Luas tracks when wet!

robertxxx

Well mother of god they a fooking dangerous when wet.

Coming across the tracks at heuston station (northside) i nearly high-sided off the bike, i was like a bloody rodeo rider going flying across the road fighting to stay on, which i did, just!

Thank god the traffic was stopped and there was only about 100 people at the bus stop looking at me.:o

tomasrojo

One of my very few falls from a bike and the only one for which I sought medical attention was courtesy of wet Luas tracks. Front of St. James', split the skin of my knee, got a tetanus shot. Amazingly slippery when wet. I think it was what is called a "diverting fall".

DirkVoodoo

Don't ride parallel to them and don't grab a handful of brakes going over them and you should be fine.

rich.d.berry

I cross metal cattle grids on the Curragh in the wet. I'd imagine that they're potentially as slippery as Luas lines. I've never had a problem crossing them.

smacl

rich.d.berry wrote: »

I cross metal cattle grids on the Curragh in the wet. I'd imagine that they're potentially as slippery as Luas lines. I've never had a problem crossing them.

Not quite as bad, as the road is leading you to them at a right angle. I cross the ones at the nine stones when I'm up that way and they're fine, but wouldn't fancy taking them at a shallower angle.

Explosive_Cornflake

I've thankfully not gone down because of them, but I've been close. Took my tyre partly of the rim trying to jump over them one day.
All you can do is take your time. I but an extra 3k on my cycle now to avoid crossing them at James's.

Inbox

Yes happened to me in work years ago, they have old tracks in Guinness's , the front wheel went from under me but I just let go and stepped off the bike. Valuable lesson learnt though.

Jawgap

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Don't ride parallel to them and don't grab a handful of brakes going over them and you should be fine.

Just after they put them in Abbey Street they put up signs warning cyclists not to cycle close and parallel to them.

One morning while trundling in to work on my old mountain bike, I was examining the gap on these new fangled installations and being the sceptic that I am thought there's no way an MTB tyre fits in there - tried it - it did.

Thankfully I carried out my experiment at low speed so phyiscal injuries were limited to scratches, cuts and bruises. The damage to my ego was more severe but I am comforted by the fact that all the people waiting for the buses got a good laugh and now have a funny story to tell!

auldcodger

Angled level crossings are lethal!

Last September I hit the 45 degree crossing on the Galway road at Craughwell at 35kph. Front wheel went into the groove, I went over the handlebars and awoke to find myself talking to the Galway ambulance crew. Two days in hospital, two weeks off work and I wrote off my beloved Sintesi.

Be careful out there folks!

SetOverSet

tomasrojo wrote: »

One of my very few falls from a bike and the only one for which I sought medical attention was courtesy of wet Luas tracks. Front of St. James', split the skin of my knee, got a tetanus shot. Amazingly slippery when wet. I think it was what is called a "diverting fall".

I came off in the same place myself - lashing rain, winter evening rush hour. Thank f*** the driver behind me was paying attention. The tracks turn left from James's St. into the hospital and if you're heading straight, you have to cross them at an angle. I now avoid that junction like the plague when it's wet!

rp

tomasrojo wrote: »

One of my very few falls from a bike and the only one for which I sought medical attention was courtesy of wet Luas tracks. Front of St. James', split the skin of my knee, got a tetanus shot. Amazingly slippery when wet. I think it was what is called a "diverting fall".

St James? Me Too! I dunno how I did it, but I lost the back wheel out from under me about a month ago there, and slid for a long way, lost skin off my leg, arse and arm. Bruising and scabs only just disappearing now. Luckily I wasn't wearing a helmet, or I'd surely have rotational injuries too.

cdaly_

Inbox wrote: »

Yes happened to me in work years ago, they have old tracks in Guinness's , the front wheel went from under me but I just let go and stepped off the bike. Valuable lesson learnt though.

I did that once when the front wheel went on mossy tarmac. Felt very chuffed to have just casually stepped off... :cool:

SetOverSet wrote: »

I came off in the same place myself - lashing rain, winter evening rush hour. Thank f*** the driver behind me was paying attention. The tracks turn left from James's St. into the hospital and if you're heading straight, you have to cross them at an angle. I now avoid that junction like the plague when it's wet!

Is there not a cycle lane diverting you to a right angle crossing at this junction? Of course you end up without priority in that case.

Planet X

Ride in them. It's good practice for holding your line when racing.

Cyclepath

tomasrojo wrote: »

One of my very few falls from a bike and the only one for which I sought medical attention was courtesy of wet Luas tracks. Front of St. James', split the skin of my knee, got a tetanus shot. Amazingly slippery when wet. I think it was what is called a "diverting fall".

Yeah, same ****, same place. You only do it once though!

Kensington

Planet X wrote: »

Ride in them. It's good practice for holding your line when racing.

A race to see how far you can get before getting a puncture from the amount of crap accumulated in them maybe :pac:

The ones up at the Naas Road/Longmile Road Jct. particularly heading from Parkwest direction are lethal on a wet day - you're going over them, quite often at speed, while also following the curve of the road. Doesn't take much for the bike to be gone out from under you. Even worse on a motorbike. Dread the commute on a wet day

seamus

Front of James's is very dangerous because the tracks cross the road at an angle, so when you're riding in traffic you don't have the option to cross them at 90 degrees. It's the only place I nearly came off as well.

When it's raining may be one of the few times you're slightly safer using the cycle lane there, but I remember when I took that route that the cycle lane was usually blocked by a parked vehicle or buggies or pedestrians.

njburke

@rp
"rotational injuries" are you referring to a twist to the neck caused by a shaped helmet sliding across the road ?

I recently changed helmet from a lidl vented peaked aerodynamic HSO to a giro flak, which is a hemispherical jobby. So far the only test I've had is when I parked the bike against the railing and then leaned in to unclip the pannier, ding! rather than ouch!

Anyway with the winter commute coming soon and an increased likelihood of my first spill of the bike (1500KMs accident free so far, including the transition to clipless pedals). Where do I spend ? better tyres, jacket with kevlar strips, full face helmet or just skill up on awareness or bike control.
My commute has a cycle lane, that has bollards and roundabouts, concrete barriers etc I've noticed that as my fitness has come up over the summer, I've been pushing the bike harder trying to get through these annoyances without slowing too much. Might need to exercise some discipline on that...

rp

njburke wrote: »

Anyway with the winter commute coming soon and an increased likelihood of my first spill of the bike (1500KMs accident free so far, including the transition to clipless pedals). Where do I spend ?

If we get a winter like the one before last, Nokian or Schwalbe ice-spike tyres would be a good thing to spend on - kept me commuting when all other forms of transport had ground to an icy halt.

cdaly_

rp wrote: »

If we get a winter like the one before last, Nokian or Schwalbe ice-spike tyres would be a good thing to spend on - kept me commuting when all other forms of transport had ground to an icy halt.

Ain't gonna happen. I bought a pair last autumn so we're guaranteed at least 5 years of mild winters...

Cyclepath

cdaly_ wrote: »

Ain't gonna happen. I bought a pair last autumn so we're guaranteed at least 5 years of mild winters...

+1 I also bought a set of winter tyres for the g/f's car last year and sure enough it never snowed!

Chips Lovell

You wouldn't believe the amount of people I've seen snotting it on the Luas tracks on Harcourt Street. This is despite the signs on the street instructing people not to cycle up along the tracks.

SerialComplaint

A friend broke his collarbone last year, in a fall off his bike at the top of Steevens Lane near Hueston.

hardCopy

Had a lovely spill some years ago on the old rail lines outside the Point at the end of the East Link. The tracks ran kind of on a tangent to the roundabout. Front wheel went flying out from under me and I came down in he middle of traffic, luckily a friend was directly behind me on his bike rather than a car. Not sure if those tracks are still there now.

buffalo

hardCopy wrote: »

Had a lovely spill some years ago on the old rail lines outside the Point at the end of the East Link. The tracks ran kind of on a tangent to the roundabout. Front wheel went flying out from under me and I came down in he middle of traffic, luckily a friend was directly behind me on his bike rather than a car. Not sure if those tracks are still there now.

Went over them last night (in the car), they're still there alright.

Roddy23

A friend broke his collarbone last year, in a fall off his bike at the top of Steevens Lane near Hueston.

Came off there myself. Coming around the corner on my brand spanking new bike. Over the handlebars and landed in a mess on the path. Front wheel stuck in the tracks. More upset with the damage to the bike, which was only a few weeks old. Scratches and bruises - was lucky.

robertxxx

Roddy23 wrote: »

Came off there myself. Coming around the corner on my brand spanking new bike. Over the handlebars and landed in a mess on the path. Front wheel stuck in the tracks. More upset with the damage to the bike, which was only a few weeks old. Scratches and bruises - was lucky.

Mess as in dog mess? or a broken bone mess? not sure which id prefer.:D