how to cross railroad tracks

[azfiddle]

We don't usually ride in the rain here in Tucson, but on one of the El Tour training rides we did, and the route included crossing trolley tracks near the University of Arizona. A couple of folks went down... fortunately, not me, but I was paying pretty close attention, and knew the tracks were there.

[Desert Tortoise]

I too was warned about the same UofA trolley tracks (during ETT training too) and I crossed them SO carefully. But the times I have been in that area were on early Sunday mornings before lots of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. How do you safely manuever while avoiding traffic?

The blog mentioned "unweigh", what does that mean? Is it kind of like lifting off the saddle slightly and shifting your weight to the back a little?

[marni]

biciclesta,

I just assume that a lot of people don't have to deal with wet or damp rr trackes white lines of cattle guards. I guess it depends on the climate one is uesed to.
around here it is more dry than wet so wet is always a problem.

no insult intened just a comment

marni

[Crankin]

Yes, I always lift my butt up off of the seat, in a half stand thing when I cross the tracks here.
I also don't ride in the rain, unless it starts when I am out there. Or, I am on a tour, as last summer. I had ten years worth of rain in 4 days .
There's always some other exercise to do. I don't mind running in the rain, as long as it's not too cold.

[murielalex]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to start commuting next week, and have two sets of tracks to cross. I hadn't thought of it before, but I will unclip now.

[shootingstar]

Cattleguards/rails make me hesitate alot more than railroad crossings (at an angle).

[Pedal Wench]

Cattleguards/rails make me hesitate alot more than railroad crossings (at an angle).

We encountered a few out west that I can't decide what's worse - riding over or walking. The rails are spaced so far apart that if you slip (walking in cleats) you're bound to break an ankle, and that spacing also makes riding over them so treacherous because they slow you down - and again, if you have to put your foot down while crossing, there's no way you'll not slip between them. Some have a way to walk across on the edges, but some have fences right up to the edge. I HATE cattle crossings!!!