A cold night ride to Whitstable that brought on Covid

[Bice]

This is offered as a cautionary tale, from someone who thinks that we massively over-reacted to Covid, wrongly spent a fortune on it and believes it to be a secondary issue compared with events presently unfolding.

The week before Easter my wife fell ill with a cold that wasn't too serious but kept her off work and she spent a couple of days in bed. An early lateral flow test was negative.

None of us - my wife, me, my grown-up younger daughter who lives with us, my older hospital doctor daughter who doesn't - were too worried.

On Good Friday I decided to take part in a night cycle ride leaving at mid-night from Waterloo Bridge in London to Whitstable, in Kent: 65 miles.

Good Friday in London had been beautifully warm and the evening was balmy, almost like summer. Nonetheless, I put on a merino base layer, a merino jersey and a light lycra jacket; long leggings; wooly hat; winter shoes and winter gloves. I knew it would be far cooler in the early hours outside London. But this was the outfit I normally wear on club rides in Hampshire in March, so I thought I would be fine.

I had not appreciated that the pace would be very different, and that that would be a critical factor.

About 40 of us were doing the ride, most on road bikes, but some on clunky hybrids and some on Bromptons. The pace was going to be slow. In fact, really slow, as the estimated time of arrival at Whitstable was 8.30am.

By outer London the temperature dropped markedly, and I was beginning to get mildly concerned by Woolwich Arsenal that I had under-prepared. This became a certainty at Gravesend - where we stopped for one of the numerous (deeply unwelcome) 'breathers' - and I could not stop shivering. I seriously considered turning back, as at least I could put on some speed on the return. I didn't.

After Rochester and Chatham we hit sea mists and the temperature plummeted to 2.5 degrees. I was now getting seriously alarmed, as were several others. I had got myself deeply chilled and could not do anything about it, just turning the cranks and never going higher than the 39T chainring.

We began longing for some climbs in order to warm up, but there were none of any significance. It was expressly forbidden to overtake the leaders of the ride, who had kicked off loudly when this had happened. They had reason: some of the other riders were quite strung out.

At about 4am we stopped at a scouts hut for tea and a sandwich, which was a huge relief. I looked in the waste bins for old newspapers, but in the end I layered paper kitchen towels over my chest which I could then zip up for extra insulation.

Hours of cold, slow, utterly joyless riding continued until we were 20kms from Whitstable, when at last the faster riders could press on. I floored it straight through the town seeing nothing, headed straight for the station and got the train back for London.

I had even persuaded myself that all-in-all this ride had been an experience when I went to bed on Saturday evening.

The next morning, a horrible headcold. Monday worse, with loss of sense of smell and taste.

Tuesday, my wife tested positive for Covid, still feeling only mildly out of sorts. My infection meanwhile had spread to a ferocious sore throat, and I dreaded every swallow and cough. I slept. I could not eat at all. Wednesday, I was coughing up pink, blood flecked phlegm. I slept.

Thursday (today), the sore throat at last eased so the coughing was no longer so painful. Slept most of the day. Not in the clear by any means, but improving.

Had this infection spread deep into the lungs, as I feared it might, it would have been serious.

Getting so cold on the bike had destroyed my immune defences, and Covid had run riot.

I have been cold (and wet) on bikes before - in February in the rain in the Wiltshire countryside at night - but at least I could go at my own pace to keep warm, whereas this - the slowest organised bike ride I have ever been on - completely wiped me out.

I am absolutely convinced that had I not done it, I would very likely not have got ill at all.

In a fortnight I am down to do the Dorset Coast 200km Audax. It remains to be seen whether I will be up to it. On the other hand, the last few days have taken quarter of a stone off my weight.

Just as the ministers over-reacted to Covid at the start, and were then spineless in the face of the public's understandable terror, they are now not to be relied on that the pandemic is essentially over. Or that vaccines are entirely efficacious. I have had three, and I still got it. My vaccinated doctor daughter has had Covid twice (albeit insignificant, on the second occasion).

If someone in your household is not well, then try to avoid getting chilled to the marrow on a bicycle.

[Jdsk]

Getting so cold on the bike had destroyed my immune defences...

This came up recently in another thread. Many people think that short term factors such as being cold or stressed or changing diet decrease immune function. As a very broad generalisation clinical immunologists tend not to talk about it that way.

Jonathan

[thirdcrank]

Best wishes for a quick and full recovery.

[Nearholmer]

Wise words of caution.

The 200km audax in a fortnights time?

I wouldn’t count on it.

I went down like a sack of spuds with covid over the weekend 19/20 March, and didn’t test negative until 1 April. Since then, I’ve been following a “get back to cycling after covid” plan that was published in “Cycle” magazine and which is very obviously based on a paper about covid recovery plans published in the BMJ.

The plan seems to be good, balancing steady build-up against risk of exhaustion and setback, but it isn’t until Week 5 that one gets back to “normal”.

Both my teenage son and my neighbour attempted “zero to hero” returns to full sporting activity after covid, and both exhausted themselves after a fortnight, had to have a complete rest for a week, and start all over again gently.

[Thehairs1970]

While I sympathise, having had it myself, I don’t think you caught Covid because you got cold. You more than likely already had it in your system.

Re LFT - they are not 100% accurate by any means - even if done correctly. My wife, an NHS physio, had negative LFTs even after testing positive on a PCR.

Vaccines are not, and never have been, said to be 100% effective at preventing you from contracting the virus. Very few vaccines do. E.g. I enquired a at my GP about visiting my son at uni during a mumps outbreak. They advised to have a booster as my current protection would only be about 80%. But what the vaccines have been shown to do is prevent serious illness.

Do you still count yourself as a sceptic of the measures that were taken?

[Steve X]

About 40 of us were doing the ride, most on road bikes, but some on clunky hybrids and some on Bromptons. The pace was going to be slow. In fact, really slow, as the estimated time of arrival at Whitstable was 8.30am.

Possibly mingling with 40 other people might have been a factor, who knows.

I had recently, and struggled with a 7 mile walk, three days later could do a 22 mile walk. It does seem to be very different for everyone.

Get well soon.

[sussex cyclist]

I had not appreciated that the pace would be very different...

Fridays rides are infamously stop-and-start, all the better for conversation. And people on "clunky hybrids" and Bromptons are part of the charm.

It's certainly not everybody's cup of tea. I'm not without sympathy, having suffered deep freeze a few times over the years, but may I politely suggest that a little research wouldn't have gone amiss.

[thirdcrank]

I thought the OP's account was frank and interesting. Anybody who has worked nightshifts knows what it feels like when the body goes into night time mode. I remember when I was first enjoying the freedom of retirement, reading accounts of these night rides and briefly being attracted including the memories of all-night rides as a teenager, and then I thought it through. I know exactly what it's like to stay awake all night. I think I've made that general point before on "all-night ride" threads, particularly take enough spare togs and then some extra.

Another thing here is the covid question. I don't think many people believe that if you get cold you will in consequence catch a cold or anything else (except hypothermia or frostbite etc in extreme cases) but I for one could believe that a general drop in body temperature doesn't do anybody much good. I hope we will not get another "causes of covid" thread

Re the slow riding, I have only limited experience but - again just after retirement - I led a National Bike Week (daytime) ride of some 50ish miles with the last couple of hours in pouring rain. I developed terrible trouble in one knee which fortunately cleared up.

[mjr]

I had not appreciated that the pace would be very different...

Fridays rides are infamously stop-and-start, all the better for conversation. And people on "clunky hybrids" and Bromptons are part of the charm.

It's certainly not everybody's cup of tea. I'm not without sympathy, having suffered deep freeze a few times over the years, but may I politely suggest that a little research wouldn't have gone amiss.

Yes. Don't the FNRTTCs usually finish with breakfast? So an idea of pace can be calculated.

Also, I know it's not fashionable, but shouldn't riders carry enough clothes on a ride to keep them warm for a prolonged stop to await recovery or first morning train in case that the bike breaks catastrophically?

But I'm not immune to messing up. This week I was a bit cold on an evening ride and needed more clothes but had no more left... or thought I had none because it turned out I was already so cold I had forgotten a jumper I'd packed!

[thirdcrank]

On the matter of doing research, reading other people's accounts of their experiences is imo a pretty good way of doing that, especially when they are frankly written. If anybody is researching night riding in future, I hope they will find this thread useful and I'd not hesitate to point people towards it. (Including the implication that the reduced popularity of the dead tree media makes newspapers harder to find in litter bins.)

[Cyclewala]

Hope the OP gets better quickly.

But, as others have pointed out, The Fridays have a dedicated website that gives plenty of information on the type of cycling it involves. It’s not head down/buttock up type up cycling, though many who ride and lead rides are experienced audaxers.

I also got very cold on one of their rides. It was late September and we had transitional weather - warm during the day and cold at night.

Helps to carry extra layers and to sit behind a couple of big riders to reduce windchill.

[simonineaston]

My mother woild have recognized the situation immendiately, She'd 'ave said that I'd "caught a chill"...

[sussex cyclist]

On the matter of doing research, reading other people's accounts of their experiences is imo a pretty good way of doing that, especially when they are frankly written.

Agreed. I haven’t always enjoyed Fridays rides (coincidentally, Whitstable in particular isn’t a favourite), and accounts like the OP’s have value.

As it is, I'm currently off them because of Covid and my less than robust immune system. Although cycling would seem to be one of the safer activities, it's inevitable that you're going to be spending a fair amount of time chatting quite close to people, especially at the break.

[mattheus]

Doesn't matter if the 5 posts above have already given the same "advice"; everyone loves to suck some air in through their teeth, shake their head, and mutter:

"I wouldnt have done that if I were you."

The OP wasn't criticising the Fridays.

[mattheus]

On the matter of doing research, reading other people's accounts of their experiences is imo a pretty good way of doing that, especially when they are frankly written. If anybody is researching night riding in future, I hope they will find this thread useful and I'd not hesitate to point people towards it.

Yes.

It's a useful, honest, and salutary tale.