COVID - How local is local when cycling?

[Joffey]

The new guidance states that we can ride for our exercise but advises that we 'must stay local'.

What is local?

I was thinking maybe 15 miles from my house is local, so I could feasibly do a 30 mile ride out and back, done in 2 hours.

Or if you wanted to do a 50 mile ride you could to a couple of 25 mile loops staying within 5-10 miles of the house?

Or is all of this extracting the urine?

Should we also think about if we fell off and needed an ambulance etc? Or that risk tiny?

Please cast your votes and share your thoughts CycleChatters!!!

 

[ianrauk]

Local is as local as you could easy manage. For me 21-30 miles, on a bike is local to me.
Needing an ambulance is near enough zero %.

there is no time constraint either and your doing no harm to anyone if you are out most of the day by yourself on a bike.

 

[tribanjules]

Ride 5 miles/10 k from home then a loop with home at centre comes in at 60k ....

 

[Joffey]

Local is as local as you could easy manage. For me 21-30 miles, on a bike is local to me.
Needing an ambulance is near enough zero %.

there is no time constraint either and your doing no harm to anyone if you are out most of the day by yourself on a bike.

I think that's the sensible answer

 

[DCLane]

I've posted this elsewhere when asked about 'local':

Basically it’s the same situation as in March/April but expect to get cold/wet. If the bike breaks can you fix most things or would have to walk? If you got ill are you close enough to get yourself back? The idea is that if something goes wrong you don’t rely on someone else since you’re supposed to be minimising contact. Take a chain tool plus some links, extra tubes and bits, a multi-tool with spoke key, etc. Plus more food than you think you’ll need.

There’s no clear definition of ‘local’ unlike say in Ireland (5km) or France (1km). But if you couldn’t fix it, or don’t know how, how far is sensible to walk in the winter?

In April I was happy doing a 60 mile loop: bear in mind I’ve done 500+ mile unsupported rides so to me that’s ‘local’. In the winter it’ll be 15-20 miles away at most.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Everywhere is local to somewhere....

 

[ianrauk]

I think that's the sensible answer

Though would like to clarify. When I say 21-30 miles. That would be the furthest distance from home I would go.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Ride 5 miles/10 k from home then a loop with home at centre comes in at 60k ....

[Pedant/] alert: The ride would be 83km: 10k out, 63km round and 10km back. Certainly local.
My interpretation is congruent with Ian, David and Joffers, with maximum self-sufficiency (eg I will carry a tyre as well as two tubes).
I've just looked at my last 101km ride. The furthest away I was from home (and by design even closer to a station) was 21km.
Living on the coast means a mile west, south or east puts me in pedalo seascape! So 'local' has to be in the NNW-NE quadrant.

 

[I like Skol]

This topic has been done to death already!

Everyone's interpretation is going to differ slightly but local for me means riding from your house, not driving to another area to begin a ride.
The other issue is self sufficiency. Can you get back home if something happens? This means either ride only within walking distance (pushing or carrying a bike!) or further afield if there is someone in your household to collect you in the unlikely event you couldn't complete your journey.

 

[screenman]

According to a local newspaper, it means staying in your village.

 

[Milkfloat]

What @I like Skol said. Local to me is not putting my bike in the car and going off somewhere else in the country to ride. I think the local message is to stop all the knobbers jumping in the car and turning the beauty spots of the countries into a heaving mass of bodies with no social distancing.

 

[matticus]

This topic has been done to death already!

Oh come on - only 3 times since February. Surely there is space on the site servers to go through it all again? There might even be some space for name-calling;
- snowflakes that won't go more than an hour,
- selfish lunatics straying 30km from home.
- [other?]

 

[matticus]

Living on the coast means a mile west, south or east puts me in pedalo seascape!

Phew!

I misread that at the first pass ... what has Ajax been upto??

 

[DCLane]

Hold on @Ajax Bay ... does going on a pedalo count as 'cycling'?

 

[tribanjules]

Hold on @Ajax Bay ... does going on a pedalo count as 'cycling'?

Zwift pedalo ?