Cycling as an activity during the Covid 19 outbreak

[Cowsham]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.It's a virus,it's random.If you're going to catch it you will,if not you won't."social distancing" isn't going to prevent you catching it and is just another pointless excercise.
If you think it will help and want to do so then do so that's your choice.There are plenty out there who don't an that's their choice.
When all this has blown over people will look back and say......why?

I'm not worried for myself. I'm nearly 60, and male, so perhaps I ought to be a little worried but I'm not. But I am worried for my Mum (85) and for kids I know of locally who have underlying conditions such as asthma. And others treating this casually and not minding whether they are carrying it from one household to another is a threat to them. It is a threat to those who are weaker.

In my work I often come close to the old and the vulnerable, and in recent weeks I have been doing my best to keep them at a distance, even when they seem not to care, because I am a threat to them. Somehow we have to protect these people until a vaccine is available.

Has anyone noticed when in a supermarket it seems to be mostly the old who are not obeying the SD guidelines?

[Cowsham]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.It's a virus,it's random.If you're going to catch it you will,if not you won't."social distancing" isn't going to prevent you catching it and is just another pointless excercise.
If you think it will help and want to do so then do so that's your choice.There are plenty out there who don't an that's their choice.
When all this has blown over people will look back and say......why?

I'm not worried for myself. I'm nearly 60, and male, so perhaps I ought to be a little worried but I'm not. But I am worried for my Mum (85) and for kids I know of locally who have underlying conditions such as asthma. And others treating this casually and not minding whether they are carrying it from one household to another is a threat to them. It is a threat to those who are weaker.

In my work I often come close to the old and the vulnerable, and in recent weeks I have been doing my best to keep them at a distance, even when they seem not to care, because I am a threat to them. Somehow we have to protect these people until a vaccine is available.

Has anyone noticed when in a supermarket it seems to be mostly the old who are not obeying the SD guidelines? Also what annoys me is the people who think if they cough they'll get people to move out of their way -- said to one infested zombie " if your going to start coughing GTF away home you shouldn't be out !"

[fastpedaller]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.It's a virus,it's random.If you're going to catch it you will,if not you won't."social distancing" isn't going to prevent you catching it and is just another pointless excercise.
If you think it will help and want to do so then do so that's your choice.There are plenty out there who don't an that's their choice.
When all this has blown over people will look back and say......why?

I'm not worried for myself. I'm nearly 60, and male, so perhaps I ought to be a little worried but I'm not. But I am worried for my Mum (85) and for kids I know of locally who have underlying conditions such as asthma. And others treating this casually and not minding whether they are carrying it from one household to another is a threat to them. It is a threat to those who are weaker.

In my work I often come close to the old and the vulnerable, and in recent weeks I have been doing my best to keep them at a distance, even when they seem not to care, because I am a threat to them. Somehow we have to protect these people until a vaccine is available.

Has anyone noticed when in a supermarket it seems to be mostly the old who are not obeying the SD guidelines?

Indeed (I'm 61 but consider myself to be 30 ). Yesterday I was 'hovering' at a distance looking to locate our desired purchase - an elderly chap was to the side and close to the shelf (fair enough). After a couple of minutes he beckoned and gestured to me to get closer (ie next to him) - I just said "no problem, take your time and I'll wait until you are able to move away". I think some people either don't know the meaning of 2metres, or think the virus can't move sideways

[Vorpal]

I took the bike & trailer to the pet shop to pick up cat litter, food, hay for the bunnies, etc. yesterday. I went around 7:00 pm, and the shop was almost empty, so it worked well for me. Coming back, I took a route through the park in the town centre, and while most folks appeared to be observing the social distancing guidelines, there were several large groups of teens who were blatantly ignoring them. One group was playing basketball, and their friends were sitting shoulder to shoulder watching. Another group was playing football, and their friends were sitting in two close groups on either side of the pitch. Another group was hanging out at the skate. I don't know if some of their friends were skating, but there were about 7 or 8 teens there who appeared to be just talking & messing around, and they probably all fit within 4 sq. metres space.

[mjr]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52396683

The Welsh Government has brought in new regulations which say that people cannot stay in second homes and cannot exercise outside their local area. That makes me wonder what my "local area" is. It could be wider than they imagine. I'm thinking a zone extending maybe 15 miles from my home. Perhaps a little more.

My local cycling campaign covers this borough and its neighbours, so I'd say that's our local area for cycling purposes. OTTOMH, that's about 80 miles diameter.

The local enterprise partnership covers Norfolk and Suffolk, which is about 100 miles x100mi, and that's a government-created thing, so I think they'd have difficulty arguing against my smaller definition.

[mjr]

Has anyone noticed when in a supermarket it seems to be mostly the old who are not obeying the SD guidelines?

No. Biggest offenders here are some supermarket staff, standing around talking and then getting the hump when you ask them to stand all on the same side so shoppers can get past.

The older people I've seen are as likely to be taking extreme measures (full face hazmat hood and marigolds) as ignoring it all.

[mjr]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52396683

The Welsh Government has brought in new regulations which say that people cannot stay in second homes and cannot exercise outside their local area. That makes me wonder what my "local area" is. It could be wider than they imagine. I'm thinking a zone extending maybe 15 miles from my home. Perhaps a little more.

My local cycling campaign covers this borough and its neighbours, so I'd say that's our local area for cycling purposes. OTTOMH, that's about 80 miles diameter.

The local enterprise partnership covers Norfolk and Suffolk, which is about 100 miles x100mi, and that's a government-created thing, so I think they'd have difficulty arguing against my smaller definition.

New regulations are at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2020 ... tents/made

I can't search it easily here but I didn't spot any area restriction on a skim through. Can you? More confusion from government?

[The utility cyclist]

In my workplace we are stuck with the building as it is, and we either stop work and don't do our "key" jobs at all, or we just get on with it, shoulder to shoulder. We are doing the latter. We don't like it, but we cannot see a way round it. The infrastructure dictates this. It's the same for lots of key workers. The bin people who come down our street, for example, get to our location in one cab then jump out to do their work. Police officers still have to travel together in vans and cars. My son is a student nurse and spends a lot of time with fellow health care professionals in spaces too tight for social distancing. If and when we have a more widespread return to work there will be a large number of people who cannot socially distance at work.

Some of my best social distancing is done on the bike, where I really feel I have some control over how close I get to others. Which is good news for them because I am probably a high risk individual, likely to be carrying something nasty to transmit at some point in the future.

As I said, the hospital entrance and main corridor is very wide, ambulance drivers, doctors, nurses and ancillary staff all walking well within two metres of people not in their dept, even 2 nurses sitting together on the grass a few metres from the entrance. If they are PPE waering on ward then they should practise social distancing off ward.
Even the cafe was still open, it's non essential, there was no social distancing being practised there either, people buying coming within a metre of the servers, no gloves, no hand wash/glove by purchaser or cafe staff, that the cafe isn't even essential due to the large restaurant downstair for staff and visitors should not be allowed to use a food/drink retail unit within a hospital, that's just risible and not in a good way. The naafi shop is open, how is that essential, again no control at entrance staff walking in/out again no social distancing.

Absolutely zero effort re social distancing, they could at least have had a direction of travel with floor markers, people were just sauntering around like a normal day.
Frankly it's massively hypocritical.

I hope you'll not mind my mentioning that elsewhere you are pretty scathing about social distancing and other precautions, and indeed you dismiss concern about the whole illness.

Lol, total whataboutery, you know full well that my words regarding the whole charade does not equal me not having to comply with the draconian rules does it? Not once have I said I'm not sticking to the rules for my work place or socially.

Of course I'm scathing, it IS a complete lie and SD is even for hospitals the wrong practise to the extreme we are being told to do, but I have to practise it, and if I'm doing it at my place of work involving medium and in some cases higher risk people, then it should done in a hospital, isn't that the point, or do you need reminding of the rules for high risk people and those that are amongst them?

[The utility cyclist]

More cars again today, some being okay but increasingly the same old borderline overtakes that generally only more experienced riders are able to cope with and carry on. The kind of moton behaviour that means the vast majority including children, women, less able/mobile simply would not put up with and not cycle again for the most part.

Some people are getting all enthused about how it will be great 'after', it simply won't, as I said a while back, I'm not trying to 'enjoy' it, I'm simply riding when in built up the same way as before, same decision making, same speeds, maybe actually putting in some more primary ready to control the freak-show types when they're back in their boxes as it's only going to be much worse IMO.

I actually went off road for a few miles as part of a loop on way back from work on the Ti racer (I'm fed up of using the commuter so rucksacking it ATM), nothing heavy, just gravelly paths with variation between inch chips and the fairly fine stuff compacted down, on fairly well inflated 26/28mm that's not so easy doing a short loose surface incline so stuck to the hardened mud, at least there was some traction.

Found it quite hilarious, or is that depressing, seeing several people with 'gravel' bikes, helmet and hi-vis ... on what is essentially a very non technical 'greenway', in fact the road leading up to the old nuns housing past the picnic spot is trickier, oh my days some people

[gloomyandy]

This seems a reasonable summary of the new rules in Wales:
https://road.cc/content/news/wales-cycl ... ome-272995

Yet again things have been left rather vague, the official advice seems to be you must be within walking distance of your home:
"Cycling should be local, as a rule of thumb limited to travelling no further than a reasonable walking distance from home. Exercising by cycling significant distances from home is not considered to be a reasonable excuse for leaving home.20. Cycling to work, or for work, is a reasonable excuse to be outside (so long as going to work, or doing the work, is itself justifiable)."

It seems that at least one publication has decided (perhaps following questions to the authorities?) that 10 miles is ok but 20 is not.

[willswitchengage]

Let's have a sweepstake to see if it's actually enforced, considering it has no legal binding. Back in England I continue to see record numbers of cyclists daily so good luck enforcing any sort of controls if the situation in Wales is like here.

I imagine it'll create a greater public backlash against cycling though as the curtain twitcher types will have a vaguely credible reason to admonish cyclists.

[mjr]

https://road.cc/content/news/wales-cycl ... ome-272995

[...] Exercising by cycling significant distances from home is not considered to be a reasonable excuse for leaving home.

Is cycling insignificant distances really enough exercise?

Hang your heads in shame, Welsh government: you're probably increasing the death toll needlessly.

[nirakaro]

Coronavirus – what a [bad word] bore -
(A seven-letter word, begins with F).
I think this thread's been nearly done to death,
I just don't want to read it any more.
I know – I shouldn't click – but can't resist
A look, to read another tiresome post.
I think that's what's annoying me the most –
My weak-willed urge to get the latest twist.

We should be on our bikes out in the sun,
But Johnson, and the virus, say we can't
Go out, except for just an hour a day.
Instead we sit at home and mope and rant -
So pour a glass of wine, and have some fun.
I think that's all I've really got to say.

[T-800]

"Not feasible" - is what employers say when what they really mean is "couldn't give a toss" - and ensuring a snap cabin doesn't get overcrowded is hardly rocket science. It is far from too late as you claim - OK perhaps yesterday none of you was infected, but maybe tomorrow one of you will be a pre-symptomatic carrier - and will start infecting the rest of you - who will then go on to infect your families...

Nothing to do with the employer.They're following all the guidelines as best they can.They don't decide on how/when/where we take our breaks,we do.
Two of us have had it.Both our wives are NHS staff tested and confirmed(if the tests are reliable )We had our forced "isolation" period off work.We both caught it at home.As for the others,well,as I stated in another post there's far more serious things than a virus to worry about that we breathe in day in day out at work.If those who hadn't shown any symptoms are worried I'm sure they'd do something about it.Evidently they're not.
I've said it before and I'll say it again.It's a virus,it's random.If you're going to catch it you will,if not you won't."social distancing" isn't going to prevent you catching it and is just another pointless excercise.
If you think it will help and want to do so then do so that's your choice.There are plenty out there who don't an that's their choice.
When all this has blown over people will look back and say......why?

So good that you understand viruses and how they are transmitted so well.

You seem to have a bit of a bee in your bonnet regarding my opinion on this matter?
As I’ve said you do what you think is necessary and I’ll do what I think.
At the very least when I look back in 12 months I will do so safe in the knowledge I didn’t succumb to all the hysteria and ridiculous paranoia.

[Cyril Haearn]

Coronavirus – what a [bad word] bore -
(A seven-letter word, begins with F).
I think this thread's been nearly done to death,
I just don't want to read it any more.
I know – I shouldn't click – but can't resist
A look, to read another tiresome post.
I think that's what's annoying me the most –
My weak-willed urge to get the latest twist.

We should be on our bikes out in the sun,
But Johnson, and the virus, say we can't
Go out, except for just an hour a day.
Instead we sit at home and mope and rant -
So pour a glass of wine, and have some fun.
I think that's all I've really got to say.

+1, more poems please
My solutions is to get up very early, 5:15 Saturday, not many other people about, one earnestly hopes