Sauce? Or just slapping a bit of racism in here for the bantz?

Yes, if I was a racist with an particlar anti Chinese slant then marrying a women of Chinese origin and living there probably wouldn’t be the most logical thing to do.

It’s the stereotype STW response, I disagree with your opinion therefore you are a racist.
All I am saying is a combination of Chinese government bumbling (arresting the doctors who initially raised their suspicions about it), generaly poor hygiene standards at the wet markets, a plethora of Chinese tourists gadding about in late December/January and then the mass migration of Chinese people for the Chinese New Year just as the government, and then WHO, got involved probably played a large part in where we are now.

Yes, the actions taken once the Chinese government realised how bad the situation was is impressive, but the measures that took to curtain it would never be possible in the UK.
I dont think so anyway, I mean people are happy to vote for travel restrictions as Brexit proved but no be told to.

But, carry on blaming China if it makes you feel better.

It’s not about blame, its about finding out the causes and then stopping it happening again which, unfortuanalty based on recent experience, ain’t going to happen.
Theres another argument for another time whether an authoritative regime is better at clearing up the mess than trying to stop it happening in the first place mixed with a social inability to admit mistakes (or to lose face).

Managed to sneak out on Wednesday, bit damp and greasy as we slowly move to raining season.

To manage a little social distancing a few of us managed to get on for a 30km spin on Saturday, not many people about but did happen upon some good old father/son coaching….far beyond my abilities at that age.

If anyone believes the Chinese numbers I’ve got a lovely bridge for sale.
The only reason this has spread so far and so quickly is mainly on the backs of Chinese tourists and unfortunately the virus surge happening over the Chinese New Year celebrations, one of the biggest annual human mass migrations where people visit family in China then go back to wherever they are living (late Jan/early Feb).
It took a general strike by all our medical staff and a small bombing campaign to get the HK government, subservient to the CCP, to not close the border but at least put restrictions in place.

By late November there was already warning by social media in HK not to go to China as death was already started to appear.

Never heard of this and one of my BiL’s works in the ward at Princess Margret hospital that deals with all infection cases here.
If that was the case our social disturbances since June last year were very fortuitous as it knocked visitors from the mainland down to about 10% the usual number, probably helped us keep the spread contained somewhat.

China – lots of communal eating. Shared bowls of food, everyone double dipping with their own chopsticks. “Smashmouth” is a huge thing in China. coldsores are very common because of the food sharing

Generally there are separate cutlery for taking food from the shared plates/bowls etc and you then eat with your own chopsticks or spoons. There is a health scare out here every two years or so, bird flu, swine flu etc and that mixed with a tendency to eat and socialize(HKers tend to treat a restaurant like we treat a pub) means most Chinese have adapted over the years to minimize the risk.

Some updates from here, looks like my Shanghai and Beijing projects are starting to splutter back to life as the workers are slowly allowed back in. However we are now seeing a huge rise in infected cases now in HK as everyone returns back from Europe and the States.
The government have set up screening areas at the airport to test anyone with symptoms, if you have no symptoms you are still quarantined for 14 days and have to wear a tag to insure you stick to it. If you test positive straight to a local hospital.

There’s plenty of toilet paper, apparently the big supermarket chains keep warehouses full of them as they get shipped in huge container loads and not individually as needed by the manufacturers.

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.

Hi Infra, not sure what you are using to host the pics but I’m using Postimage and it seems to work well here.
Just register, upload and it will even provide the link to directly post into your post.

Managed to get some days of during the week so some cheeky trail building on Thursday and Friday.

Knocked out with a throat bug after that but just managed to get a couple of hours out this afternoon, being lucky to have some mountains nearby, the convenience of which in current isolating times is greatly appreciated although everyone and their dog was out hiking today.


Need to make the most of the cool weather before summer hits.

Being based in Hong Kong I guess we are a little ahead of what most of you are experiencing on the work front.
I work for an international finance company as a project manager in the technology side, mostly the delivery of new office spaces or relocation’s for India, Japan, Australia and China.
For Hong Kong we have had some serious social disruption for the 2nd half of 2019 which meant we were for some period forced to work from from home plus most of my projects are in other countries were I do not usually get to travel to so remote working, whether office or home, is very well ingrained and we are provided the tools to manage.
The company have also segregated teams to minimize the chances of any cross-infection with certain teams having access to certain floors only and some members just not allowed into the workplace at all. It is expected that people in separate teams do not mix even socially and that seems to be being adhered to.
There is of course a complete travel ban and even if I did need to travel I would now be subject to 14 days isolation on return to HK.
For the work itself, projects directly affected are just on hold with shifting restart dates there is some confusion, in China especially, on what restrictions are in place and what regulations need to be met (both national and local government plus landlords) to enable workers access to site. We expect projects in other countries to be similarly affected as the virus takes hold, in my case I am expecting this to be the case for both India and Australia.
In China I expect everything to be back to, as close as possible, normal by mid-April but I suspect the downturn in the financial markets will have a greater affect on my long term employment than this ‘blip’ caused by COVID-19.

Want some titanium bars for the Megatower to match the cranks and possibly go AXS on the Tallboy to bring some consistency in my drive-trains on both bikes.
If the world doesn’t tank too much over the next month or so then it should be achievable…its not like I will need the money for the summer Whistler trip at this rate.

Well, if I needed a reason to continue working from home for a little longer and not going back to the office (share the same lift as those going to 71)…

We are lucky that most people here would report this and obviously then take the consequences of the going to a quarantine area or self isolating.

Coming back from a ride on Saturday I got chatting to an Italian friend about how Europe would cope compared to Asia, and from our own experiences, Hong Kong with COVID-19.
Based on being married to a local, most HKers tend to be very clean, I am sure those who have visited overt he years have had to get used to using the shared chopstick and the personal chopstick when in restaurants, one for picking the food and placing in your bowl/plate and the other set for the act of eating it. As soon as it looked like it was spreading from across the border people started to up their game, masks went on (typically only worn when you feel ill to stop the spread) and the usual mass gatherings of family and friends got severely curtailed. People basically took it upon themselves to start acting appropriately to ensure the spread was minimized (not all but the vast majority) and even going as far as to protest to get the government to close the Chinese border, no real effort getting people on board with this I suppose based on the previous 6 months of ‘troubles’ but it did stop the medical services being overrun (out of the first 12 diagnosed cases, 11 were Chinese who made a run for the border when they realized they were ill). Luckily its been contained to a point here, sadly with 3 deaths now but we are now starting to see signs of things switching back and I expect come April we should be getting back to normal, well normal as the previous 6 months of rioting left us.
There is of course the financial impact, a lot people here are just accepting that they need to take unpaid leave as companies just cannot afford to continue operating at the previous rate (the majority of Cathay staff for example are now on 3 weeks unpaid leave), this has helped mitigate some of the worst financial implications, it will be interesting to see how Europe copes, or doesn’t with that choice.

The only decent character in Stallone’s Judge Dredd.

..and arranging a friendly game of football for some POW’s.

I fine body of work all round.

The good riding weather continues….

For those wondering if its OK to ride during the coronavirus, yes, if my local trails are anything to go by today, it was mobbed full of riders and hikers looking for an excuse not to wear masks or horde toilet paper.

If over the weekend, La Latina on a Sunday morning is cool to walk around, grab a breakfast, walk around the markets, its all good.

Link to support my earlier post re trump knowing better than WHO

So, behind the headline, he is saying that the reported ‘death rate’ of 3-4% may be too high as most people are not that affected by it and dont report it, so if you counted those who did have it that rate would be a lot lower.
Not usually one to agree with him but this seems a classic case of Guardian Headline espousing their editorial stance with the actual article content not really stating anything that most of us dont already know?

Currently 2 deaths in Hong Kong at the moment out of a population of around 7 million in a reasonably densely packed city, hit way earlier than Europe, with Id say at least half of those either in China or had close contact with someone from China in Late Jan/Early Feb due to Chinese New Year.

As I’ve said before, I suspect the economic hit from this, and the actions taken to try to contain it, is going to have far worse long term consequences than the actual effect of the virus itself.

To add some context to what you lot (i.e. still in the UK) will face coming from someone who is currently in it here in Honkers.
If you can work from home, great, you should be able to get paid for the 2-3 months the hysteria will sweep through closing every office or workshop.
Those affected the worst are the tradesman and construction works who not only got got stuck in their hometowns during Chinese New Year but when they were finally allowed to leave now had to quarantine themselves for another 2 weeks before they can go into work, thats if they find out and complete all the associated paperwork that goes with this.
HK which is a densely packed breeding ground for all sorts of bugs and diseases has had 2 deaths so far out of 7 million, one very old person and another youngish guy with existing health issues.
Chances are if you are feeling rundown, sore throat etc, you may well have it and its just not affecting you, I know I have just come out of a 3 week period of sore throat, tired limbs, generally cold feeling but its flu season, so its probably that.
There will be phases of panic buying as internet rumors talk of panic buying, general causing panic buying. We have had supermarket chains here having to release videos showing warehouses full of rice and toilet paper just to try and calm people down, imagine that, shops trying to slow down the buying of goods as it was just getting ridiculous, after all, you still need to transport it from A to B and that is when the shelves appear empty, causing more mass panic buying elsewhere when videos or pics of empty shelves start popping up again!
Note, I had a fridge delivered last week, bar the guys delivering it wearing mask and being especially careful around our apartment they were working as per normal.
All the schools are closed, have been for a while, but the streets are not full of kids as they all get work set online, all my teacher friends are reporting that they are busy, creating content for online distribution or generally chatting to pupils via Hangouts etc trying to ensure the curriculum carries on. I would hope the UK education system should be able to do what we do here, and as is done elsewhere in Asia?
If anything, this is a great way to catch up on good hygiene practices and as I have mentioned before, with the factories closed across the border its never been a better time to get out and enjoy the cleanish air.
The kids have started rioting again also, so I guess that means the initial panic is over.

Ride then build Sunday, what started out as a nice chill ride over the mountains to the new trail head turned into 28 degree slog fest by midday, now sporting my first suntan of the year.

Going through a bit of a grey phase with both bikes…

Can confirm the beneficial aspects of Corona-virus on the environment, usually we get a pleasant 3-4 week window of clean air for Chinese New Year as the factories shut down but Im rather enjoying the extended break.

They have found it in some pets in Hong Kong now:
Dog tests ‘weak positive’ for Covid-19: AFCD

The economic impact will far outweigh the physical. Went for a post lunch box stroll around Jordan yesterday, its a old school section of Kowloon near my office full of street markets and ‘mom and pop’ small shops. The street markets were still running as people need to buy their veggies but id say around 60% of the shops were all shuttered up.
Cathay Pacific are asking their own staff to take unpaid leave (management are of course not stating if they are volunteering as well) and although the majority of shops near my home are open its all on skeleton staff. Eventually these companies will not be able to afford to keep staff out of shops.
Home delivery services from the local supermarkets are now difficult to book, they are not stopping this service, its just take up is causing big delays in using the service.
As Frank mentions above about some gaining through this, shares in tech companies in the collaboration space are on the up as well as those making masks etc though I would sell my shares in any pleasure cruise companies if you have them (this is good as they are terrible polluters anyway).
One interesting part is, for me anyway as I work in the tech/project side of a large multinational, is how we are running with remote staffing and how the technology is bearing up with minimal disruption bar of course actually getting people in to do the work (well, China and Japan at present, India and Australia seem to be ticking along). The same can be said for a lot of my friends who work in the education here, they all seem to be handling the technology enabling remote teaching really well and most report that they are not getting the riding time they thought they could because they are still working, sadly for me also.
Also, being British and a little introverted, its a bit of a godsend having a plausible excuse for not going out to meet people for lunch, dinner, drinks etc and I for one welcome our new 5G/Chemtrail overlords.

If you are concerned about China’s openness to report the real figures just look at the countries nearby who both have close relationships with China and were the early countries affected such as Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. The figures from these countries should get give you an idea on how much risk you are, in HK we have lost two so far, both were with existing health issues, Japans being a bit skewed as they decided to cloister them all together on a boat (though maybe this was a good lab test?). The biggest issues we have are the spurts of panic buying which usually last a few days before people realize that no, we have enough toilet paper, that and the almost religious zeal that face masks have taken on as the accessory of choice.
Most business are effected not by people falling down dead but simply not being able to work because of external restrictions barring the going into work, which is probably helping stop the spread in the long run. Its surprising (or probably not) to find out how many companies dont seem capable of surviving a 2-4 week run of minimal business turnover, that is going to the the biggest affect this epidemic has on the world, not the deaths but the stress test to businesses and the global economy in general.

Filmora, the free version is great with a very similar layout to iMovie, very intuitive. I paid for the full version but it was peanuts.

Downside of the Corona virus here in HK, so many hikers clogging the trails as its the the one place they can be seen to lose the masks. Otherwise we are surviving as its great riding weather (silver linings and all that).

I remember clearly as a teenager visiting my Grandfather in a hospice (Phyllis Tuckwell Farnham) many years ago, its something that has stayed in my mind, seeing a very active strong willed man drifting into hopelessness and despair. It repeated itself recently as my stepfather, who opting for home care, spent the last 8 months of his life bed bound and dependent on others, it was not seeing not so much the physical effect of multiple cancers on him over that time but the mental anguish he was suffering, being a very independent and proud man, basically kept alive by some great visiting nurses but also family. I ended up going back to the UK 4 times over this period, not only to enjoy some more time with him before he went but to also allow some respite to mum who is getting on a little herself and was struggling a little to cope with the situation.
I can understand there are some pretty difficult legal issues for the UK law makers to perhaps shy away from the Dutch approach but based on my own experience, and most of I have read so far, its a struggle to understand why a pet rabbit would be allowed an better way out than myself if it came to it.

It really isn’t. Can’t be bothered to explain it to you as feel it would be wasted effort.

I suspect I gave missed a bigger bullet than COVID-19, thanks.

Are you people dead yet?
HK is basically resuming normal activity, was out to day in the country doing some trail digging then popped into the local town for some beers (Mu Wo, Lantau), one local wearing a mask, the rest of us as nature intended. Its a seasonal bug, don’t get excited about it (though the working from home but is appreciated)

nearly 1km of new trail todays, I suspect another 2 days and may have another 2km of trail in the bike park that is Hong Kong….maybe.
For some of you worried about Flashy I managed to find another alumni, BigD.

Well I get to work from home for another 2 weeks so its not so bad, silver linings etc.

Are London Red buses still classed as Imperial, I can never get enough of knowing how tall a building or statue is without picturing red London buses piled up top to bottom to get an idea of the scale?
Usually think of this over a pint.

All this is enough to put us off our bat soup, or as we call it here, chicken of the cave.

So, being near ground zero I thought I would risk a trip into work today. Everything seems to be running at around 30% capacity commute wise, shops are open but its not busy and there was a mad queue outside one of the chemists near work as rumor had it they had some masks coming in.
I’m working on a number of projects in Asia and all my Chinese ones now have ground to a halt, first because each local authority has basically stopped any non-essential works in the two main cities I have projects in, Shanghai and Beijing, and secondly we need to get our heads around the new paperwork on how to ensure any contractors applying to do work on-site have been proven to have gone through the standard 14 days quarantine.
This is a big fuss over a flu bug, fueled by the the Chinese government going overboard now to try to make up for, or at least be seen to, after trying to keep it quiet in the first place, further fueled by sensationalist global media.
The one death in HK to date was a guy who had some very bad health issues already and the original surge, well the first 11 treated with this virus in HK, being all Chinese nationals who hot-footed it here for better treatment in our hospitals once they knew they were ill.
One of the reasons for the recent strike by medical staff to close the border, the medical facilities here struggled to cope with an influx of pregnant mainlands years ago taking advantage of the instant residency rights of newborns (law changed since then to stop this), it would be overwhelmed if the borders hadn’t been closed.

British by birth but I really dont like riding in the wet and just dont understand why other riders seem to think its something all Brits love to do?

You do realize China isn’t British anymore, don’t you?

Yes, very much so, the last 8 months of protest have made that very much apparent.