Corona Virus & cycling impact (see mode note post 1322)

silverharp

Went for my Tabata cycle , Ailsesbury road and N11 , it will keep my ticker ticking over

RobertFoster

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm finding audiobooks great when out for a walk. Currently listening to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Probably not the best choice in the times we find ourselves

For the last year or so I've been on a post-apocalyptic/dystopian kick. I've read The Road, 1984, Fight Club, Fahrenheit 451, Roadside Picnic, World War Z... The last few weeks I've not really been in the mood for reading

magicbastarder

there's some john wyndham you'd probably like. and 'i am legend'.

cormac mccarthy does not write cheery books. 'no country for old me' is as cheerful as it gets.

loyatemu

I don't think people going out for a solo cycle are a huge risk, but then everyone will want an exception. The current rules have the advantage that they're simple. If people are blatantly ignoring the restrictions then there's a risk they'll just ban cycling as in France (though if they also banned jogging I wouldn't be sorry, I'm getting sick of the heavy-breathing, sweaty feckers blasting past my elbow on the footpaths).

cletus

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't think people going out for a solo cycle are a huge risk, but then everyone will want an exception. The current rules have the advantage that they're simple. If people are blatantly ignoring the restrictions then there's a risk they'll just ban cycling as in France (though if they also banned jogging I wouldn't be sorry, I'm getting sick of the heavy-breathing, sweaty feckers blasting past my elbow on the footpaths).

This is a huge part of the problem. If everyone decides, well the rules don't really suit me, so I'll do my own thing, we're back to square one, no social isolation, and then we're probably looking at full lockdown.

I go for a run about 4 times a week, when I'm passing people on the path, I'll either cross the road if possible, or if not I'll come off the path and give 8 to 10 feet if I can. Anybody blasting past your elbow while out for a run is being a dickhead

railer201

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't think people going out for a solo cycle are a huge risk, but then everyone will want an exception. The current rules have the advantage that they're simple. If people are blatantly ignoring the restrictions then there's a risk they'll just ban cycling as in France (though if they also banned jogging I wouldn't be sorry, I'm getting sick of the heavy-breathing, sweaty feckers blasting past my elbow on the footpaths).

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, US, used high-speed cameras and other sensors to assess precisely what happens after a cough or sneeze.

They found that an exhalation generates a small fast-moving cloud of gas that can contain droplets of liquid of varying sizes - and that the smallest of these can be carried in the cloud over long distances.

The study - conducted in laboratory conditions - found that coughs can project liquid up to 6m away and that sneezes, which involve much higher speeds, can reach up to 8m away.

The scientist who led the study, Prof Lydia Bourouiba of MIT, told me that she is concerned about the current concept of "safe distances".

"What we exhale, cough or sneeze is a gas cloud that has high momentum that can go far, traps the drops of all sizes in it and carries them through the room," she said.

"So having this false idea of safety at one to two metres, that somehow drops will just fall to the ground at that distance is not based on what we have quantified, measured and visualised directly."

My emphasis above in two quotes from this article. The 2 metre distancing as recommended by the WHO, HSE etc., is coming under question as being insufficient.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-52126735

cletus

railer201 wrote: »

My emphasis above in two quotes from this article. The 2 metre distancing as recommended by the WHO, HSE etc., is coming under question as being insufficient.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/science-environment-52126735

The bigger distances are for smaller lighter droplets, from my understanding. The size of the droplets likely to transmit covid-19 are larger and heavier, and would tend to drop at about 3 feet, so the 6 foot range was put in to try eliminate any contact.

Having said all that, information is changing all the time as more info becomes available, so that might be outdated now

magicbastarder

You may be able to spread coronavirus just by breathing, new report finds
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/you-may-be-able-spread-coronavirus-just-breathing-new-report-finds

Tenzor07

magicbastarder wrote: »

You may be able to spread coronavirus just by breathing, new report finds
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/you-may-be-able-spread-coronavirus-just-breathing-new-report-finds

Yea, when you're cycling down the road with a bracing 20kph headwind, the chances of you catching Covid19 by cycling past them is almost zero.

Stark

It also said that they found viral RNA, not whole virus particles. The RNA on its own isn't enough to infect someone.

Wildly Boaring

hesker wrote: »

The obviousness of what. Can you explain?

I’ve no idea what these guys were up to but it is possible to wear cycling gear and stay within 2 km. Not every cyclist is breaking the rules.

It’s getting like if you want to go for a brief spin within 2km that you have to go out in disguise.

Yeah it's all completely innocent and all 3 were independently out for a cycle in shorts, tops, gilets, helmets, bottles. They were also going to turn around after 2km and go home again, there is no block within 2k.

I put 2 and 2 together and got 5.

It pissed me off, cus my bike is on the turbo, I was out for a ****ty run within my 2km and my livelihood is at risk. (The deaths and hard work of our medical personnel a given)

I am no risk to anyone going for a cycle or a nice long run on the beach. But if everyone takes the attitude that they're the exception we end with half the country at howth, glendalough and bettystown beach.

I just can't see why we can't play by the rules for 2, 3 or 4 weeks.

terrydel

thesimpsons wrote: »

I don't really think there really are many who have a complete disregard for the scale of the worldwide crisis.

I've had more accidents requiring hospital care from home DIY and running than ever had out on the bike. I find an hour's spin a few times a week does leave me in a good place mentally and I am continuing to do that, and can do it all within the confines of the 2km limit. Its not an addiction to cycling in the least and I question your suggestion to seek out a psychologist for those who continue to cycle as their brief exercise vs a run/walk. Mental health as important as physical health.

I do believe it is no worse than those I've seen who appear to have only taken up running in the last few days and being very honest, many of them look like heart attack candidates.

btw - you can't get a turbo for love nor money at the moment.

You must be really bad at diy. You are completely ignoring the fact that any accident cycling is highly likely to require the assistance of a health service that is on its knees. It is just incredibly selfish. If you cannot put a bike away for two weeks in these circumstances then you really do have an issue you need to deal with. There are lots of things you can do for your mental health.
Here's a trainer for you https://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/giant-bike-trainer/24564347

terrydel

magicbastarder wrote: »

i agree that it's not 'helping', in that i don't think it's changing people's minds.
but it's to be expected.

not being out on your bike in a week, or two weeks, is not a sacrifice that someone deserves some sort of respite from or reward for. it's that simple.

It's not moralising, this is the most serious crisis we will all live thru, calling people out is the right thing to do and if that hurts their feelings hard luck.

sy_flembeck

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't think people going out for a solo cycle are a huge risk, but then everyone will want an exception. The current rules have the advantage that they're simple. If people are blatantly ignoring the restrictions then there's a risk they'll just ban cycling as in France (though if they also banned jogging I wouldn't be sorry, I'm getting sick of the heavy-breathing, sweaty feckers blasting past my elbow on the footpaths).

I was out for (yet another ) run myself earlier. I find the best thing about all these people now out jogging is that finally I'm not the one with the biggest moobs

hesker

terrydel wrote: »

You must be really bad at diy. You are completely ignoring the fact that any accident cycling is highly likely to require the assistance of a health service that is on its knees. It is just incredibly selfish. If you cannot put a bike away for two weeks in these circumstances then you really do have an issue you need to deal with. There are lots of things you can do for your mental health.
Here's a trainer for you https://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/giant-bike-trainer/24564347

So is all risk to be avoided.

No diy, no messing with your kids in the back garden, no jogging,

Or do you see cycling within 2km for a brief period by a small sector of society to be that much more risky than all the other activities combined.

terrydel

hesker wrote: »

So is all risk to be avoided.

No diy, no messing with your kids in the back garden, no jogging,

Or do you see cycling within 2km for a brief period by a small sector of society to be that much more risky than all the other activities combined.

All unnecessary risk should be avoided as much as possible yes, and I would see the potential for injury requiring hospital treatment to occur while cycling, to be far greater than diy and playing with the kids, and also higher than from jogging, given the speeds involved.
Why is it such an imposition to you to put the bike away for 2 weeks to potentially save a health care worker the inconvenience of having to look after you? Precisely what crisis would actually make you curtail your own selfishness for once in your life for the greater societal good?

hesker

terrydel wrote: »

All unnecessary risk should be avoided as much as possible yes, and I would see the potential for injury requiring hospital treatment to occur while cycling, to be far greater than diy and playing with the kids, and also higher than from jogging, given the speeds involved.
Why is it such an imposition to you to put the bike away for 2 weeks to potentially save a health care worker the inconvenience of having to look after you? Precisely what crisis would actually make you curtail your own selfishness for once in your life for the greater societal good?

It’s not an imposition at all. I’m more than happy to follow the guidelines set down by the government. If they introduce an all out ban I’ll readily support that too. And it might not be that far away judging by the abuse that’s out there.

But I don’t believe cycling within 2km poses that much more risk than all other activities, bearing in mind numbers of people and number of different actions/activities.

If there’s going to be a ban then let it be a blanket ban.

rolling boh

I would say cycling at a steady pace ie approx 23 24 km as very low risk along level roads .Stay away from hilly areas or off road stuff and stay solo and absolutely respect other people and rules of the road .

Tenzor07

rolling boh wrote: »

I would say cycling at a steady pace ie approx 23 24 km as very low risk along level roads .Stay away from hilly areas or off road stuff and stay solo and absolutely respect other people and rules of the road .

Sounds sensible!

Weepsie

Same d!ckhead that was out last week around Wicklow was out again today. I'd have zero sympathy if his bike is nicked now or something

I commented on his Strava and he blocked me.

Someone else did today too

terrydel

rolling boh wrote: »

I would say cycling at a steady pace ie approx 23 24 km as very low risk along level roads .Stay away from hilly areas or off road stuff and stay solo and absolutely respect other people and rules of the road .

I'd not disagree with it being low risk, the point is that you really dont need to be doing it, and if an accident does happen there's a good chance youl end up in hospital. Right now that's the last thing you or any health worker wants. It actually astonishes me people dont seem to grasp this. This is essentially our generation's war time, do everything you can to help your society, it's not all about you. Doing laps around a short circuit, clocking up 20-30k because God forbid you might total less Km's on strava this year than last is certainly not in the spirit of the recommendations , is entirely unnecessary and makes people look like selfish d**ks in my view.

terrydel

Weepsie wrote: »

Same d!ckhead that was out last week around Wicklow was out again today. I'd have zero sympathy if his bike is nicked now or something

Name and shame.

hesker

terrydel wrote: »

I'd not disagree with it being low risk, the point is that you really dont need to be doing it, and if an accident does happen there's a good chance youl end up in hospital. Right now that's the last thing you or any health worker wants. It actually astonishes me people dont seem to grasp this. This is essentially our generation's war time, do everything you can to help your society, it's not all about you. Doing laps around a short circuit, clocking up 20-30k because God forbid you might total less Km's on strava this year than last is certainly not in the spirit of the recommendations , is entirely unnecessary and makes people look like selfish d**is in my view.

I couldn’t give 2 f**ks about Strava. I just like to get out on the bike for 15mins every second day or so to clear the head and deal with the restrictions. If I was obsessed with Strava then I’d probably get a turbo.

rolling boh

Of course the risk is there with any cycling as there is with anything really I wonder if people are turning up at hospitals with accidents from all sorts of unnessary things let alone too much drink at home .We do not have any figures for any of these things I think so some of us will never agree if there is a ban i will stop cycling of course .

smacl

hesker wrote: »

I couldn’t give 2 f**ks about Strava. I just like to get out on the bike for 15mins every second day or so to clear the head and deal with the restrictions. If I was obsessed with Strava then I’d probably get a turbo.

I don't think brief spins like this contradict the spirit of the lock down any more than brief walks or runs of a similar duration. I'm doing something similar, ~30 minutes either cycling or walking every day to get some head space and have noticed on the days I'm walking that keeping distance from others involves that bit more maneuvering. I do see some friends on Strava doing a couple of hours of reps around their 2k zone which does strike me as selfish and thoughtless, though I wouldn't say it to them directly. I reckon taking digs at other people is the wrong thing to do, no matter how justified we might feel, as the best way of getting through this crap is through supporting one another rather than venting as a mechanism to ease our own frustration. You also never know what the other person you're criticizing might be going through. Worth remembering that even if this lock-down is extended, it is still temporary and we're all in the same boat.

I saw in one of the papers today a man thanking locals for their support during his 24hr 160km run around Duleek.

https://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/roundup/articles/2020/04/01/4188076-100-mile-marathon-for-duleek-dad-/

terrydel

smacl wrote: »

I don't think brief spins like this contradict the spirit of the lock down any more than brief walks or runs of a similar duration. I'm doing something similar, ~30 minutes either cycling or walking every day to get some head space and have noticed on the days I'm walking that keeping distance from others involves that bit more maneuvering. I do see some friends on Strava doing a couple of hours of reps around their 2k zone which does strike me as selfish and thoughtless, though I wouldn't say it to them directly. I reckon taking digs at other people is the wrong thing to do, no matter how justified we might feel, as the best way of getting through this crap is through supporting one another rather than venting as a mechanism to ease our own frustration. You also never know what the other person you're criticizing might be going through. Worth remembering that even if this lock-down is extended, it is still temporary and we're all in the same boat.

Those doing the couple of hours are doing the exact opposite of supporting one another imho, and I'd have no problem telling them. In fact I think in such a serious crisis we are duty bound to try ensure those putting others at risk thru their actions, change their behaviour.

Tenzor07

rolling boh wrote: »

Of course the risk is there with any cycling as there is with anything really I wonder if people are turning up at hospitals with accidents from all sorts of unnessary things let alone too much drink at home .We do not have any figures for any of these things I think so some of us will never agree if there is a ban i will stop cycling of course .

Because of the CV19 crisis people are avoiding Hospitals: https://www.thejournal.ie/tony-holohan-hospital-symptoms-5065098-Apr2020/

A short cycle in your locale will clear the head and keep you active, as opposed to sitting home drinking more booze and eating crap.

maxamillius

loyatemu wrote: »

I don't think people going out for a solo cycle are a huge risk, but then everyone will want an exception. The current rules have the advantage that they're simple. If people are blatantly ignoring the restrictions then there's a risk they'll just ban cycling as in France (though if they also banned jogging I wouldn't be sorry, I'm getting sick of the heavy-breathing, sweaty feckers blasting past my elbow on the footpaths).

I think that’s it though, as of now, in Ireland cycling is not banned. You are allowed out, for brief exercise within a 2km radius of your home. Too many people up in arms about people still getting on their bikes. If they ban cycling then it’s simple, I won’t cycle, and I’d hope many others would be the same,but until then I’ll do my exercise, making sure I stay within my 2km and keep it brief, brief for me is around 45 mins to 1hr.

I’m lucky enough to still have my job, also have 3 kids, working from home and trying to maintain some sort of home schooling. Mental health is now more important than ever and a brief outing on the bike, solo, amidst this pandemic should not be frowned up.

Wishbone Ash

maxamillius wrote: »

I think that’s it though, as of now, in Ireland cycling is not banned. You are allowed out, for brief exercise within a 2km radius of your home....

....and to commute to essential work that cannot be done from home.