FunkDunc
Take up running, you can do it from your door
Amazingly you can do that with cycling too.
There are vast stretches of the country where you can go for a ride and never see another person.
Cycling isn't just putting your bike in a car, going to a trail centres and doing risky stuff.
I guess depends on where you live too. How you Infil and exfil the trail. No stops etc. If you head straight to the trail (with ref for mtb use) I do not see an issue.
I have some DH trails outback, To get there I cross a back road that runs along the hill slope. Also leads to a nice long fitness loop that is 700M at the top. Basically a drove road. Just going to keep riding solo.
Take up running, you can do it from your door
Interesting, that, shedding light on attitudes to exercise and what cycling is perceived to be by many.
With online deliveries being disrupted, I need another way to get the weekly shop - so I've bought a set of panniers. The minimalist bikepacking brigade will throw up their hands in horror, but it'll be a nice ride on a heavily laden bike for me until people get a grip.
Amazingly you can do that with cycling too
I was referring to comments above about going to trail centres. Yes of course ride from your door, just id prefer to run rather than ride an Enduro bike on the road (given not everyone has countryside on their doorstep)
As long as you practice proper risk management on your rides I dont see an issue, general the areas where you will interact with people is the start and end of the ride, just use caution.
I live in HK, one of the first places affected and the trail are mobbed with people, however when you get to an space where there is greater interaction people (hikers, rider etc) are all going out of our way to mask up and keep separated.
Been out for 30KM spin today, mask on leaving my apartment complex, mask off and ride, then the same on my return. Its actually not bad now as I can get a few post ride beers in an empty bar, wear my mask when ordering and off it goes when Im alone an supping ale. Staff are of course taking precautions on collecting the jars.
I suspect the economic affects of this panic are going to far outweigh the physical, people should just use their common sense on cleanliness/hygiene and and how they interact and it will be fine...oh.
I'd love to go for a ride, but playing safe on both "spreading" and "risk/impact" counts.
I see it as controlling one more variable among many others I can't.
There's plenty of MTB specific bodyweight/kettlebell/etc free resources online from the likes of Fit4 Racing, Strength Factory, Point1 Athletic that you can do in the garden, which is what I've been doing every morning before the wife and kids are up. Fresh air, relevant exercise. Job done.
I'll share some links in a bit 👍
FunkyDunc
I was referring to comments above about going to trail centres.
Sorry, I should have worded my comment better - it looks like I was having a shot at you. Not intended.
big_n_daft - I completely agree with everything you've written.
There seems to be 2 types of disagreements going on here.
1) That we shouldn't ride because were going to need hospital care if we crash.
2) Riding is spreading the CV.
Just ride sensibly. I am lucky enough to be in a semi rural location with varying degrees of trail types, from flat canal to the full gnarly 'holding on by the seat of your handmade in Yorkshire pants'.
I've chosen to ride the canal type.
As for spreading CV, I'm more likely to catch/spread by going to the shops this afternoon.
For me personally the health benefits of solo cycling, in the deep dark countryside away from everyone is not selfish.
For me personally the health benefits of solo cycling, in the deep dark countryside away from everyone is not selfish
My hero
Are you suggesting no one should drive a car? Levels of risk are similar without cars having the health benefits
Far higher on the basis of my commute today. Quieter roads has lead to some frankly appalling driving, just cos there are fewer cars, doesn't mean the speed limit or rules about diving across 3 lanes to make the exit no longer apply!
I'd like to see obese people, smokers, heavy drinkers and the unfit do something about the colossal and often avoidable load they place on the health service.
Way too many folk on here not grasping that people are posting from different parts of the world with different advice and restrictions in place, and/or not understanding the details of that advice.
I really wish people would STFU
🤔
I have been riding where I live for 20 years. In that time I have never got closer than 3 metres to anyone. Most times I don't even see anyone other than people in cars.
First commute under the new regime today.
The cyclepath was still pretty busy, and two things occurred to me:
1) I never blow snot rockets if anyone is close behind, but now it feels like doing it all at is a bit of a dick move, not sure how long that potentially booby-trapped cloud of droplets might hang around!
2) Drafting seems a little silly, deliberately placing yourself in someone else's slipstream is just asking to pick up an aspired droplet or two (briefly drafted an e-biker up a hill at a 2-3 metres distance).
Partly out of paranoia, and partly because I can, I might try a different route using a less busy cyclepath, especially while our work's VPN struggles under the strain and working from home isn't quite viable yet...
I’d like to see obese people, smokers, heavy drinkers and the unfit do something about the colossal and often avoidable load they place on the health service.
While I'm at it, I'd also like to see people being a bit kinder on here instead of jumping down each other's throats, calling them 'selfish pricks' and taking black and white positions on something that, in the UK at least, is still a hypothetical situation.
How about, if you think someone's missed a crucial point - eg: the possible increased load on the health service, you just explain it politely? The macro situation is that the load that corona virus imposed on the NHS is going to claim lots of victims who don't have the virus by depleting health care resources.
Equally, the other side of crashing a bike, is that you really don't want to end up in a hospital environment where there's a much higher chance of being infected by the virus because that's where the highest concentration of victims is going to be. That's as much about your own personal well-being as it is about the greater good, but not sure it's even been mentioned here yet.
Stuff like that is relevant and worth considering, but easily gets lost in the crossfire.
I'm going to go back to being grumpy and cantankerous mow.
I’d also like to see people being a bit kinder on here instead of jumping down each other’s throats, calling them ‘selfish pricks’ and taking black and white positions on something that, in the UK at least, is still a hypothetical situation.
Well said
Given that current NHS/Government policy is to not test the healthcare professionals at the frontline, maybe hospital isn't the safest place to be, but out on the bike is.
Last week, a woman of 79 was admitted to his care for an elective, non-urgent procedure. She was then diagnosed with Covid-19, which, he says, “she almost certainly acquired on our wards”. She was put on a ventilator but died on Monday night.
“I’m sure she will go down as an elderly patient with underlying conditions, but she should have lived to 90,” he said. “Approximately 50 nurses dealt with her and many doctors. None has been tested. All are still at work.”
While I’m at it, I’d also like to see people being a bit kinder on here instead of jumping down each other’s throats, calling them ‘selfish pricks’ and taking black and white positions on something that, in the UK at least, is still a hypothetical situation.
Well said BWD... this forum in particular of all the ones i visit is arguably the most nasty towards eachother.. Rude and impolite often...
I don't get how people can't comprehend it's possible to disagree with someone without being downright rude to do so.
Amazingly you can do that with cycling too.
There are vast stretches of the country where you can go for a ride and never see another person
I went for a 20k ride around Rothiemurchus late afternoon yesterday and met only one other person, very very unusual. Granted the weather was a bit grim but even so I'd normally expect to meet at least half a dozen other folk out and about.
Here in Austria everything is on lockdown apart from essential supplies. Cycling and going for a walk in nature alone is allowed. I was out this morning on my bike.
I'm in the 'at risk' group & isolating the best I can. However, I'm still out riding for a couple of hours, avoiding people & not visiting the café.
A few minutes ago Hospital rang to say my operation this Friday has been cancelled! Half of me didn't want to go in and the other half wanted the job done. Now await new appointment.
I've got to ask, all the "it's much better than being locked inside/won't do any harm" folk do you disagree with the rest of the advice or just the (currently theoretical) bits you don't like?
If, and it's a big if, the powers that be say we shouldn't be doing it, it's unlikely to be because of an underlying anti cycling agenda. It'll be because some people who understand this whole thing much much better than you or I, think it should have a positive impact.
Don't you think it's a bit odd to think "this advice good, this advice BS"?
(strikes me as a lot like thinking speed limits/mobile phone use behind the wheel and various other STW favourites don't apply to "you" because you've never crashed your car)
*FWIW I think it's all the wrong call, but sometimes you have to shut up, sit down and do as your told so I will.
Can you point to any actual advice that says we are not to go out on our bikes?
Because I have not seen any. Its all about avoiding contact with people
I also have to continue to go to work which is a far more risky enterprise than going for a cycle ride
@tjagain you're right about the work risk thing. I'm off at the moment but dreading going back in next week. As a postie I've got to sort through hundreds of items of mail each morning from all over the world, many of which will have been in the system for less than 24 hours after being handled by god know who with god know what. Got to get out of the habit of licking my dry fingers while sorting.
The lockdown rules from Belgium
Going out for a walk or a run, or riding a bike is allowed, “even encouraged”, the authorities say, as long as people observe a distance of one and a half metres from anyone who is not a member of their household.
Can you point to any actual advice that says we are not to go out on our bikes?
Assuming you're still up in Scotland, has anyone, anywhere, suggested such advice exists [relevant to you]?
If they tell us to stay in I'll stay in and ride Zwift, until that time though I'll carry on keeping my distance, I never meet folk locally anyway 😀
dangerousbrain some folk on this thread seem to be saying going out for a bike ride is not on. I would like to see this advice that leads them to say that.
There are one or two on this thread currently in Spain (and Italy I think) amongst other places, so it maybe they're talking about there rather than here. Of course they could just be making it up.
Email from Audax UK
--------------------
Dear Member
You may already be aware from the AUK Forum and social media of the Board's decision on Monday night to suspend recognition of all calendar, permanent and DIY events, with immediate effect, until further notice.
While the decision was, of course, taken in response to the updated government advice given yesterday, I thought it might be helpful to give some insight into why we have decided to suspend all AUK events and the implications for the various events that run under the AUK umbrella.
Our overriding priority must be the health and safety of our membership and the wider community. Long distance cycling poses two fundamental challenges in relation to Covid-19.
The first relates to infection control. The importance of hand hygiene has been repeatedly stressed by the health authorities but maintaining this can be challenging on long rides. Additionally, control points and cafes can bring riders, volunteers and the public into close proximity and so increase the risk of the virus being spread, in either direction.
A further factor is that at this stage we have no indication of the extent to which rider fatigue may affect susceptibility and resilience to infection.
The second challenge is that, while the risk may be small, accidental injury can and does happen on Audax rides. In normal circumstances, we manage this through risk assessment of rides and the expectation that participants take reasonable care.
Our health services will be under extreme pressure in the coming weeks and months. Riders who are injured may struggle to access timely and appropriate care and will take resources that could be used to the benefit of other, potentially critically ill, patients.
As well as the risks to riders and the public, a reputational risk to AUK attaches to this. It is hard to imagine that there would be much sympathy for an injured rider who had prioritised gaining a couple of Championship points over their own and others' well-being. We understand that the decision of the Spanish and Italian cycling federations to ban all recreational cycling was taken in response to this.
In summary, we would be failing to meet our organisational responsibility to benefit the health and well-being of the community, and we would be in breach of our health and safety policy, which requires us to undertake specific risk assessments and provide a safe environment, taking the specific nature of randonneur cycling and related disciplines into account.
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... admin details
>
I hope that all members will appreciate that this decision was not taken lightly. We will formally review the position at the next Board meeting on 22nd April and update you as appropriate.
My best wishes to all members and their families during these challenging times.
Doug and Dot are in Spain and are subject to strict restrictions on cycling.
That's the issue, dangeourbrain, If the "advice from powers that be" is different in different places and different times, there are different people thinking different things.
In Spain, going for a bike ride is currently illegal, would get you a big fine, and as a result of the strength of that direction, it's being taken very seriously to the extent that it's socially unacceptable too. In other countries, keeping people healthy through exercise is seen as vital, and there's advice about how to do it safely
We're all facing the same issues, but advice is different, because opinions of those taking the decisions is different. The same is true of speed limits, blood alcohol levels for driving, drugs, parking on the other side of the road, wearing a helmet when cycling and a thousand other things.
It's not totally irresponsible to feel the official line in belgium is more appropriate than the official line in Spain, or the line intented to keep the majority safer in London isn't especially relevant in your house in the Highlands.
Can you point to any actual advice that says we are not to go out on our bikes?
As I've already said, no one is saying this is the advice in the UK. Lots of people getting very high and mighty have either misunderstood, or maybe like being hypothetical keyboard warriors
Doug and Dot are in Spain and are subject to strict restrictions on cycling.
And molgrim,spekkie and me. Maybe we should have a group hug.
Don’t you think it’s a bit odd to think “this advice good, this advice BS”?
No, it's completely sensible. Judge each bit on its merits. Just deciding on a blanket basis that everything that X says is wrong and everything that Y says is right is odd.
strikes me as a lot like thinking speed limits/mobile phone use behind the wheel and various other STW favourites don’t apply to “you” because you’ve never crashed your car
It's not saying "You can't ride your bike but I can ride mine". It's about saying "everyone should carry on getting exercise as long as it's not particularly risky". Deciding what risky actually means is another issue. But if that level of risk is acceptable for me then it's acceptable for someone else with the same risk factors as me.
Maybe we should have a group hug
I seem to recall this is acceptable, but only if you hire a neighbour's dog so you've a reason to be outside first.
After a trip to Aldi this morning, I know where I'd much rather be for my own health and well being!
Deciding what risky actually means is another issue.
That's sort of my point. None of us here is qualified to make that assessment in the current situation. (If we were we'd be shut up in a lab working our asses off not worrying about if it's acceptable or not to be out riding our bikes.) you and I have, for example, no way of knowing if increased exercise is beneficial, neutral, or detrimental here, there are plenty of "known unknowns" for the public, let alone "unknown unknowns" you simply don't have the data to make anything other than an emotional judgement.
Don’t you think it’s a bit odd to think “this advice good, this advice BS”?
No, it’s completely sensible. Judge each bit on its merits. [see above] Just deciding on a blanket basis that everything that X says is wrong and everything that Y says is right is odd.
But that's not the issue, no-one so far as I can see its saying "what X says is right, what Y says is wrong". - unless you mean X is Spain Y is Belgium, in which case misrepresenting it imo, because clearly what is being said in Spain is what's "right" for Spain but possibly [currently] irrelevant to Belgium (the straw man there being no bull fights because of Covid-19, its relevant in one, not the other). Its the same as the Chinese easing lockdown, I'm guessing you don't think the Spanish would be wise to do that at the moment?
If you trust that our government is doing any of this for the right reasons, and it'll have any beneficial effect, what extra info do you have to make you think that some of it isn't sensible?
(again all theoretical at the moment here in the UK anyway) whilst I accept the transmission risk of a bike ride from Richmond North Yorkshire is less than round Richmond Park, who is to say the ban is to reduce transmission? Who is to say you won't just find lots of people travelling to places its "ok" (so they're busy) and so on.
“Go for a fun drive with family”
🤔
“Go for a fun drive with family”
Doughnuts round all the empty roundabouts obviously!
“Go for a fun drive with family”
beetle drive?
beetle drive?
What about a Whist drive?
Going out for a walk or a run, or riding a bike is allowed, “even encouraged”, the authorities say, as long as people observe a distance of one and a half metres from anyone who is not a member of their household.
Seems sensible to me. Small groups, keep your distance, and don't go to a cafe or pub.
I'll be taking a flask and sandwiches with me from now on.
@daern - what's the source of that info? Notable that it covers gym etc but no mention of swimming even though PHE have said typical chlorination levels of pools should inactive Sars-cov-2. Obvious risk from the changing facilities but at my local pool you were wise to avoid touching anything in there anyway.
Well I've had a phone consultation with my doctor so he could issue a repeat prescription for my inhalers so I asked him about this very subject. This is the advice he gave:
* If you want to go for a ride, go.
* Avoid congregating in groups.
* Minimise time at cafés/pubs etc.
* Don't take risks.
* Tell someone where you are and roughly what time you'll be back.
* Wash all your kit after every ride.
* Don't share water or food with others.
* The boost your immune system and mental health will receive is far greater than any small risk you'll face.
Basically what I thought. Ride solo and on gentler trails, stay away from the busy areas and keep up the hygiene regime. I'll take that as a green light to ride until it's specifically banned.
Plus I have new inhalers 😎
