Cycling in the time of Corona

Just did a loop along some of the main roads around Richmond park - roads i’d never consider riding for leisure before because of traffic, and because you could ride in the park instead.

Plenty of space, barely any traffic, not too many lights, few hills. Surprisingly pleasant.

Some roadie douchebag still decides to pass within inches of me though hey ho

Surrey County Council closing Box hill this weekend to ‘prevent the spread of Coronavirus’. I’m sure they’re going to make everyone who might go there aware in advance so that they don’t congregate at the bottom upon discovery of the closure 👍

https://road.cc/content/news/box-hill-closed-over-easter-weekend-272609

I know the red tops have been using long lenses to shorten the gaps between riders for effect but I'd bet it's still pretty busy. Given the other hills in the area which were always a lot less busy, I don't understand why so many people are riding Box Hill rather than those.

It's an iconic climb.

#boxmountain #34x32 #polkadotsjersey

https://youtu.be/72ipPd1sm78

Riding the rollers whilst enjoying a cold beer...fail.....!

I went last night. All the car parks are already taped off with tree branches / logs blocking entrances. All the benches have tape round them too.

I got to the top sometime after 8pm. Didn't see anyone on the way up. Only me and a couple at the top. They'd both driven up in separate cars to have a smooch with a nice view. The cunts.

Anyway, it was stunning. So quiet out its just strange. Smashed it straight back to Kingston via Headley/Epsom. The dual carriageways were ghost roads. It's definitely the best time to be out, particularly as I was still in short sleeves the whole way.

I think they are right to be closing it. Cade did a youtube the other day debunking the telephoto lens pictures in the press, but I'd still say thats too many cyclists on one stretch of road to be able to ensure you are 2m from everyone all the time. I wouldn't even consider going to the popular lanes/climbs of the North Downs on a weekend afternoon atm.

Ride early or ride late. It's sooo much nicer not having other people around.

Ride early or ride late. It's sooo much nicer not having other people around.

This. Use roads people don’t use too.

you need to be much further than 2m away from other cyclists

2m is for standard breathing, huffing puffing, runny nose, headwind etc etc is going to need much more distance

Exactly. The 2 meter "rule" will be hard when it's busy and its likely not enough anyway.

I can only remember having to pass one other cyclist yesterday. It was so quiet though, I availed myself of the opposite lane and pulled out about from probably 20+ meters behind him.

I could also ride in the middle of the road the whole time, so the odd ped was always well away too. Better than trying to go for a walk anywhere near me during the day.

lol.

This is amazing. Please keep us updated.

Hi Emyr, good to hear from you. Keep on riding...

Great work fella, well done and thanks for sharing.

After a really stressful week indoors all I want to do is go out on my bike and get some air. However I'm hearing nothing but motorbikes and cars racing up and down the streets coming from every direction. There were people out wheel spinning and racing until about 11pm last night. A walk would do but I feel like literally can't escape these cunts.

Fuck you South East London, fuck you.

Can you get out at 8am or earlier? Dead quite then. I’ve been going between 7 and 8:30 around Stratford and Hackney, and getting back before 9:30.

I must admit, though, that the general sense of entitlement, close passing and MGIF mentality is way, way worse than usual from the traffic I do encounter. I just don’t get it.

Motorbike dads on the roads are shocking. If I was the police I'd stop every one of them, see what justification they have to pootle in the Peak District. Fat cunts.

I was doing that the last few weeks but it felt like it was getting worse on the streets and this week I've been too busy. Probably better to be riding around in casuals as I took some real abuse whilst out in clobber on the road bike. I'm gonna head out early tomorrow and see how I get on.

Awful people just know they can get away with shit atm, don't think there's much more to it.

this cheered me up immensely!

Posted this elsewhere but more than appropriate here. A club mates ride posted today on strava. Gravelgrinder Segment seems appropriate.

1 Attachment

https://youtu.be/NiEUkcB_vws

Any thoughts on this? https://road.cc/content/news/academic-paper-sets-out-distance-leave-riders-ahead-272619

I don't have the time or general inclination to read the paper in any detail tbh, but they even say themselves "that the study was “not really useful to epidemiologists” as “the amount of transmission from this route even if it is possible will be dwarfed by that from others”."

So what is the point of it, really? Surely all the contributing CFD factors - and even more so understanding how infectious anyone is at any stage of the virus, i.e. is anyone that is shedding highly infectious matter over 20m going to be able to pedal a bike in the first place? - are going to render this useless from the outset? Just PR for its sake?

Ha. Is that permitted within the government guidelines?

So what is the point of it, really?

Academics like to be talked about.

It's based on purely simulations just now, isn't it? Physical testing might provide more validity.

Rode a box hill loop around 7 this evening and im not sure there was any more than 3 of us on it at one time. Shame really if its closing - the outside roads touch Richmond park is a good call.