Cycling is a controversial point amongst boaters on the canals. On the one hand we boaters rely on bikes to lockwheel. On the other (and bigger) hand, cyclists racing on towpaths can be a problem sometimes. And anglers too: The angling correspondent of the Worksop Guardian wrote:
With regards to cyclists, you can count on less than three fingers [i.e. two fingers] how many cyclists say ‘hello’ or ‘thank you’.
On the third hand, you might be a cyclist yourself, a towpath cyclist at that, cursing the boaters who stick their mooring stakes in the towpath and the anglers who stick their poles right across to the hedgrow. And cursing that you can't nip 30ft across the canal to continue your journey, but have to go all the way to the next bridge or beyond.
If you are such a cyclist then TV production company Tiger Aspect wants to hear from you for their new programme Men In White, airing next year. It's all about three handsome, stylish young boffins who want to solve a particular problem that have been bugging you.
30 years ago I thought: 'why not invent a car that hides its wheels when you park it, so it can't be clamped?' I should have patented the idea. They do that in the very first programme, apparently:
...in which the three Men In White create an un-ticketable, un-clampable and un-towable car - while keeping within the law.
And one cyclist told them he's fed up with cycling the canal towpaths from bridge to bridge, and he wants to be able to quickly cycle across from one side to another. And the three Men In White will try to oblige:
Forget towpaths, Tiger Aspect Television will get the boffins to design a bike that can pedal in water. There are already commercial products that can equip a standard bicycle to do this [are there? - Granny] but to make one from scratch could be interesting...
Now they are looking for volunteers to try out their canal-cycling prototypes:
We would like to find someone who lives near a lake or canal who would appreciate having their journey to work or to a recreational activity decreased through being able to cycle on water.
I'm left wondering about the 4mph speed limit on canals, and the boat licencing bit. What, for example, is the annual licence due on a bicycle pedalling the canals? Confronting British Waterways on these problems could be trickier than solving the real, physical problem of nipping across the water, boatless, in a trice. And what will they come up with? Narrowbikes? Biyaks? Bicycruisers? Bargicles?
Email Kate Harding if you want to try cycling on water.
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