how to cross railroad tracks

[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!!!

[Biciclista]

oh you mean REAL cattleguards????? (i was thinking of the painted on ones) none of these exist in the Seattle Metropolitan area (where the blogger lives too)
THAT would be a scary thing to cross for certain.

[Catrin]

oh you mean REAL cattleguards????? (i was thinking of the painted on ones) none of these exist in the Seattle Metropolitan area (where the blogger lives too)
THAT would be a scary thing to cross for certain.

We don't have those here either...but I would walk them for sure! We do have rail crossings where the rails are higher than the road surface, more walking practice. I typically ride country roads by myself (even if it is an organized ride) and I am not going to take the risk.

[eofelis]

In town here we have a road that has a triple set of tracks across it, it's close to the trainyard. I have mindfully crossed them many times with no problems. We also have a lot of cattleguards and I have had no issues with those - I go fast and straight at them. It does not rain too much here, so the tracks and cg are usually dry.

A few years ago when Ride the Rockies rode from Grand Junction to Delta, over the Grand Mesa (Pedal Wench will remember that day!) there was a nasty set of tracks to cross over in Delta. The rails were set deeply into grooves and the edges of the grooves were a sharp steel edge. I went through carefully, noticing that 3 people were changing flats right then. I kept on. Later I noticed that my rear tire was damaged by those sharp edges. The day before, RTR Day 1, over the Colorado National Monument, many people got caught in rain. A friend of mine did go down on wet railroad tracks riding back into town.

I rode Bicycle Tour of Colorado the next week. Some of the routes went over historic narrow gauge railroad tracks, some rails were at a very acute angle to the roadway. They had people there telling riders to slow down, but there were still falls and a few people hooking wheels in the trackway. I got off my bike and walked across a few of those!