I had the elastic straps on mine but they lost their elasticity so I ditched them. I just release the clips and push up and over the second bar.
Yes think that's what's happened to mine. But since it's been explained to me exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, you're right - it's very easy to do it, so I probably won't bother raiding the GF's knicker drawer as mentioned above
Hasn't been much of a problem since I posted, due to the constant rain here in NI