Cycling in the time of Corona

Its insane. I don't think I've ever seen it this bad.

I've seen comments from people that it's because everyone is trying to get out of town before lockdown, and heading West is solid.

Yeah hasn't been that bad in years. Yesterday was pretty solid but today was another level.

On my reutrn leg of my diy 200. There was solid traffic from Kingston all the way to ladywell

Those loo rolls arent gonna buy themselves! (Or shat on)

https://twitter.com/jonburkeUK/status/1324073428370993153?s=20

Anyone notice how much quieter the roads were this morning?
Nope, me neither.
Was even busier than normal. Looks like many are simply ignoring the situation and / or avoiding public transport.
Take care, lots of rushing and impatience.

Sadly I lost a colleague (to respiratory illness & covid) this week.

Last night five of us cycled our own ways out to a windy hill and toasted his passing under some pretty ace stars. Drinking whatever stashed booze fitted pockets, bags, cages. It was fitting and socially distanced of course.

On the ride back I had a Volvo driver enter a roundabout to my left at ~30mph. Stopping with a split-second to impact. It would have been a big hit. It shit me up!

That’s the 2nd very near miss in two rides. But this one wasn’t that anger-inducing, gut-hollowing type incident. This Volvo driver turned out to be a unicorn. He took the time to apologise and responded with a nod when I (still shaken) suggested

“It’s ok ... but please drive with care”

A more typical confrontation would have been unbearable - on top of the omnipresent malaise right now towards the value of life.

Sorry to hear about your loss, and glad that was a near-miss and that you got an apology. It's all too rare.

Thank you.

Here are some more numbers about the speeding during the initial lockdown:

The proportion of drivers exceeding the national 60mph speed limit on single-carriageway roads almost doubled from 10% to 17% from April to June this year, while on urban roads about 63% of cars broke the 30mph limit when they could, up from 56% in 2019.

I think the 'of cars' in the last clause is quite unnecessary.

The 17,000 speeding tickets issued in the first three weeks of lockdown by UK police forces were around 40% of 2019 levels, according to RAC research, while the overall number of cars on the road fluctuated between 23% to 36% of corresponding days a year earlier, according to DfT data.

The RAC found earlier this year that two-thirds of the forces had also caught drivers doing more than 100mph, including on A-roads, with one driver clocked at more than double the motorway limit at 163mph on the M1 in London.

Good statements from the motoring organisations:

The RAC’s head of roads policy, Nicholas Lyes, said: “This data confirms what we previously suspected: lower traffic volumes sadly led to some shocking levels of speed limit disobedience, particularly on 30mph limit roads.

“This dangerous behaviour unnecessarily put lives at risk during the first national lockdown when more people were walking and cycling. Empty roads should not be an excuse to drive dangerously and it would be frightening to think one of the legacies of the lockdown is a complete disregard for speed limits and other road users’ safety.”

Jack Cousens, head of road policy for the AA, said: “It is worrying that more drivers broke the speed limit when there was less traffic on Britain’s streets during the lockdown. Also of great concern was the increase on 30mph roads, given there were more pedestrians and cyclists exercising or avoiding public transport during the first lockdown.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/24/uk-motorists-more-likely-to-speed-during-spring-lockdown-data-shows

Under the new tier system am I still allowed to ride out in Kent? Does it make a different if solo, or with 1 other but socially distanced?

I believe you can ride to Kent but it is advised against. The details of the ruled hasn't been published yet.

Got it, thanks. Read the current guidelines which I understand as:

• T2 & T3 outdoor exercise permitted
  
• can travel through T3 from T2 as part of a longer journey
  Therefore I'm ok to ride out for my daily bread from where I live (Sidcup) into Kent without breaking either the spirit or the letter of the law.
  
  

Got confused by a bunch of Strava titles on my feed alluding to 'last ride of 2020', 'see you later, Kent' etc

Not sure where to post this but I'll put it here.

Turns out I really miss my commute into the office. Not the commute as such, but the fact it allowed me to ride every day. Apart from the odd day here and there I've been WFH since March, so the daily need to ride has gone out of the window. During lockdown proper I was out a lot in the mornings before work as the roads were so quiet. It was great. Now everyone is driving everywhere, a pre-work ride means getting up insanely early to avoid the worst of the SE London traffic and my discipline and motivation has nosedived.

My commute was junk miles I guess, but it accounted for 120km a week which is a lot to miss out on.

Is anyone else in a similar situation? Have you found motivation to get out every day?

(Before anyone says, I hate the turbo so it's not an option)

Cross bike in the woods a few times a week has been fun for me. Anything like that possible for you?

Same situation, my commute was 20 miles a day and I did it 3-4 days a week.

No motivation to get up early, even though I have Richmond park on doorstep. Need to start forming a habit, might try and push myself to go at lunch - but work has been so insanely busy..

To be honest the whole thing has made me realise I don't enjoy cycling in london, the commute was a necessity and im bored of the 2-3 'cycle friendly' routes that I can do.

I'm going to really push myself to do a lunch ride at least 3 times a week and see where that gets me. Maybe writing it here will make me stick to it 😅starting TOMORROW.

Oh, totally - 210km a week on the commute has come down to the occasional lunch time 18km round RP.

Now that I don’t ‘have’ to commute in the dark and cold, my motivation to do so when it’s not logistically necessary has gone.

The lunchtime spins have emerged from a half hearted attempt by the office to have an hour away from zoom calls in the day which I appreciate more than I thought I would.

Yeah same, my current commute has awful roads too but at least it got me moving. I've tried to do some more after work laps but motivation to get kitted up and leave the house is so much harder to come by.

Yes, absolutely all of this.

Fortunately I do like the turbo, so invested in a Neo and have been using it most days. I can’t wait for work to quiet down for Christmas and I can finally get some proper miles in.

I am cycling to work, thankfully it is short but it brings me no joy. I do get 15 mins of peace which is about all I get most days. Agreed, the increase in traffic from Lockdown 1 is demoralizing. It was beautiful if surreal in March.

If I could I'd be getting out at lunchtime for at least 30 mins of Vitamin D, even If Its just to go sit in the park.

I'm fortunate that even though no-one else in my company is going into the office my work are absolutely fine with me doing so. I've been commuting into work mainly because it guarantees i get 2 rides in and get a decent amount of outside time each day.

No cross bike I'm afraid.

Ahhh, sort of grateful (?) that there are obviously other people in the same situation. Weird to think I'd actually miss my commute when I did sort of find it a slight pain in the arse when I had to get up and do it. Up until last week I was doing local hills 2(ish) times a week, but the fog and freezing conditions are making it reall difficult at the moment.

Interesting to hear some opinions on this, as I'm definitely in the same boat.

It occurred to me that its actually more important now that day/sunlight is in such short supply, to try and get outside. Otherwise I can very easily spend days and days holed up inside, never seeing the light of day!

I have tried to make it a habit to get out early to meet a mate for casual spin, followed by coffee. The coffee at the end of it makes it very slightly easier to get up/out in the dark and cold! I think having the commitment of knowing somebody is waiting for you to meet is a good way of actually getting it done. Once you're out, its very rarely regretted - just getting out that is tough.

I definitely echo people's views on riding around London though - I have moved a bit further out in the last year but finding it very difficult to get out anywhere other than RP in the mornings, due to the CRAZY amount of traffic at the moment. Even the park is just disgustingly choc-full of traffic. Any ideas for routes doable in a morning around Surbiton way are welcomed..