thanks for that. I don't think i noticed the bike path before! I'll probably pay alot more attention next time!!

i actually did cross the tracks at the last point by the traffic lights - that's why I'm confused by how I fell. A previous poster mentioned they may have been greasy causing my wheel to turn into them...I dont know....i'll probably be alot more cautious in future!! lesson learnt!

tomasrojo · 23-11-2013 12:28am

I also had a fall outside St. James, one of my few falls ever, and the only fall I ever sought treatment for. I split the skin on my right knee, but a tetanus shot was all I needed.

I believe it was a diverting fall, as described in John Forester's book Effective Cycling; it had nothing to do with catching the wheel in the tracks:

The diverting type of all is the most unexpected and unpleasant: it feels as though some outside force has slammed you downward onto the pavement. These accidents occur when the bicycle steers out from under the cyclist, leaving the cyclist unsupported. Typical causes are diagonal railroad tracks or parallel-to-traffic expansion joints in concrete roadways, attempting to climb back on the pavement after being forced off, parallel-bar grates or bridge expansion joints or bridge structures, and inequalities between gutter or driveway and pavement. Slippery conditions aggravate these causes.

My fall was in heavy rain. As pointed out above, using the cycle track would have allowed me to cross the tracks at ninety degrees and I wouldn't have fallen. I changed my route subsequently anyway to avoid this junction, and I instead switched to Bow Lane/Kilmainham Lane.

Be careful cycling on the Luas tracks in this location

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