Proper use of an A Gate

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
ferdinand
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Proper use of an A Gate

Post by ferdinand »

This made me chuckle.

An anti-minimoto gate which will keep out all the motorbikes that are wider than a bus.

luton-dunstable-motorbikes-small.jpg


Ferdinand
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mjr
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by mjr »

Slight error: you call them gates, but they never open. They're A barriers.

Also, maybe you mean motorbikes, as minimotos can pass through A barriers just fine.
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reohn2
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by reohn2 »

It's photos like those that confirms that I live in a mad country,run by madmen :?
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iviehoff
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by iviehoff »

mjr wrote:Slight error: you call them gates, but they never open. They're A barriers.

I think there are moving parts so the aperture can be widened, and it is therefore reasonable to call it a gate. Presumably the intention - in the case of a gate that is actually located within an otherwise impermeable barrier - is that the operation of the moving parts is too tricky for someone with a motorbike.
mark1964
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by mark1964 »

Made me smile too. Big road-shaped gap next to it is a subtle clue as to it's uselessness :lol: BTW, these barriers are totally useless against those on pit bikes. Once saw a bloke here in Bristol manage to get a full sized trials bike into a local park through one of these. Completely useless.
thirdcrank
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by thirdcrank »

The bit about the meaning of the word "gate" had me reaching for my dictionary. It seems that a gate is really the gap and it's only modern usage which treats the bit on hinges which closes the gap as a gate. This word is said to originate from the Old English geat meaning a "way" so gateway is arguably tautology. Around here, we have streets with "gate" as part of their name (eg Briggate and Kirkgate in Leeds) and I thought that was the same thing, but apparently not. In that context, "gate" also means a "way" but it comes from Old Norse gata which again means a "way." (Pay attention, there's a test later. :wink: )

All of which says nothing but back to the OP, the people who erect those metal obstacles have little interest in providing any sort of a decent "way" for cyclists.
======================================================
PS Anybody who knows York will tell you that the various gates around the city's walls are "bars" and the boozers are called "pubs" But you probably knew that anyway. :lol:
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mjr
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by mjr »

So what's the old English for the thing blocking a gate then? ;-)
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Tonyf33
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by Tonyf33 »

mjr wrote:So what's the old English for the thing blocking a gate then? ;-)

Lazy farmer? :lol:
pwa
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by pwa »

I think the catalogue term for the A-frame things is something like "motorcycle inhibitor", if we are being picky.
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531colin
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by 531colin »

pwa wrote:I think the catalogue term for the A-frame things is something like "motorcycle inhibitor", if we are being picky.



Nah, a "motercycle inhibitor" is the missus on pillion.
iviehoff
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by iviehoff »

thirdcrank wrote:The bit about the meaning of the word "gate" had me reaching for my dictionary. It seems that a gate is really the gap and it's only modern usage which treats the bit on hinges which closes the gap as a gate. This word is said to originate from the Old English geat meaning a "way" so gateway is arguably tautology. Around here, we have streets with "gate" as part of their name (eg Briggate and Kirkgate in Leeds) and I thought that was the same thing, but apparently not. In that context, "gate" also means a "way" but it comes from Old Norse gata which again means a "way."

English gate corresponds to Norse garth, which is often used for that other kind of gap, a pass. You get both kinds of gate stuck together at Gatesgarth.

Another confusion between Norse and English can be seen in the occasionally seen street name Storegate, which comes from Norse Storgata, ie Main Street, still a common name for the high street in Swedish towns. But here it often gets interpreted as meaning shop street - you even see it half translated as Store Street in some towns, more particularly in Ireland.
MikeF
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by MikeF »

Around Ashdown Forest there are Gates - and Hatches :wink:
Only gates around St Leonard's Forest though.
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Bigdummysteve
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by Bigdummysteve »

I've just had the 'pleasure' of cycling the length of the country a lot of it on towpaths and cycle trails these things also effectively inhibit loaded touring bikes. On several occasions I had to abandon my chosen route and to take to the road, some routes had these things every 100 yards. Even worse are the kissing gates were even worse, riding a loaded surly big dummy ( it's a long tail cargo bike) meant I had to reverse the bike in backwards, stand it vertical and squeeze it through.
I realise my bike is a little unusual but what about people with child seats? The particularly galling thing was many of the blighted routes were marked cycle routes yet for me cycling was made very difficult.
I believe some places are removing them due to disabled access problems.
While a realise the need for these things to keep motorbikes off the trails there must be a better solution.
ferdinand
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by ferdinand »

Bigdummysteve wrote:I've just had the 'pleasure' of cycling the length of the country a lot of it on towpaths and cycle trails these things also effectively inhibit loaded touring bikes. On several occasions I had to abandon my chosen route and to take to the road, some routes had these things every 100 yards. Even worse are the kissing gates were even worse, riding a loaded surly big dummy ( it's a long tail cargo bike) meant I had to reverse the bike in backwards, stand it vertical and squeeze it through.
I realise my bike is a little unusual but what about people with child seats? The particularly galling thing was many of the blighted routes were marked cycle routes yet for me cycling was made very difficult.
I believe some places are removing them due to disabled access problems.
While a realise the need for these things to keep motorbikes off the trails there must be a better solution.


I'm coming to the conclusion that these barriers are like Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima and will be rooted out one by one for a century, and that barriers that the authorities have long forgotten about will be discovered blocking cyclepaths in 2475, and our descendants will view them as we view ducking stools, thumbscrews and Spanish donkeys.

The only way they will get taken out is if someone takes the time to request the removal of each one or upgrading in line with current standards. That needs the location to be identified and a complaint to the appropriate authority made. A photograph and dimensions will help. If you happened, for example, to be planning to return that way in 2 years with your disabled friend on a trike, it may get a better response. The legal duties of eg County Councils are in place, as are the Statutory Requirements to improve PROWs, but if noone takes it on nothing will happen. A complaint to the CC may well be referred in teh right direction if it belongs to someone else.

The bit about the being needed to keep motorbikes out seems to me to be a big fat myth cum red herring. Most 'off-road' bikes are about the same width as a mountain bike.

Ferdinand
Willy_Eckerslike
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Re: Proper use of an A Gate

Post by Willy_Eckerslike »

mjr wrote:So what's the old English for the thing blocking a gate then? ;-)


A 'bar', I believe.
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