Cycling in the time of Corona

Fair: "Obfuscated it even more, but to the point where you can probably justify going out for a bike ride"

Did anyone else experience the organised sportive on Beddlestead lane on the weekend? I rolled past about 11am and saw an unmasked man handing out energy bars and gels and encouraging the participants. Are we not still in a bloody lockdown?!

Because vaccination aside, the rules are still very clear. No mixing with groups of people from outside your household (where I am anyway). Hence my normal dilemma. I've stuck to the rules the entire time. Don't feel like breaking them now.

Ah sorry, just reread your last post and see you're in the US. Yep, fair enough.

It wasn't a sportive - the bars/gels etc were branded up to promote a sportive in July. Wolf of Westerham or something? That was the guy doing his marketing for it. Still, don't think that quite counts as "work you are unable to do from home"...

Yeah it definitely wasn't a good look seeing large bunches of cyclists grouped together having a feed and a chat. I was quite glad to be on the cross bike yesterday because the roads around Titsey/Biggin hill were heaving.

They were very quiet at first light.

Accidentally caught a group ride allong regents canal from paddington and finally lost them in a busy camden market.

It's getting busy on those roads out there as Lockdown 3 begins to wind down.
Take care, people.

Can't find it on the gov website. Will travelling by train to exercise be allowed from the 1st? I want to take my bike outside of M25.

Annoyingly the government don't seem to have published the proper detailed guidance for the 29th yet.

It will almost certainly be legal, but the guidance will probably say something vague about minimising public transport use, which you can interpret however you wish.

I caught a train from Sevenoaks back into London Bridge two weeks ago.
No comment at either the ticket desk or the (extra wide) exit,
with the bike clearly visible at both transactions.
Did wear a facemask for the journey.

New rules are up and it actually doesn't say anything about minimising public transport use, just an encouragement to minimise travel in general:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-coronavirus-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do

I'll give it a go on Saturday. Let's see how far I get with an MTB.

At the junction into Twickenham High Street, of the road from Richmond.
4 cyclists all waiting to turn right. The wail of an ambulance makes us all stop to let it be the first vehicle through the light change.
We all set off, only to undertaken by a blue BMW turning right from the left filter!

Just been to Richmond park for first time in a couple of weeks. Full of cars. Gridlock from ham gate and constant stream on the other sections that are open to cars. Plus drivers driving up to the closed sections, seeing the no motor vehicles sign, and driving through anyway.

I think they are doing laps

It's been like that since the two schools near the park reopened. It get's quiet again at around 10:00 and then madness resumes at 3PM.

Reversion to pre-Covid behaviour feels complete. Outer bits of London and satellite towns a sea of SUVs. Whereas can't recall seeing RP this quiet in a v long time. Regretted riding out of London would have been nicer to just do laps of RP.

Two heartening stories.

A while back, maybe mid-November, cycling along one of the twisting Victorian farm track-based roads that connect Ruislip with the Morissons in Hatch End, I could see ahead of me an unsignwritten small van with its bonnet & front wheels over the solid 'Stop' line.
Fearing the worst, an untimely attempt to accelerate away from a standing start from an underp0wered vehicle, I slackened the pressure on the pedals and preapred to freewheel.
To my amazement, the driver reversed a couple of feet to give me the whole carriageway.

I gave him a hearty thumbs up as I cycled past.

Second story.
I had just emerged onto the dual carriageway that splits Staines asunder, and was held by the traffic lights at the junction with the pedestrianised High Street.
A Black cab pulled up alongside me. This was all I needed, a lecture from a 'professional driver'.
It was dark, I was on the way home on a ride that would contrbiute to my Festive 500, still with about 22 miles to go, I had lights on the bike, so why was he gesticulating towards the back of my bike? He forgot to drop his window down before he started speaking, so I didn't really understand what he was saying, but, he did not seem apoplectically enraged by my presence on 'his' road.
I muted my Aeropex headphones and asked him what he wanted.

He claimed he had seen a bike light on the ground, at the junction where the back road short cut avoids the set of traffic lights for the bridge over the Thames.

I checked my seat post, and sure enough my Exposure TraceR was missing!

I thanked him for his concern, and trudged back, expecting to find shattered shards of runover bike light. Remarkably another passerby had noticed it blinking on the roadway and set it on top of a crash barrier.

Were I to be credulous I would have proclaimed it to be an Xmas miracle.

Note to self: always double check rear light elasticated strap before setting off.