Cycling in the time of Corona

Have you been tested?

The risk of cycling in Richmond Park at the moment is from the wannabe pros who insist on spitting and clearing their noses on the move leaving a fine aerosol of Covid for the rest of us to cycle through.

I'm in the same condition.

Doubt that will be the case, anything requiring a further level of classification will be more strain onto the system. As someone said here, people will need to be kept in check and that law enforcing authority can't be arsed with checking how many covid antibodies you've developed or not to tell immune people apart.

Also, the virus has already mutated so many times that it's almost certain you/me aren't immune.

Mental health, I can't see how we are going to come out of this without a spike in suicide rates, and a lockdown will add to this.

Domestic violence, most violent crime is in the home, I can't see increased family time spent in forced incarceration not makng this worse.
Smoking, you can't tell me that ex smokers under stress with time on their hands stuck in the home haven't fallen off the wagon, again this can lead to increased use of ICU resource.
Drinking, ditto above.

These are all sensible and valid concerns. The extended Channel 4 News last night, which was excellent (if a depressing indictment of this government's failure to plan effectively for this pandemic), had a package on domestic violence/abuse and it is a very real concern.

For some flu viruses it's in your exhaled breath. No need to spit or cough to transmit.

I don't think many people have an issue with a short ride out to keep you sane but, to put this in context, there were olympic officials on the radio this morning saying that one reason that the olympics is being delayed is because the athletes can't really keep up their training right now. If olympians are letting their training schedule slip then I don't think the average forumenger can justify their standard weekend century (km or miles), just because they want to stay at peak fitness.

As someone said the other day, if your life feels normal at the moment, then you're not doing it right.

I'm Italy based and therefore not allowed to cycle outside for the last two and a half weeks.

I do have a basic turbo which I'm using every day since the lockdown. Having a powermeter allowed me to get some structure into my training. My motivation is simply some gran fondos I've got planned for later in the year. Assuming by then we'll be out of this situation, if not...too bad but it helped me in this period.

I did order a Kickr to get on the interactive training platform which is due to arrive this Thursday. Quite looking forward to that.

If you currently have a trainer or still can get one, I'd recommend that over going outside for a ride. There's always more risk of getting hurt on the road than on the trainer. Is it boring as f? Yes it is. But it's a small sacrifice to make.

I've put my trainer in my garden, at least I don't have to miss out on the sunshine.

If olympians are letting their training schedule slip then I don't think the average forumenger can justify their standard weekend century (km or miles), just because they want to stay at peak fitness.

But Olympians need to do a lot more than the occasional weekend century to get to their peak at the Olympics. Training is their job at that point, there is no way you can compare that to anything the average person might do. Of course their training schedule is slipping, a lot of them simply cannot possibly keep doing it at the usual intensity with the current limitations in place, especially as it's not only about the training itself, but access to physios, doctors, coaches, etc.

I've put my trainer in my garden, at least I don't have to miss out on the sunshine.

I'm Italy based

That doesn't add up here.. Not everyday! ;)

One of the very few benefits of living in Italy at the moment I guess. ;)

Plus I only need 45m of sunshine to make it work :D

All true of course, my point was that there's a certain feeling from some on here that a full Sunday ride is the minimum requirement to bother getting on your bike. I just don't think that's true. Lots of us want to stay fit, but honestly how fit do we need to stay if olympians are prepared to sacrifice the fitness on which their livelihood depends?

Just got back from an hours pootle around south london, across a couple of bridges, along the river, through battersea park, and am all the better for it. Needed that. Will do again.

In case someone's interested:

https://eu.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers/wahoo-kickr-powertrainer-reconditioned

I don't expect it'll be there for long.

Sure, I'm not here to encourage people to go pushing their limits right now. But I also really don't agree with all the hysteria about going out to get some fresh air, be it on a walk, a run, or a cycle. Especially not while we're all still piling into supermarkets to get our food as usual.

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/french-police-using-strava-to-catch-and-fine-cyclists-for-training-outdoors/

French police are using Strava to catch cyclists training outdoors despite the ban on cycling as part of the country’s Covid19 restrictions.

No pissiness detected! And I'd agree a few hours tops seems sensible personally.

Even Audax UK, who are in the business of promoting long distance cycling, are saying that "...at this stage we have no indication of the extent to which rider fatigue may affect susceptibility and resilience to infection."

I don't think you're not allowed to ride because others can't do things is a valid enough reason. Anyone walking the dog or running gets closer to more people than me in a 60 mile ride.

I went for an hour ride today and yesterday. (in full lycra). I didn't stop, except at traffic lights where I actively backed away if someone crossed the road 'too close' to me, I didn't spit, I didn't really get out of breath, I just rode (ih the middle of the lane away from the curb as per usual) around Stratford, Walthamstow and Hackney then straight home to East Ham. I did this as I would normally commute to/from work for approx 45 mins each way, and I don't have a turbo or rollers, and I don't want to get fat and lazy if I can help it. No one batted and eyelid, no one complained, not even the police I saw about, and the drivers were no worse than they ever are really, in fact there was less off them (all be it marginally). I intend to do the same all this week and for as long as I possibly can until I'm banned or advised by the government not to. In fact, I felt in more danger of catching said virus when I went to the fairly busy and narrow-isled shop to buy vegetables as I had ran out.

Surely this is not taking the piss and is trying my best to stick to the spirit of these rules?

The infectious disease experts at Audax UK are saying that?!!

;)

Lots of us want to stay fit, but honestly how fit do we need to stay if olympians are prepared to sacrifice the fitness on which their livelihood depends?

Olympians (generally) don't do their sport because they enjoy it or because it is good for their mental health, they do it because they are good at it.

With no fixed date for the pushed back Olympics their training is somewhat irrelevant. There's no peaking for something if you don't know when it's happening. If it's skills based sports then, lucky you, you get more time to practice but if it's proper sport ;) you can't keep drilling yourself with no actual end goal in sight.

I think there's a lot of missing the point here. The approach at this time shouldn't be "how can I justify continuing my life as normal and doing everything that I want to", because I'm sure lots of people can come up with spurious reasons even for continuing to do stuff that is clearly stupid in the current context; rather it should be "what do I absolutely need to do to keep body and soul together while minimising my impact on others until this is over". I don't believe that anyone needs to do a normal full-length training ride to stay sane, but getting some fresh air everyday probably is a good thing.

Couldn't say it better!

Plus, in my experience of them at least, sportspeople often aren't the brightest. So with less contact with their coaches, many will have forgotten how to wipe their arses nevermind how to arrange their bike rides.

@ffm, I think you are as far from my point as you think I am from yours.

You are absolutely right, noone needs to be doing full length training rides because all the races are all cancelled and there's nothing to be training for.

There are a lot of cyclists though, like myself, who have never done a single training ride in our lives. People who ride because they enjoy it, because it de-stresses them, because it's time where you can forget about work and money and family problems or whatever you are struggling with and just think about turning the pedals and watching scenery going by. People who are quite likely having a harder time dealing with their issues and worries than they were a couple weeks ago and are therefor becoming more reliant on the coping mechanisms they have.

Went for a short ride after work and will do a short ride before work in the morning. I don’t have a trainer or rollers and having looked online can’t afford them and they’re not even in stock. Had been doing it at Victoria Park previously but it was just too busy to not amble about near people today so went across to the Olympic park for the roads around there which were empty for now. Props to the dick head in the full GCN kit bombing it round the park in the drops and seemingly using the runners and walkers as slalom practice though 👌