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Absolutely agree with taking it carefully and not taking risks when out riding. Which suits my usual pootling style down to the ground, frankly. But I've still not heard or seen anything from the NHS officially about not doing x or y to avoid putting extra strain on the system?
It falls under Rule 1, obviously, but I'm just a bit surprised nothing seems to have been said officially, or have I missed it?
my post crossed with jet26 - so is that policy being made publicly known to try and deter daredevils or hedge trimmers up ladders?
MoreCashThanDash have been press statement from associations released and surgeons on Twitter/Social Media but may not be as well publicised as should be.
Current guidance is non surgical treatment even if that raises likelihood of a worse outcome, then try and salvage it later if you can...
This threads ripe for a feature in the mag by @stwhannah now we have our first injury and waste of the NHS’s time (glad to see your ok @velocipede).
We going to have articles in the paper about all the accidents at home, which occur much more regularly about how they tripped and fell down the stairs and wasted the NHS' time?
Velocipede was doing nothing gnarly, just a totally unfortunate accident where the chances of it happening was super remote.
You can badly injure yourself just going for a walk around the local area, we going to start to hound them for wasting the NHS' time?
The risk of the accident occurring is by far made null by the physical and mental positives it brings, so lets not scare people into going out shall we.
….I am definitely NOT smiling because I am enjoying myself
Yeeezus that sounds stressful. Get well soon!
I've got form with stupid accidents.
Broken radius whilst riding DH with Switchbacks in Spain, deserved that one.
Broke the same radius (snapped the bone around the end of the plate) on a fire road at Swinley ~18 months later......
Broke the same radius 4 months later taking it easy on the road bike, almost standstill at a give way line waiting for a gap and there must have been a big puddle of diesel as the bike just disappeared from under me. Broke in the same place and bent the plate! Took 6 weeks just to get surgery on that last one as the surgeon was on tour in Afganistan!
Settled into a routine of alternate days of hard turbo sessions (doing the tour of Sufferlandria so some are 2+ hours or back to back) and riding on the road for a bit of recovery and to relax my mind a bit on the alternate days.
Larry - not hounding anyone - just trying to make sure info is in public domain so people can make choices - for some a bad off may be a career threatening injury.
Hand surgery society have been tweeting lots of videos saying don't do DIY or use power tools for same reasons....
In a polite way makes no difference to me what choices are made, but a poor outcome from a bad injury due to 'old fashioned' treatment may make a difference to that individual. May not also but it's a choice to make!
But if there’s a lesson in this for everyone, it’s that you must follow the advice – please don’t take the guidance lightly
What did you do that went against 'the advice' exactly?
Healing vibes Velocipide, please don't beat yourself up though.
It's a numbers game and, as above, the vastly reduced number amount of hazardous activity leading to a lower burden on A&E is the main thing.
There will still be a few casualties, and unfortunately you are one of them, but you should have a clear conscience as long as you weren't sending it.
Healing vibes Velocipide, please don’t beat yourself up though.
Yes quite. It does sound like you were just unfortunate. Get well soon!
So, can I drive to the FoD this weekend for my government sanctioned exercise or not? It's 40 miles each way, if that matters. If that's too far, How about Cleeve Hill? That's only 14.5 miles and would allow me to exercise the dog as well, killing two birds with one stone. Both are things I did regularly, pre-lockdown.
Half the posters on here would have you believe that it's OK because it isn't specifically forbidden and the other half would have you believe it's not it's OK because it isn't specifically allowed. I'm stuck between people interpreting the rules to suit their argument and people interpreting the rules to suit their argument...
STAY AT HOME
Do you live in Cinderford? Coleford? If not, you know the answer really doomanic.
We going to have articles in the paper about all the accidents at home, which occur much more regularly about how they tripped and fell down the stairs and wasted the NHS’ time?
That's rather misleading. Being in their home is probably most peoples most common 'activity' or 'location'. It's not very surprising that so many accidents happen in the home.
How many people die playing Russian roulette each year? Not many in the UK. So:
Being at home is more dangerous than firing a loaded revolver at your own head?
doomanic
Subscriber
So, can I
If you have to ask................
Run through this thought experiment.
You're unlucky and the police stop you and tell you it's not essential to travel to the FoD, and give you a ticket.
You appeal because your visceral need to shred some sweet brown pow is essential in your eyes.
Ends up in court, you're playing a numbers game with a jury who let's face it are probably less sympathetic to your need to shred some gnarr than the average STW'er.
Unlikely to happen, but you're really asking is "if a dick is a dick in the Forrest and no one is around to see it, is he still a dick".
Or maybe I'm just jealous because Swinley's closed due to dicks be'dicking and ending up in an ambulance so the whole place is closed.
doomanic. I would honestly say both of those are too far and are not in the spirit of the guidelines & I am one of those saying that you are allowed to drive. But local is local & to me those distances don't count as being in 'my neighourhood'.
The lady from Public Health England just said they're seeing a concerning rise in vehicle traffic so I'd say no. But that was the answer anyway
I'm sticking to not using my car unless I absolutely need to. That means all exercise is from my front door. I think that's fair and avoids the situation where some folk are seen to drive out somewhere quiet, then every man (and his dog where applicable) decides to join in and we have a situation like a few days ago around Snowdon and in the Peak.
Then we get properly locked down and I can't do my local exercise. Selfish of me? Not so much as those who want to swan off to a nice place in their cars (IMO of course).
I'm so conflicted.
Having been well and soundly flayed for my belief that i should drive a short distance to somewhere quiet to walk the dog. I've had a stern word with myself, convinced myself that as 99.9% of people think I'm a dick I must be wrong, and I should just walk from the house instead
I took the dog out just now.
I had to stand aside on the path 15-20 times to avoid coming within 2m of people. Some of them seemed to make no attempt to stand aside themselves, which is odd because being one of the 99.9% that are doing the right thing I thought they'd know what to do. I did my best though, even though it's harder with a dog on a lead trying to stand against a wall and keep the dog out of their way too. I hope no-one else touched the walls of the alleyways I have to walk down to get to the open space before me.....
And finally, stepping into a bramble patch to avoid a runner coming towards me I have now put a neat series of bramble gashes on my shin. Still, I was doing the right thing, so if they get infected I'm sure the health service will welcome me with open arms.
I feel so smug for not being a dick and driving a short distance even if it would have avoided all those hazards.
Half the posters on here would have you believe that it’s OK because it isn’t specifically forbidden and the other half would have you believe it’s not it’s OK because it isn’t specifically allowed.
No. If there's a divide on here it seems to be between people who believe that if we ride bikes, we'll have the right to ride bikes removed from us, so we shouldn't ride bikes at all in a Catch 22 sort of way. The village had to be destroyed so it could be saved.
And, at the other not very extreme, people who think it's okay to ride from your front door in a reasonable, careful way avoiding other people and not crashing yourself to bits in the process.
The real, for-out extremists, might argue that it's valid to drive a couple of km if it genuinely means you can avoid contact with people and go for a walk somewhere quiet.
In reality, the people flouting the rules big time aren't on here. And the way the modelling for social distancing works, there's an assumption that some people are not going to comply 100% because we're human, so the model builds that in. Obviously it doesn't mean you shouldn't try as best as you can to conform, and I think most people on here do, but equally it will still work even if there are some people not doing exactly as they are supposed to.
It's not a binary outcome, just as the risks around transmission of the virus are not binary, but quite nuanced. You are far more likely to catch the virus through prolonged close proximity to another person in an office or on a train than you are from walking past them momentarily on the street for example, but I think anxiety understandably has made us jumpy. Mostly in everyday life we don't deal with things that quite so obviously have the potential to kill people, it's quite scary. Scares me anyway.
My question was intentionally absurd, I was interested to read the responses it generated. Until there are clear guidelines about what is acceptable I will doing all my exercise from home, no matter how boring. And no matter how many people I'll see in the local park doing the same thing...
My question was intentionally absurd, I was interested to read the responses it generated.
Fair enough I guess. As a longstanding bystander and occasional contributor to this thread, that seems a bit mean. People are genuinely very anxious about all this with some justification, so I'm trying to be kind. It feels like normal forum terms of engagement have mostly been temporarily suspended. Stay safe 🙂
Graph from press conference on Twitter - it's interesting. Day on day reduction in car use for 14-15 days. Now suddenly going back up again - guess it will depend if it keeps rising as to what comes next...
Can't think of an obvious reason why would have increased for businesses etc, unless due to further cuts in public transport meaning car use for work?
I have been running and walking for my daily exercise.
My dodgy knee has not appreciated this. Thankfully it's not aggravated when cycling. As I don't ride on the road the countryside is where it's at.
Can’t think of an obvious reason why would have increased f
Because the officials and the police vindicated those who were on the fence yesterday bowing to those who were vocally upset about not being able to drive their car to their exercise and dog walking spots.
Were at 20% of normal car use up to yesterday and that's nominally up to 40% today so they say.
Can’t think of an obvious reason why would have increased for businesses etc, unless due to further cuts in public transport meaning car use for work?
Mainly because you can delay/suspend some activities for a while and then you need to do them again.
All those folk who stacked their cars full of groceries a couple of weeks ago will have used a lot of them (especially fresh stuff) and will need to make trip to restock.
Some folk will be "popping into the office" to pick up something they left behind when they decided to work from home - or they just need more paper.
If you have someone at home feeling a bit ill, you'll maybe need to pop out for some Paracetamol etc
It's not hard to come up with a list of genuine, justified reasons for making a car journey.
Because the officials and the police vindicated those who were on the fence yesterday bowing to those who were vocally upset about not being able to drive their car to their exercise and dog walking spots.
Were at 20% of normal car use up to yesterday and that’s nominally up to 40% today so they say.
I believe as posted elsewhere, the car usage stats are a day in arrears. [ref: Kelvin in the 'Heavy Handed' thread] So yesterday's usage was up on the day before, and unless everyone saw the news and promptly thought 'great, let's go for a drive' then it's not that.
It might be of sinister cause - eg: that people are bored of lockdown already, or that they've seen others doing it and thought 'sod it', or it may be less sinister like it's 2 weeks since lockdown now, you can't get a delivery for love nor money and everyone's now running out of food.... but we need more data before it's a trend.
Went out on the bike this afternoon for a pootle in the strong breeze. Hardly a car on the roads. I did spot a quad bike with 2 neds on it. Don’t think you can social distance as a pillion passenger. To be fair they may well live in the same house.
Got a pass on dog walking yesterday so did a loop of the woods. It was noticeable that the few people I did meet were much more reluctant to respond to my cheery hello and most didn’t even want to look me in the eye. I suspect because they were feeling guilty about driving there, not, I hope because it’s all about to go every man for himself. There’s some signs of discontent rising in Italy as the economy crashes and people start to get desperate.
I was just out for an hour spin on the roads, saw maybe three of each of casual cyclists, roadies and MTBers - all gave me a proper wave and eye contact which is not usual for the roadies 🙂
I personally think the car use blip was simply people who are splitting the week part working from home and part having to go in. Monday being conveniently tagged on the weekend as wfh.
I pedalled in 7am Monday and it was noticeably quiet - didn't get overtaken by a single car in the first 3 miles (would usually be 10 plus cars in the first mile and that is the quietest bit). Same time and place the last two days was busier (but still less than half the volume you'd expect during school holidays).
Will be interesting to see if the pattern repeats this coming Friday / Monday.
Graph from press conference on Twitter – it’s interesting. Day on day reduction in car use for 14-15 days. Now suddenly going back up again –
Sorry, I had to go food shopping!
Just to clarify, MrsMC had to go into the office today, so I'm doing the weekly shop tomorrow to avoid distorting the graphs.
Now suddenly going back up again –
Roughly corresponding to an increase in coverage in the media of the police being overly zealous / giving and indication they can't be anywhere. Fear of consequences drop and the use of cars increases? Or people have just been out for a shop.
Car use may keep rising if people think the car becomes an extension of the house and go full pensioner - drive out drink tea return home.
It was noticeable that the few people I did meet were much more reluctant to respond to my cheery hello and most didn’t even want to look me in the eye.
Exact opposite around here, everyone out seems extra freindly at the moment.
Exact opposite around here, everyone out seems extra freindly at the moment.
Same here
Awful lot of doom and gloom around one day's traffic figures. Let's see how the trend goes
Awful lot of doom and gloom around one day’s traffic figures. Let’s see how the trend goes
I might go to the garage tomorrow and brim the tank. Diesel is now down at 112.9 in a couple of garages near me.
Exact opposite around here, everyone out seems extra freindly at the moment.
Definitely this. TBH I think some of it is that the trails are generally quieter so meeting another person is a bit more unusual. The lack of visitors also means that every is a (near) local. We live in an area that is a real tourist hotspot so it certainly feels a lot different at the moment.
I saw the usual horse riders when out on my bike yesterday. Not sure thats allowed, to my eyes that seems very dangerous and needlessly risky at this time. I suppose they might have thought the same about me!
Horses do need exercised. You can argue about how and when that takes place but paddocks can be too soft and messy (especially at this time of year) to just be lunging them nearby.
Of course, illegal closures of bridleways (and other tracks in Scotland) will put more pressure on those that are still available.
paddocks can be too soft and messy (especially at this time of year)
Very dry here and horses can get enough exercise trotting aboutva field without a rider. I'm not overly bothered by it, but I bet the posh horsey types dont vilified in the press.
There's been a couple of posts on my local FB page from horsey types justifying driving their horses to go for a ride.
Apparently the horses get bored in the field and need a proper ride....hmmmm, nothing at all to do with you wanting to ride out Mrs Horsey lady?
I wasn't going to mention this because someone will say that by going out I take unnecessary risks such as these, but on my last (quiet, early hours) 45 minute loop from home my only traffic related incident was a minor left hooking - not a full on endo braking face in the back window but close enough to get a virtual face palm (no touching mind) - by a 4x4 with 'I slow down for horses' in the back window.
I would make up a song about it but I'm not sure if it is ironic (and it doesn't scan either)
Does riding my ebike count as my daily exercise?
Apparently the horses get bored in the field and need a proper ride….hmmmm, nothing at all to do with you wanting to ride out Mrs Horsey lady?
The quieter roads around here mean that the owners have just been walking the horses along there on their way to bridleways, hills etc. Seen more horses being ridden down the roads in the last 2 weeks than in the last 2 years!
Much less traffic = much safer.
And horses do need exercising, they get easily bored and they also tend not to actually do a lot unless they're being ridden. Kind of like how people will slouch on a sofa while thinking they should really do some exercise but they'll do it tomorrow!
my mate who works for the NHS finished his shift yesterday, had his bike in the car so stopped off for a blast round the woods as he was driving past, saving himself a boring 5 mile road spin from home - was accosted a busybody footbandit and criticised for making a non essential journey.. wish i could have seen her face when the ID badge and scrubs came out!!