[quote=“howlsthunder, post:18, topic:92699”]
When it rains hard and things get wet enough, the water carries the current, even along wood and rubber.[/quote]
In this case, also through their gloves, and their rubber-soled shoes. I understand the need for strong current when you’re worried about bears, but the degree of electrification here seems pretty high for sheep. (Unless the point was not to keep the sheep in, but to keep the cyclists out…in which case, well-done fence!)
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Though some of our fences will give one heck of a zap, the one around employee housing usually isn’t very strong (my family has horses and the fence we have at home is stronger than the one around housing) and that’s the one that everyone got zapped with the most when it was wet - and it hurts worse when wet. I don’t profess to know anything about setting up fences but there sure seems to be some variability - what the settings are, the fencing material, are there a lot of shorts along the fence (tall grass is a big problem at camp). So it wouldn’t surprise me that the cyclists could have been experiencing a “perfect storm” as it were in terms of just how badly and easily they were getting zapped.
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Seems like a metaphor for Western democracy.
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I wonder if it’s possible to turn off an electric current with some sort of switchlike device?
I see something that rather looks like that in the rear of the shot at 1:45, on the other side of the gate.
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She probably didn’t own a fatbike either
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Looks like an insulator to me. You can see another one on the other end of the wire fence in the reverse angle. There is a bit of insulated wire but it’s hard to tell if it is a jumper or runs to a controller out of frame. Either way a switch for a system like this would be in a dry and presumably locked location (in a box or building) as the farmer wouldn’t want just anyone to come and diddle with the switch.
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however a bypass, where you can unhook the wire to walk through (or open the gate) and then rehook it because you have thumbs , is pretty common, and that’s what I think I saw there.
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So was trespassing involved, or just property damage? Either way, they are not exactly helping the cause for their fellow cyclists.
The best solution is to find an off switch or disconnect, of course.
But sometimes, especially in the US, the switch might be a mile away or otherwise inaccessible.
In such cases a good solution is to temporarily short the fence. Any piece of metal long enough that you can stick one end in the ground and then lean the other end against the bottom of the fence will do the job. It’s not 100% effective in situations where the ground is dry, but in a case like these guys had where the ground is wet, it would have completely neutralized the effectiveness of the fence.
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UK has the concept of public footpaths (actually, it would need to be a bridalway to legally cycle on it, rather than just walk) that allow public access across private property.
Ironic given the whole “Englishman’s home is his castle” compared to the absolute priority of private property rights here in the US.
TL:DR Absolutely ok to cross private property as long as you stick to the path as marked on the map. Landowners do not always help, and therefore lock gates, electrify fences, block stiles, etc. Perfectly legal to circumvent these illegal barriers.
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[quote=“Raoul, post:31, topic:92699, full:true”]UK has the concept of public footpaths (actually, it would need to be a bridalway to legally cycle on it, rather than just walk) that allow public access across private property.
TL:DR Absolutely ok to cross private property as long as you stick to the path as marked on the map. Landowners do not always help, and therefore lock gates, electrify fences, block stiles, etc. Perfectly legal to circumvent these illegal barriers.[/quote]
I think you’ll find it’s more complicated than that. 
- Scotland has an absolute right to roam, which I think includes bicycles.
- England and Wales (don’t know about N.Ireland) have a right to roam on uncultivated, unenclosed land (not farmland or private gardens, for example), on foot only - NOT bicycles. On cultivated, enclosed land, there may be public footpaths (no bikes) or a smaller number of bridleways, as you mentioned.
You’re right that illegal barriers on official footpaths can be circumvented (preferably by removing the barriers and/or reporting them), but bridleways tend to be more substantial and more difficult to block - my entirely unsubstantiated guess is that the cyclists were in the wrong here, technically.
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As a British citizen, I know it’s more complicated than I stated on a quick comment for a US web site. But I appreciate your expansion on my quick explanation for American Readers - who usually find it incomprehensible that the public have the right to cross “private” land.
FWIW, I agree that it’s quite likely the muppets in the video were riding on a footpath rather than a bridalway, although as a mountain biker (who follows those rules when in the UK) I have seen plenty of blocked bridalways. And even if they weren’t, damaging the farmer’s fence through stupidity is not the right way to deal with it.
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They could have also grabbed it by just the seat, sticking to just the leathery portion and been good I think.
That looked a good bit drier than the wheels.
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Lifting a bike by the saddle is hard enough without trying to avoid touching any of the metal bits.
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One of the branches under the saddle would have also worked a bit better since the weight would would have allowed it to dangle instead of topple like lifting from the wheel was doing.
Of course, this is all said from my dry, non-electrified office chair. 
The other provided by the Morale Suppression Initiative Committee is in the shop…
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I am told that it is against the law for Texas landowners to put up barriers to natural, rivers and streams, due to the drought conditions in summer. However, I have personally seen some fences clear up to bridges and DOT property. I have seen some that have been destroyed as well.
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I clicked for a good laugh, was not disappointed. I give it two thumbs up for the scooten frooty. (sp?) 
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Haha, yeah.
Those are awfully wide tires for a mountain bike…considering the conditioning of these guys.
The thing about mountain bikes is that this kind of situation is pretty common, along with head injuries, separated shoulders (my speciality), and punctured lungs/broken ribs (another speciality). These guys got off light.
