Cycling and the Coronavirus

[tom73]

I hope they don't stop us going out cycling stops be going out my mind. my mental health will just noise dive

 

[PaulSB]

asfarasicantell, every cycling organ' in the country has stopped group rides, so this is not a hill on which I am prepared to die (despite having read many of those docs myself over the years) :P
But for the sake of passing the time: what would be the nature of this hypothetical claim?

(as I say, it's a completely moot point now.)

In a nutshell BC insurance covers the club, club officials, ride leaders and individuals appointed by the club (not necessarily members) in the organisation and running of events against third party claims.

Imagine an incident occurs on an official club ride. The injured party decides to sue the ride leader for some form of negligence. In this instance the BC insurance would kick in if needed.

I'm only surmising here but we have BC requesting clubs do not organise group rides. If an incident occurred while this request is in place I don't think it's beyond the bounds of possibility the insurers would look very carefully at this as a way to refuse a claim.

Can I just request people don't quiz me in depth on this. I'm an ordinary bloke who happens to be a club sec. I'm no legal eagle 😄

 

[matticus]

There's only an issue if the "best practice" was relevant to the "incident".

I won't quiz you in depth if you just agree with me, ok?!?

 

[Blue Hills]

York rally end of june is cancelled.

 

[PaulSB]

There's only an issue if the "best practice" was relevant to the "incident".

I won't quiz you in depth if you just agree with me, ok?!?

😄😄😄

Oh yes I agree re "best practice" - you wouldn't believe the conversations committee has about that one!!!!

For my club we wish to be socially responsible as a club. We feel following BC requests is a good way to achieve this without laying ourselves open to criticism from the membership. As a secondary thing it solves any potential insurance issues.

On a personal level I will continue to ride probably with the same people. It will though be "unofficial." Jeez life is complicated.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Solo outdoor exercise is permitted in Switzerland.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I hope they don't stop us going out cycling stops be going out my mind. my mental health will just noise dive

I did three different cycling trips to different shops today. So three trips out on the bike. The panic buying stripping the main supermarket has made this necessary.

 

[wafter]

Agree, with an an addition.
Surely a chat is ok if you have no symptoms, keep your distance in any case, and don"t stick around too long? Was out on the bike this morning in london and chatted to three non cyclists separately.

The incubation period has been quantified at a median of 5.1 days, with 95% of cases occurring between (IIRC) 4.75 and 5.8 days and something like 99.5% of cases manifesting within 14 days of infection. Hence the absence of symptoms is pretty meaningless unless you happen to have been in total isolation for the previous 14 days.

Keeping distance is a good practice but by no means watertight as people can inadvertantly cough and sneeze while I assume the virus can be present on water droplets exhailed during normal breathing and be further carried on the wind.

I went out of the first ride since it all really hit the fan yesterday; popped to the shop to get some essentials and continued through town / out onto a few tow paths. This was obviously less isolated than a road-ride out in the countryside would be and tbh made me pretty uncomfortable when encountering people.

Exhailed water droplets can hang in still air for quite a while; something I was very conscious of when following walkers / other cyclists, passing them or simply being downwind of them. I figure if I can smell someone's aftershave or perfume (which happened multiple times on the ride) it follows that I could also be inhailing their infected breath.

Consider that our government has been slow to react, official guidance is not gospel and that the levels of protection afforded by various methods of avoidance are variable; not binary. So the measures you describe are safer than shaking someone's hand and chatting vigrously with them for an hour with 6" separating your faces, but are far more risky than simply avoiding all non-essential contact; which is the route I intend to continue taking.

this has come up on a number of (UK) facebook/twatter threads. It is nonsense - road riding is not an extreme sport.

It's not, but it does carry with it a risk of injury and the requirement for medical attention.. granted these risks are low and as usual must be weighed up against those of other non-essential activities.

I intend to continue riding when opportunity allows, however I'm a bit gutted that I've failed to secure a gravel / adventure bike before the dawn of the apocalypse - even if there was a total ban on recreational cycling I very much doubt there'd be any coppers hiding in hedges on bridleways and tow paths to enforce it..

 

[vickster]

The incubation period has been quantified at a median of 5.1 days, with 95% of cases occurring between (IIRC) 4.75 and 5.8 days and something like 99.5% of cases manifesting within 14 days of infection. Hence it's the absence of symptoms is pretty meaningless unless you happen to have been in total isolation for the past 14 days.

Keeping distance is a good practice but by no means watertight as people can inadvertantly cough and sneeze while I assume the virus can be carried on water droplets exhailed during normal breathing and be carried on the wind.

I went out of the first ride since it all really hit the fan yesterday; popped to the shop to get some essentials and continued through town / out on a few tow paths. This was obviously less isolated than a road-ride out in the countryside would be and tbh made me pretty uncomfortable when encountering people.

Exhailed water droplets can hang in still air for quite a while; something I was very conscious of when following walkers / other cyclists, passing them or simply being downwind of them. I figure if I can smell someone's aftershave or perfume (which happened multiple times on the ride) it follows that I could also be inhailing their infected breath.

Consider that or government has been slow to react, official guidance is not gospel and that the levels of protection afforded by various methods of avoidance are variable; not binary. So the measures you describe are safer than shaking someone's hand and chatting vigrously with them for an hour with 6" separating your faces, but are far more risky than simply avoiding all non-essential contact; which is the route I intend to continue taking.

It's not, but it does carry with it a risk of injury and the requirement for medical attention.. granted these risks are low and as usual must be weighed up against those of other non-essential activities.

I intend to continue riding when opportunity allows, however I'm a bit gutted that I've failed to secure a gravel / adventure bike before the dawn of the apocalypse - even if there was a total ban on recreational cycling I very much doubt there'd be any coppers hiding in hedges on bridleways and tow paths to enforce it..

Bike shops are still open for now, and I'm sure they'd be glad of your custom

 

[Blue Hills]

Re wafter post and exchange with hoopdriver above.

Prof whitty quoted on bbc

Posted at 20:10 18 Mar20:10 18 Mar
Whitty: Exercise is very important during the outbreak
Prof Whitty, the UK's chief medical adviser, adds it is "very important" that children and adults take exercise, and being outside in the park is a "very good thing to do".
Speaking to the BBC's special coronavirus programme, he said: "The thing we are trying to avoid is people meeting up unnecessarily or having unnecessary social contact."
He says going to the park is encouraged, but crowding together with large groups of friends for long periods of time is advised against.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It's not, but it does carry with it a risk of injury and the requirement for medical attention.. granted these risks are low and as usual must be weighed up against those of other non-essential activities.

It's not just low it's extremely low and equivalent to injuring yourself and requiring hospital treatment if you go for a walk or run. Also you'll know your own risk profile. How often have you come off the bike and how often you have required hospital treatment? There's also ways of mitigating the risks. Don't go so bloody fast downhill, be extra cautious, choose quiet roads and cycle ways etc.

We must also question whether exercise is considered non essential. I think it is essential more than ever where a good healthy immune system and ability to fight off infection is needed.

You don't see any call to ban people driving around despite the fact they injure themselves more and need hosiptial treatment than they injure cyclists and pedestrians.

Let's get risks in proportion rather than just have an emotional response to something.

 

[mjr]

Keeping distance is a good practice but by no means watertight as people can inadvertantly cough and sneeze while I assume the virus can be present on water droplets exhailed during normal breathing and be further carried on the wind.

Assumption is the mother of all fark ups, like the film says.

"Airborne spread has not been reported for COVID-19 and it is not believed to be a major driver of transmission" - source: WHO

Advice on Belgian TV (RTBF) yesterday was to cycle with your family (I think they mean household, really) or at most one friend and to keep your distance from the friend or anyone else: 1.5m lateral or 5m ahead/behind. This is an attempt to keep out of range of direct cough range. That is probably easier on Belgium's one-way roadside cycleways, wide two-way ones or filtered roads (similar to the Netherlands but with more painted lanes and fewer kerbed), than on the UK's substandardly narrow cycle tracks, especially a Cycleway Resembling A Pavement.

Curiously, picnics are now banned in Belgium, but the reason wasn't explained. I wonder if it's the risk of food falling back out of an infected mouth onto something others may touch.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Curiously, picnics are now banned in Belgium, but the reason wasn't explained. I wonder if it's the risk of food falling back out of an infected mouth onto something others may touch.

Bunch of people sitting in close proximity and the food being touched by the hands of those present? Bit like a buffet where the chicken drumstick has been touched by the ten people in front of you.

 

[mjr]

Bunch of people sitting in close proximity and the food being touched by the hands of those present? Bit like a buffet where the chicken drumstick has been touched by the ten people in front of you.

Yes, but if only household groups or pairs of friends keeping their distance are currently allowed into the parks anyway, what's the difference with them eating cold food at home? It might cheer people up to be allowed to eat sat out on the grass for a change.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Yes, but if only household groups or pairs of friends keeping their distance are currently allowed into the parks anyway, what's the difference with them eating cold food at home? It might cheer people up to be allowed to eat sat out on the grass for a change.

Because it'll be about stuff they can easily manage rather than have 15 levels of nuance which just tie up the police.