Friday Night

sounds like fun.
i never have made it to the holland canal yet. how long a run is it.? when ever i drive up the 400 highway i look down at it. and say i,m going to try it one day. but i,ve been saying that for 7 yrs now.lol[/b]

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You've never run the canal? Aw, it's the BEST!!! How long is it? I've no idea how many km's. There's probably info on the net on that somewhere. How long it takes you to run it though obviously depends on what speed you're running at (duh!). It gets VERY busy on say, a Saturday during the day. It can seem like a sled highway on a perfect day because SO many people hit it. We prefer to run it at night with noone else around. You can really fly when it's deserted. We've been riding the canal for a long time though so we know it inside out. The first time you hit it - even IF you're able to do a good click because of lack of traffic - I SERIOUSLY recommend taking it easy. It has some KILLER corners on it and a number of *REALLY* low bridges. There's lots of opportunity for serious accidents... I definitely recommend you check it out though if you've never done it before! And it's a great way to get yourself out onto Simcoe too, obviously!

Cheers!

Tracylee

I believe that, at all of the bridges, you have the option of going up the bank and around, yes. BUT, if you are very cautious and slow RIGHT down, there really can't be any harm to going under instead. In fact - If this person that died made the mistake of raising his/her head too soon (meaning he/she hadn't passed completely under yet before trying to sit upright once again) then realistically... Well, he/she could have only been going way too fast. If you WERE slowed right down and still made the same error of rising too soon, you might bang up your helmet by bumping it... But you wouldn't sustain any major injury or worst of all, die from it. Do you follow what I mean? I go so slow that if I bumped my head under there, it would be no different then walking and bumping my head into something - But with the benefit of a helmet on to protect me from a bruise!

Regardless of any error this rider may have made to cause his/her own death, it's very tragic. There's no denying that. And it just goes to show - A person CANNOT excercise enough caution. You need to take the TIME to analyze things PROPERLY and make the right judgement call. Any sport involving speed is dangerous in this sense... You need to be 100% on the ball at all times because you need to be able to make decisions on the fly... And when in doubt? If you think something is risky and you're on the fence about it, just don't do it. Whether it be like in this case - "Is it safe to raise my head yet?" or whether it's a question of crossing water... Or whatever. When I pass under these bridges, I stay bent all the way over until I know I am WELL clear. Probably looks stupid to someone watching on the other side when I'm bent all the way over still, a meter after I'm 99% sure the bridge has ended - But, my head is 100% safe!