Cycling UK Advice Coronavirus

[Ajax Bay]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...dance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others
Scrolling down that site rather than the first few lines, @vickster gives clear direction/interpretation
"You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:

• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.

These reasons are exceptions - even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home"
Cycle (or walk or run) from home, not drive somewhere and then exercise.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Page 4. And I quote:
"Restrictions on movement 6.—(1) During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse. (2)For the purposes of paragraph (1), a reasonable excuse includes the need— (a)to obtain basic necessities, including food and medical supplies for those in the same household (including any pets or animals in the household) or for vulnerable persons and supplies for the essential upkeep, maintenance and functioning of the household, or the household of a vulnerable person, or to obtain money, including from any business listed in Part 3 of Schedule 2; (b)to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household; (c)to seek medical assistance, including to access any of the services referred to in paragraph 37 or 38 of Schedule 2; (d)to provide care or assistance, including relevant personal care within the meaning of paragraph 7(3B) of Schedule 4 to the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(a), to a vulnerable person, or to provide emergency assistance;"

That has to be read in conjunction with the government guidance on staying at home.

“You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:

• shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
• any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
• travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home.

These reasons are exceptions - even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home”

Note the form of exercise is in the singular and the statement that you should be minimising the time outside.

It is not carte blanche to do hours and hours of riding, running, football or gymnastics away from your home.


[Edited to add: beaten to it by Ajax Bay]

 

[mjr]

The powers that be have banned cycling in Richmond Park

Another force that's famously daffodils about cycling showing their love of bike-bashing. They claim "there is no current evidence of congestion" in the other parks, but don't actually show - or even say they have - evidence of congestion in Richmond Park either. https://www.royalparks.org.uk/media...ond-park-following-social-distancing-concerns

Each park that is closed means that local residents are then being kettled into smaller and smaller spaces, making congestion and thereby breach of the Coronavirus Restrictions more likely, which will then probably be used to close more spaces, and the spiral continues until people are genuinely trapped in their houses.

It would be a far better approach to open all the parks (including ones like the NT fenced/walled ones which have closed this week) and police unnecessary travel and maybe even distances.

Could it be that if the Royal Parks are closed, then the offences won't be on the RP turf giving that division more work and making their stats look bad?

 

[mjr]

Note the form of exercise is in the singular and the statement that you should be minimising the time outside.

It is not carte blanche to do hours and hours of riding, running, football or gymnastics away from your home.

Let's not be too discouraging. What is "hours and hours"? I think there's good argument for up to 5 hours of exercise a week, on the grounds of this FAQ answer published by the Mayo Clinic: "You can achieve more health benefits if you ramp up your exercise to 300 minutes or more a week" - and surely we all want to be as healthy as possible to face this virus?

If you're in a job that has unpredictable uneven demand right now, I think there's an argument that you could do your weekly exercise in one or two outings because you don't know when you might next get chance. Just don't try 5 hours a day every day, else you could have a big problem if you do get found out. I doubt courts are going to be lenient on the worst examples of people taking the pee, which are probably going to be dragged before them if this continues long enough

And I think an arguable definition of "near home" is the distance which you're willing to walk the bike home if the bike breaks beyond a roadside repair, such as when my front hub bearings collapsed. Going to collect a friend with a farked bike is not a given exception to the stay-at-home regulation.

 

[lane]

With regard to parks the country parks here closed originally - then following the "lockdown" being introduced opened up again although car aprks closed. Very odd.

I did make the point at closing NT on a Facebook group. Someone said he went last Sunday and it was absolutely rammed - car park overflowing and he did not feel safe. It's difficult.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

What is "hours and hours"? I think there's good argument for up to 5 hours of exercise a week,

I was referring to the duration of a single daily outing.

 

[mjr]

I was referring to the duration of a single daily outing.

I know! But how long did you think you meant by that expression?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6gwC-EiFw4&t=50

 

[matticus]

Someone (in Norfolk?) has done a 325km ride this week. Look on the Stravaw**kers twitter account if you don't do Strava.

He did ride it well under 10hours, so chapeau! :P

 

[mjr]

Someone (in Norfolk?) has done a 325km ride this week.

Professional athlete Joe Skipper, the British Ironman record holder. Cycling to work is permitted, isn't it? He's now deleted his Strava account to stop the sort of personal attack you just made.

View: https://twitter.com/Noaveragejoe88/status/1243290162760757248

 

[Drago]

Some things just aren't funny, although being nasty about it isn't justified.

 

[classic33]

There is no mention of being retired in your link or indeed of elderly adults being more at risk of contracting CV and their need to remain at home. Bare in mind that 70% of those who have died from the CV in Spain are over 60 years old. I believe it is similar in Italy. Hold that figure in your mind and you will realise how vulnerable older people are to the CV, not expressly older people as the virus has claimed the lives of younger people as well, but older people i.e. over 70 years old and those with under lying medical conditions are seemingly so much more vulnerable and make up the bulk of the figures for people who haves sadly lost their lives. But if you are retired and over 70, that you believe you are in the peak of fitness and health, if you believe that if you contract the CV you have as good a chance of recovery as a much younger person, then you carry right on ignore the advice.

So when have those over 70 years of age been told to remain at home? Surely you cannot have missed Boris and his medical advisors making clear on several occasions during their nightly updates on TV that those who are 70 years old and over should remain at home isolated for 12 weeks? If you are 70 years old and over you are typically going to be retired, however some people still may still be working, I accept this. Indeed some younger people may have been lucky enough to be able to retire well before 65 years old, but for the most part those who have reached 70 years old will be retired and classed as vulnerable and even more at risk to CV.

Younger family members have also been told NOT to visit elderly parents or relatives. For Mother's Day the advice from Boris was NOT to visit your mother and potentially pass on CV to her or indeed your Dad, but to call or use Skype or similar. Younger people can be carriers without even being aware especially if they have not been tested and unknowingly pass the virus onto older family members.

I also have the impression that many contributors to this forum may well be retired or approaching retirement age so I am stirring ups hornets' nest. Not all contributors here are retired, many like me still work, but there are quite a few.

I hope this helps clarify things for you.

Not retired or over 70, and still buy printed newspapers.

I'm in the 'high risk" category on three counts. Heart issue, cancer(currently and in the past) and lifelong epilepsy. The third governs treatment for the first two, and everything else. Meaning should a vaccine be found, I'll not be given it. Just like all the others people have had over the years.

The first and third could kill me at any time. SUDEP kills around 600 a year in the UK. Epilepsy affects around 5% of the UK population.

And a sneeze travels over 8 feet, 18" further than the 6'6" "social space" requested at present.

 

[matticus]

He's now deleted his Strava account to stop the sort of personal attack you just made.

Excuse me?

 

[vickster]

Excuse me?

Stravaw**kers not v flattering maybe?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Stravaw**kers not v flattering maybe?

That's the name of the Twitter account!

 

[vickster]

That's the name of the Twitter account!

Right, I don't use twitter, never have