Cycling in the time of Corona

Good to see the car thread get a mention, though

5/ The dominant ideology requires us to: 1. covet material goods 2. outwardly display wealth 3. spend money whether we have it or not 4. don't worry too much about the planet 5. fetishise speed and power

it is some lockdown fever / anger frustration that the Police have to manage?

there’s a lot of this about. The local radio station are having a “what’s the first thing you’ll do after lockdown“ morning. It’s this kind of thing which will cause a second wave as the government bows to the pressure of the newspapers, Laura Kungsberg and the major donors to the Tory party and lifts the lockdown too early.

Cycled past yours in a pair!

I think I might never ride anywhere other than a turbo in my kitchen, even when this is over

‘Have you considered kitchen training?’

#lufgusss #stayhome #lockdown2020

Check out some of those speeds...

https://twitter.com/SuptAndyCox/status/1254703807336001536

Can't say I'm surprised. There's a 20mph road with one of those digital speed screens and the smiley/frowny face that I jog along every once in a while, and I've seen plenty of speeds about twice the limit flash up.

Maybe they should do that 'enforcing' thingy more often rather than appeal to people on twitter.

I am sure you'll find the joy of cycling again, maybe start by being more cautious, going slower, avoiding busy roads, building up your confidence again.

Just remind yourself, you didn't start cycling because you fell in love with riding your turbo in the kitchen.

EDIT: maybe you're Too Tall, Tim?

Being taller is more dangerous because you have further to fall. Only people <6ft should be allowed to leave the house

That sounds reasonable, so that if you fall while beeing 2m apart you don't trigger a domino effect as you would by being taller.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2020/4/24/21233226/coronavirus-runners-cyclists-airborne-infectious-dose?utm_campaign=vox&utm_content=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

Youre tall enough that youre too far away to infect people. Just stick some training wheels on and youre good to go

I'm 6'1" but long back short legs, so I'm falling from less height than my GF who is 5'10"-ish with proportionally long legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZFDNR9V5Nc

Went for a ride today.
Was lovely. I really enjoy not 'having' to do Box Hill when I get to that part.

Policeman stopped some car behind me towards the end- thought he was beckoning me over but just cheerily waved me on through.

This was the second best bit- behind someone waving hello exuberantly on a bike in the other direction. Just as I was beginning to lament the general sour-faced nature of peri-London cyclists.

Interesting post from BC, and comments from the public...

https://www.facebook.com/35322908144/posts/10158017449423145/

Sorry just catching up on the change to the Corona Act - In many ways its a whole new law AND parliament didn't vote on it.

Previously the restrictions on movement required you to have a reasonable excuse for leaving your residence. This appeared to me sensible wording because it allowed for a wide number of situations such as if you left your house to exercise but it was a hot day so stopped for a refreshment.

Or you left your house to shop for essentials, saw a friend and stop for a socially distanced chat.

Now the restrictions require to you have a reasonable excuse at all times when outside of your residence. Chatting to friends or drinking a takeaway coffee are not reasonable excuses, so publishable with a fine.

An emergency statutory instrument to push it through without a vote (not clear what the new emergency occurred since Parliament voted on the old bill only few days ago)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/447/made?

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/social-distandem/

@retrodirect/glowbike being a dude.

Not sure I could afford to replace that chain..

In other news, can someone point me to the "Cycling in the time of Corona and Hayfever" thread? Really hard to keep the snot rockets in with Hayfever in full swing

Not sure this has started since Corona, but it’s definitely got a lot worse - pedestrians, especially joggers, not stopping at zebra crossings.

It doesn’t help on badly placed crossings that sit directly in line of a route - e.g. between the paths on the two sides of Victoria Park, or others that you approach that are obscured on either side so you can’t see people approaching them.

What happened to ‘stop, look, listen’?

As a driver I’m always anticipating anyone near a crossing to just dive into it, sometimes at 90 degrees with their back to me, it’s just behaviour that eventually leads to accidents.

Also people running or walking in the road. Often on the same side as moving traffic so they cant see whats coming behind them. The worst has been runners diving into the cycle lane to avoid pedestrians, but into the path of cyclists

While I agree one should of course check the road before stepping out into it (and running against traffic flow is a very good idea), it is one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' type of situations - if you don't give other pedestrians a wide berth as a jogger, you'll read comment after comment complaining about how joggers just run past with inches to spare etc. And the only place to go is usually the road. Generally, I'd love it if this whole situation made it clearer to a more people just how much space we've ceded to cars vs how little space there is often left for pedestrians.

This forum used to be entertaining - many years ago.

I saw a bloke asleep in his estate car, boot up, feet hanging out from under a pile of duvet at 7 this morning. No bicycle though. Not all that entertaining a story either, on reflection.

Was this observed at one of Oxfordshire's premier dogging car parks?