Tory Party special – Jeremy Hunt: Cycling the answer to air pollution; Iain Duncan Smith: “You’re more likely to die on a bicycle than from Covid-19”; Cyclist’s Strava response to Melbourne’s ‘Karen’; Wiggo rocks summer look + more
SUMMARY
Excuse us while we become Hello magazine for a second but...
Getting back to enjoying how it all started! Riding with mates and the boy x pic.twitter.com/Gj32qq9q9P
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) July 20, 2020
…Sir Wiggo was spotted out for a pedal looking summery in a British Champion’s Motorola jersey and Le Col bibshorts.
He’s certainly setting a style trend with the sleeveless look, leg warmers with no arm warmers and lack of socks. Will this be the hot new style for summer 2020?
We jest, it’s nice to see him back on the bike.
Contador says Chris Froome's transfer from Ineos to Israel Start-Up Nation "makes sense"
Contador: “Froome’s move [to Israel] makes sense. He won 4 Tours, the Giro and the Vuelta and still feels strong enough to fight. Bernal will be dominant for a long time and will progress quickly. If Froome stayed with INEOS, he would have to adjust his goals or work for Bernal.”
— Gregor Brown (@gregorbrown) July 21, 2020
Cycling journalist Gregor Brown quotes the Spanish GC specialist as saying that “if Froome stayed with INEOS, he would have to adjust his goals or work for Bernal.”
It’s what many have been saying after Bernal, Froome’s teammate at Team Ineos, looked so dominant in last year’s Tour de France. What do you think? Is it the right move for Froome?
Just cycling home mate...
Met this guy with panniers this morning in Stockbridge, he was cycling home to Cornwall from Greece, made our day out seem a bit tame. pic.twitter.com/z9rYJVMRZR
— Binstedman 🚴 (@binstedman) July 20, 2020
Just your casual Greece to Cornwall commute home.
It’s only about 3,000km. With the Alps in the way. And a bit of water. Best put an extra pannier on.
Mathieu Van der Poel adds climbing to the list of stuff he's annoyingly good at
Not content with beating sprinters in flat finishes, winning hilly classics, dominating cyclocross and being good at mountain biking too, Dutch pro cyclist has added HC mountains to the places that he can drop you (and me, and just about anyone).
During a training ride on Alpecin-Fenix’s altitude camp, Van der Poel took the 23.8km Col de Petit St Bernard, ascending 1,090m in 51:19 at an average speed of 27.9km/h. To do this he averaged 379W at 164bpm. If his weight on Strava is to be believed, this was a 5.1w/kg effort. Impressive stuff.
Let’s just fire up the rumour mill for fun. Could we see Van der Poel going for yellow at the Tour any time soon?
A sign of new cyclists?
We spotted this one on the forum and it got us thinking; could the confused look on other rider’s face simply be down to being new to cycling?
It might even be a positive sign of an influx of new riders! Best keep waving at people…
"You're more likely to die by getting on a bicycle than you are by having Covid"
“If you’re under forty you’re more likely to die by getting on a bicycle than you are by having Covid, so we need to get the balance of risks right.”
Former Tory Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith made the comment when reflecting on Boris Johnson’s statement regarding the UK not returning to a national lockdown should Covid-19 cases rise again in the UK.
Speaking on Andrew Castle’s LBC radio show, the former Tory leader claimed that there has been a “general hysteria” surrounding the Covid-19 mortality figures. As of today, 45,318 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded, though the government is disputing this figure.
Apidura unveils new City bags
Apidura, among the biggest names in bikepacking, has launched a new City Messenger bag that’s available in two different sizes.
The City Messenger comes in both 11-inch and 13-inch versions, each featuring an internal sleeve for your laptop or tablet.
“The City Series is not a ruggedised, adventure-inspired range, but rather takes influence from the ‘less is more’ design philosophies [we have] developed through creating lightweight, technical bikepacking gear,” says Apidura.
“The result is a technical, lightweight and waterproof carry solution for seamlessly transitioning through the city. Both messengers have a stable, anatomical fit on and off the bike, with an easy one-handed zipless opening and are fully waterproof.”
The bags are made from Apidura’s bespoke CT420 Marle fabric – a nylon core with TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) coatings – with welded seams. They’re low profile and feature reflective elements that are intended to be subtle when you’re off the bike, but eye-catching when caught by headlights. You also get slits for attaching a rear LED.
To us, extending the range from bikepacking bags to city bags seems like a natural progression for the London-based brand.
“[We have] a great deal of experience creating technically advanced, lightweight gear for riders in some of the planet’s most challenging environments and events,” says Apidura. “Now, [we have] applied this precision-crafted, adventure-proven expertise to the urban environment to offer a simple, durable and versatile carry solution for city life.”
The 11-inch City Messenger is £129 while the 13-inch version is £144.
They’re available now over at www.apidura.com
Important information for people living in Brent
The London borough has released an interactive website where you can highlight spots that could do with cycling and walking improvements, joining other councils in asking residents to highlight problem areas.
Is this the right way to improve cycling and walking infrastructure? Surely asking those that use the roads and footpaths daily is a good approach.
You can see if your local area has a similar feature here
🚶🏾♀️🚴🏽♀️ Today, we’re excited to launch a new interactive website where we’re asking you to nominate locations for walking and cycling improvements.
Hear more from Cllr @ShamaTatler, and visit the website at https://t.co/IZ5JxwSRAN pic.twitter.com/RbgOkRIk12
— Brent Council (@Brent_Council) July 1, 2020
Jeremy Hunt: Is cycling one answer to pollution problem?
After Sir Iain Duncan Smith’s comments (scroll down), Hunt’s approach to cycling is far more encouraging.
Hunt, writing in the Farnham Herald, says that he has always been a “keen cyclist”, using two wheels to get to “parliament from my base in Pimlico.” In the article, Hunt is asking for feedback on a proposed cycle lane in Farnham town centre which he describes has having “been blighted for too long by pollution and traffic.”
Speaking of his experiences of cycling in London for over a decade, the Tory MP for South West Surrey says he believes “that the more people cycle, the easier and safer it is.”
He also suggests that figures showing “as many as 6,000 people per day” using certain cycle lanes in London has contributed to “making London cleaner, greener and much more pleasant.”
Jack comes in to bat
Right that’s it from me. Far too much politics for today and we haven’t even mentioned Russia…oops.
Liam
Movistar unveil rainbow-themed jerseys
Unfortunately for Movistar it’s not because they have any world champions in their ranks (not at the moment anyway)… but this new jersey design is for a good cause, and it will be used by the team at the rearranged Strade Bianche in August. It was born out of a competition for fans to design their own jersey, which was won by Italian artist Loris Gobbi who gets to see his creation come to life.
One of the jerseys will be auctioned too, with all proceeds going to the Spanish Red Cross.
Melbourne cyclist creates 'The Karen' Strava route, after woman bored of lockdown claims she had "done all of Brighton"
Thanks Karen… #CovidVic #COVID19au #Brighton #StayHome pic.twitter.com/Bok5y82M9U
— Leon Sjogren (@Leonsjogren) July 18, 2020
The clip first appeared on Australian news programme Nine News last week, with the woman being interviewed complaining about local lockdown rules in Melbourne:
“Well, you get sick of walking the same streets,” she said. “You know, I’ve done all of Brighton.”
The clip went viral, and now it’s immortalised on Strava after cyclist Aaron Groot decided to go out and cycle every street in Brighton (a suburb of Melbourne, not the city in England) in tribute, naming it “The Karen”. Mr Groot’s upload shows that this amounted to 97.19km (just over 60 miles), which he completed at an average speed of 32.5km/h.
For those not familiar, the name ‘Karen’ has recently took on a new meaning to refer to someone, usually a middle-aged woman of Caucasian descent, who has a tendency to complain persistently about trivial matters, and has a general demeanour that could be considered rude or obnoxious. Some say ‘Karen’ is no one in particular, more a state of mind…
Thirsty? This could be just the bike for you
It is pretty warm out there at the moment, so you can never be too hydrated! All credit goes to Adam Epp for creating this ‘Canyon Ultimate Hydration Edition’ – check out his personal Instagram here and his Bike Bros Cafe Racers page here.
Special edition Superstrata bike to be shown off exclusively at Selfridge's in Oxford Street
The Superstrata, touted as “the world’s first custom 3D-printed unibody carbon-fibre bike”, has had a wildly successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, raising over £2 million from backers already. In answer to a demand for a premium version of the bike, a special edition called the Superstrata Oxford will be available exclusively at the Smartech’s store within Selfridge’s on Oxford Street, London. It has the same unique frame design as the version shown above, but with carbon wheels and an upgraded groupset. An unveiling will take place on Thursday 23rd July, showcased next to a Penny Farthing “to show just how far we’ve come in bike design and usage over the last 100+ years”, say Superstrata.
Cyclist with Deliveroo backpack snapped cycling in the wrong direction on a motorway
It’s great to see more people cycling these days… but I’m not sure this is the best place for it. from r/melbourne
Another from Melbourne, this time it’s a cyclist with a deathwish as they appear to be riding against the flow of traffic on the inside lane of a motorway.
The road is reportedly the M1 motorway, and while the backpack does appear to belong to Deliveroo, the food delivery company told Yahoo News that they didn’t believe the cyclist was working for them.
A spokesperson said: “Our data does not show a rider making a delivery at that time on that road, and therefore assume that while the pack looks to be a Deliveroo bag, the person was undertaking a delivery for another platform.
“Deliveroo riders, like many other couriers, are self employed. We therefore only have information about riders’ GPS location and movements when they are logged into our platform and actively completing a delivery.
“We communicate regularly with riders to remind them of their obligations to abide by the road rules at all times and will soon be launching an online Safety Hub.”
21 July 2020, 08:16
Stu has given the new Merida Sultura Endurance a quick ride. His thoughts, here
First Ride Review: Merida Scultura Endurance 7000-E
Stu gives his early thoughts on Merida's brand new long distance road bike
21 July 2020, 08:16
Featuring an all-new carbon fibre apparently...
LeMond confirms new bike line is on the way
Greg LeMond's brand says it will reveal plans in the next fortnight
21 July 2020, 08:16
21 July 2020, 08:16
Full story on the slimming down of the National Cycle Network that we touched on in Monday's live blog
Safety concerns see National Cycle Network slashed by a quarter
3,000 miles reclassified as better suited to experienced riders, while 750 miles on busy roads disappear altogether from network map
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…serves you right for seeking out such a cliche of a photo opp! 🙃 sunflowers, please 🙄
@quiff The police definitely can't park where they like (rephrase: legally they definitely can't park where they like, in practice…), if they are not on emergency response all traffic laws and regulations apply to them just as they do to the ordinary motorist. I have an ongoing battle with the Met regarding the bus lane outside King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill; every morning there will be three or four police cars or vans parked in the lane, often on the zigzags of the pelican crossing there, forcing buses, motorcyclists and cyclists to switch out into the busy main traffic lane. As a user of the hospital myself I know that very rarely do they have any police business in the hospital, they are usually getting coffee and doughnuts from the in-hospital Costa. The Met has admitted that they should not be parking there and promised to sort it out, but my dialogue with them has lasted more than five years now and every morning they are still there just the same.
@Cayo I’m very much pro-Police, but that particular issue only serves to normalise pavement parking Well, I'm very much anti-police, but not over trivial parking decisions while they're actually working against offenders, as opposed to sitting about thinking up reasons why they can't act over well-supported and evidenced reports of serious offending
This ancient topic has been revived at the same time as another topic questioned the competence of police 'experts'. On 2014 the police blatantly just 'made up facts', so the question arises 'are they any better now when they varnish up their reports with a load of pseudo-scientific bollocks?'
I attended this inquest & was appalled at the poor way that evidences was handled Venera was rammed from behind by the truck driver who had barely reached 12 mph The coroner was told that there was another (untraced) vehicle ahead of the truck that hit Venera as this traffic moved away Venera was a fit regular cyclist riding Stratford to City of London on fixed wheel - no evidence was presented to indicate her typical average speed for this journey (it woiuld have been significantly faster than 12mph!). No evidence was presented concerning the vehicle travelling in front of the truck The circulating traffic on the roundabout routinely runs the red lights cutting across cycle traffic as much as 10 seconds after the cycle traffic gets a green light - I have a picture of the green light for cycle traffic shining through the windows of a bus that has been driven through the red signal
re: occasions when police needlessly pavement park... You only need to watch Police Interceptors and the like to see how unbothered they are. Usually, when they pull over a motorist, said driver mounts the pavement (and cop often does the same), yet there's never any mention of the illegality* or needless manner of their parking. (*Highway Code infraction, even if not against the law in the location being shown). I'm very much pro-Police, but that particular issue only serves to normalise pavement parking.
(Before the days of blatent angle grinder use) At my first job, my boss wouldn't allow me to bring my bike indoors, despite there being room. I had to lock it to the railings on a busy street. Came out one night to find it still there... but with signs of attempted theft. Unable to defeat the lock, they'd cut my cables (clearly with proper cutters), purely out of spite😠 Nothing missing - they'd just been petty. At least it persuaded my boss to relent: bike was indoors after that.
I can only guess what it's been like in Europe but it's been hot in the UK for 2nd time right now, 1st time hot now similar tho after the 1st that got you used to it with a smack in the face. I said to a friend, after I rode in the day when it was about 25'c air temp when riding, it saps your energy, tho I used to race in the evenings with high temps 🤷
Enjoyed this and might go down the same route. My Tripster AT is 8 years old in Arran Blue, still gets comments. It’s my no.2 bike - 650B wheels it’s a MTB, 700c it’s commuter, tourer and winter road bike. Just a bit bored of it!
@chrisonabike And just imagine if you have a dynamo as well what the maths looks like.
36 thoughts on “Tory Party special – Jeremy Hunt: Cycling the answer to air pollution; Iain Duncan Smith: “You’re more likely to die on a bicycle than from Covid-19”; Cyclist’s Strava response to Melbourne’s ‘Karen’; Wiggo rocks summer look + more”
Even if I’m rushin’ somewhere
Even if I’m rushin’ somewhere, I always try to wave at comrades
Quote:
Or maybe the other rider just doesn’t always say hello to complete strangers? Remember. we are always saying about how we’re not a Community but simply a bunch of individuals who happen to ride bikes.
brooksby wrote:
I don’t judge the non-wavers – I just like acknowledging other cyclists.
IDS should know it’s not
IDS should know it’s not ‘just getting on a bicycle’ that kills. ( Even at my advanced age.)
Is he really saying that 4 in every 100 cyclists ‘die’ (are killed) whilst on a bike?
So glad to live in Britain, where the cream rises to the top.
But we all know the risk is
But we all know the risk is relative right? For most under 60 Covid will Not kill you. It may not even show any symptoms. If you’re stuck in nursing home or hospital ward with careers with no ppe spreading it about them maybe you are at great risk.
I’m more bothered about blind old people in a Jazz or Prius than Covid.
Around 829 people in Eng &
Around 829 people in Eng & Wales would disagree with you if they were still alive.
Around 2% of COVID deaths in Eng & Wales are in the under 40’s according to Uk Gov stats (which may
be fudgedamended soon).Rick from your comments it
Rick from your comments it seems you are under fourty. I’m sixty so have a substantially different perspective. Try to think of people as people, not broken down by some arbitrary grouping the suits your agenda.
Yep, he has been spouting the
Yep, he has been spouting the “Britain shouldn’t have been closed, should have gone with Herd Immunity” that most right wingers spout for this. I might be more at risk of dying on my bike then by Covid, however I don’t give that risk to the next person to spread that risk to someone more susceptible exponentially.
Plus the risk of dying might be lower, but the risk of long term health consquences are pretty much the same across most age ranges I believe at the moment. Anecdotally I’m aware of two people in my social circles who have trouble breathing easily or even doing simple exercise like walking a few hundred yards who who were reasonably fit and healthy before getting it.
It is pure, unadulterated,
It is pure, unadulterated, gold standard, statistical bollocks. It is a statistically meaningless phrase.
But he is genuinely too thick to know. The man is an actual fool. He was too thick to get to university, so he lied on his CV about attending a quite prestigious italian university.
the little onion wrote:
— the little onionI’d never heard of this, so I checked and it’s true, and he attended a different university to the one he claimed he’d attended, and only for a year and gained no qualifications. Also true is that he was less than honest about his attendance at Dunchurch College of Management, which actually consisted of a few short courses of a couple of days; again, no qualifications.
But like a true tory, he still thinks he’s brilliant; Dunning-Kreuger strikes again.
So UK COVID deaths this year
So UK COVID deaths this year so far: 45,312 (source: worldometer)
Uk cyclist deaths this year: 76 (based on info collated from news reports – see https://twitter.com/lostinmanc/status/1284429852368605186?s=20 )
Yeah, okay IDS.
CygnusX1 wrote:
That 45,312 is most likely under-estimating the deaths – I prefer the excess deaths numbers which puts it at around 60,000 for the UK so far.
What also bugs me about people claiming that Covid isn’t that dangerous is that we really don’t know yet. It’s entirely possible that the virus could remain in your system and cause problems further on down the line (e.g. herpes, chickenpox) but so far we only have limited data for the last few months.
In Westminster the nickname
In Westminster the nickname/abbreviation IDS is taken to mean: Is Definitely Stupid.
interesting that the
interesting that the countries with the highest mortality and highest number of cases are populist or semi dictatorships.
IDS’ comments might make no
IDS’ comments might make no sense (what would the basis even be for comparing deaths per trip from cycling and deaths per, um, existing from Covid-19?), but the implication that he’s saying that cycling is dangerous seems confused. He’s actually trying to say ‘Cycling’s not very dangerous, and Covid-19’s even less dangerous than that, so we shouldn’t worry about it’.
It’s statistically illiterate rubbish, but it’s not an attack on cycling, any more than saying ‘Dying from the virus is less likely than being struck by lightning’ would be a panicked warning about the dangers of thunderstorms.
The not waving to other
The not waving to other riders thing is just a symptom of grumpy British attitudes generally.
It happens walking in the countryside too. You smile and say hi and the other party just turns away and pretend they haven’t heard you.
There’s a very noticeable difference in France.
Strangers politely say “Bonsoir” on the stairs in hotels.
I also remember cycle touring in Brittany.
Even people standing at the side of the road will smile and say “Bonjour”.
“Thirsty? This could be just
“Thirsty? This could be just the bike for you”
Is that an Aquarius?
Full quote from IDS:
Full quote from IDS:
“Only 4% of those who have died have died without any known co-morbidity and that’s the key bit, protect the vulnerable is the critical issue, but the rest, frankly, if you’re under forty you’re more likely to die by getting on a bicycle than you are by getting COVID.”
Seems like LBC went for the selective quote for the headlines and it’s been repeated everywhere. It’s misrepresenting what he actually said.
It’s lies, damn lies and statistics anyway to be honest but it’s not a totally crazy claim.
Number of deaths of those aged 44 and under with no pre-existing conditions. (Most recent data)
101
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsinvolvingcovid19englandandwales
Exposure to Coronavirus: Not known but estimated between 10 and 20% of population.
https://fullfact.org/health/19m-coronavirus-manchester/
Cycling fatalities roughly 100 per year.
Exposure to cycling: 10-20% of population cycle at least once a month.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/statistics
If we take Coronavirus exposure at the top end of estimates (20%) and Cycling exposure at the lower end of estimates (10%) and assume we’ve had roughly 6 months exposure to Coronavirus (lots of assumptions!).
Then the risk of dying from COVID-19 for a fit and well person under 40 is roughly the same as the risk of a person dying from cycling this year if they’d taken up cycling at the start of the pandemic.
The risk to those who are under 40 and otherwise well is very low.
Year to date I think our excess mortality is about 50000 (please note the year to date bit). That’s roughly equivalent to the excess winter mortality from flu in 99/2000 which was 48000 I think.
The mortality is not as unprecedented as people seem to think.
I think we’ve been through
I think we’ve been through all this before. The strain on medical services, especially intensive care, is one of the main reasons there was so much ‘hysteria’. Plus the over 40s have the right not to die prematurely due to a brexthick govt being unable to coordinate an effective response to a pandemic and a govt that managed to outsmart those useless Europeans when to came to total deaths and cases. Bravo!
Was the strain any greater
Was the strain any greater than during a very severe flu season like 99/00.
No.
Is the mortality for healthy people under 40 currently exceptional.
No.
The economic damage being done by a blanket lockdown will cause more deaths amongst those healthy under 40s than it will prevent.
Look up research on the long term damage to health caused by recessions and economic shocks. It should help put things in perspective.
As for COVID cases/deaths etc we can only judge the effectiveness of any country’s strategy after several years and possibly even decades have passed.
Damage to health is not
Damage to health is not caused by recessions it is caused by the way society chooses to allocate the resources available at any one time. COVID has been very, very good for the environment and climate change and hence good for health. One piece of research suggested that if emission levels could be maintained at lockdown levels we may have a chance of keeping temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. To do this would mean changing from our comsumerist throw away society to a sustainable one. Perhaps we could measure succes by happiness rather than economic activity. I am not sure how this could be done but I’m sure we could do better than returning to the status quo and cycling has an important part to play.
If you’re working ont he
If you’re working ont he basis that Covid-19 is just like a normal winter ‘flu then I think you’ve missed a crucial component of the threat. Also, just focussing on deaths is short-sighted, discounting those who have required treatment and hospitalisation.
I don’t disagree that the economic, social and psychological fallout from lockdown isn’t severe. However, it has given us chance to look at what we do and why and to consider whether life could be different (and hopefully better). And economies bounce back, even though economic growth isn’t the only metric one should use.
And why the focus on under-40s? Do the rest of us not count?
Simon E wrote:
I bet you’ll find that rich_cb is under 40 and therefore his attitude is “I’m alright, Jack!”.
(And – no, once you are past forty in our society what they’d like is for us to go off and find a big red crystal like in Logan’s Run).
It’s not like a ‘normal’
It’s not like a ‘normal’ winter flu.
The mortality from COVID is comparable to a very severe winter flu season. Prior to COVID we have had excess deaths at around the 50000 mark twice in the last 25 years. So it’s unusual but certainly not unprecedented.
Economies might bounce back but the long term damage to people continues. Look at all the ex industrial areas in the UK. How healthy are the people in those areas compared to the national average?
Now consider that the economic shock to those areas happened a generation ago and that the national economy has hugely expanded since then.
That’s the risk with COVID. We destroy large swathes of our economy and the health repercussions continue for generations.
The reason to focus on the under 40s is because that’s where the disparity between actual risk and perceived risk is greatest.
Relaxing restrictions on the young and healthy doesn’t necessarily put more vulnerable groups at greater risk if it’s don in a sensible manner.
Except that “die by getting
Except that “die by getting on a bicycle” pretty clearly implies a per trip risk, rather than the annual risk for anyone who currently cycles, which would be considerably lower.
The “by getting COVID” bit is more ambiguous. It could mean
[It wouldn’t surprise me if IDS himself doesn’t actually know which of these he’s talking about – he’s likely just repeating a comparison he’s seen elsewhere which has taken two statistics which produce vaguely similar numbers and gone ‘aha! This is lower than that!’ without bothering to worry about whether they’re comparable.]
If we’re talking about deaths per trip for cycling, then comparing 1 or 2 is completely apples and oranges. However, 3 is not a particularly useful risk to consider without the context of how likely it is that you would contract the virus.
In any case, it’s just daft to compare the risk of death of a random infection, which carries risks of other harms (health, physical and psychological; social; economic;…) and no obvious benefits, with that from something that’s a choice, and has associated health benefits.
Also, using death rates with control measures in place as an argument for removing those control measures makes no sense.
And that’s not to mention the cherry-picking of the age group – if he’s proposing to treat everyone over 40 as ‘vulnerable’, that’s an awful lot of people to ‘protect’.
Still, that’s all probably a bit irrelevant to a cycling forum…
It’s hard to compare risks
It’s hard to compare risks for two very different things but as I said in my post it is possible to get a vague comparison of risk.
Cycling reasonably regularly for the duration of the pandic probably carries a reasonably similar risk of death to catching Coronavirus if you are under 40and fit and well.
Both carry a low risk of fatality and that’s the point I think he was trying to make.
Coronavirus is not particularly dangerous to those who are healthy and under 40.
Ironically it is those people who benefit least from an all encompassing lockdown that will suffer its consequences most profoundly.
It’s possible to get a vague
It’s possible to get a vague comparison of risk. What I’m saying is that in the case of the two risks in question (whichever they are, since he wasn’t clear, and quite possibly doesn’t know himself), it doesn’t tell us anything meaningful to do so.
Even your best case scenario
Even your best case scenario / argument is that with all the disease prevention of lockdown, social distancing, personal hygiene routines, PPE and massive cost to the NHS in treating tens of thousands of seriously ill people, that the current excess deaths are only as bad as the worst flu outbreak in recent history.
You are also only considering deaths, when there is increasing evidence of long term complications for many people who survive the disease, from anosmia through to permanent reduction of lung function, brain and heart damage. This aspect is certainly different to the normal flu.
People who become severely
People who become severely unwell due to influenza will often suffer long term health consequences including organ damage.
The strain on the NHS during a severe winter flu season is not much different. The PPE being worn now is no different to that worn during the swine flu pandemic.
The COVID pandemic is different to a severe flu season but not dramatically so in terms of mortality or long term health sequelae.
The difference is the level of public fear and for many people that level of fear is entirely disproportionate to the level of risk.
Which obviously is still a
Which obviously is still a bad outcome,but if the governments report that 200,000 will die purely as a result of lockdown conditions (which I suspect was the trigger for the conversation IDS was having) which is the better case scenario?
FWIW I think people are just over reacting to the fact it was IDS who said it,rather than what was actually said,its a tenuous link to cycling at best and doesnt need nth degree dissection to prove its absolutely right or absolutely wrong.
That Movistar top is a
That Movistar top is a fantastic design. Auctioning just 10 of them isn’t going to raise much for the cause so why not put it into a bigger ltd production run?
Oops! Autocorrect on the
Oops! Autocorrect on the mobile!
Should have got it proof read!
COVID!! COVID!! COVID!!
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Sir Iain Duncan Smith obviously went to the same maths class as Diane Abbott.
UK Covid deaths this year = 45k+
UK cycle deaths this year = under 20
Hmmmm…….
peasantpigfarmer wrote:
Time to start culling crows?
mdavidford wrote:
Time to start culling crows?— peasantpigfarmer
I suggest stoning.
Superstrata very sleek and
Superstrata very sleek and futuristic until they threw the turd in the punchbowl with those ridiculous 6 inch long valve stems