The Sunday Times has today named and shamed UK cyclists who have been sharing details of their rides on Strava, including one who rode an average of 100 miles a day in the past week – even though government rules on outdoor exercise undertaken during the lockdown do not specify a time or distance limit.
In its article, the newspaper singles out a challenge on Strava for cyclists to ride 1,250 kilometres (777 miles) during a calendar month, and adds that 30,000 riders in the UK have signed up to it, 100 of them averaging rides of 50 miles each day between 1-9 April.
While it acknowledges that the government has set no limit on the amount of daily exercise that should be undertaken, it highlights recent comments by cabinet minister Michael Gove.
Speaking earlier this month to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, he said: “I would have thought for most people a walk of up to an hour, a run of 30 minutes or a cycle ride of between that, depending on their level of fitness, is appropriate.”
However, there is no such stipulation in the government’s own emergency legislation, and while British Cycling and Cycling UK have both urged people to ride responsibly and limit their activities to avoid a total ban on riding being brought in, the letter of the law suggests no-one riding 100 miles or so is actually breaking it.
The article highlighted one rider on Strava who had posted – or, in the newspaper’s words. “boasted of” riding 700 miles in seven days at the start of the month, and another who had logged a ride of 162 miles lasting almost eight hours from Manchester to Shropshire.
The newspaper did accept that many riders appeared to be riding loops close to where they live, and while it did not mention Zwift, the likelihood is that many people will be riding on that or other virtual platforms from home while the lockdown continues.
The article is published on a weekend when North Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan described cyclists as a “real worry” in the current environment, although she subsequently clarified that riders in the area were not doing anything wrong, but had been “causing a bit of tension” by riding through villages.
The newspaper’s article today was also accompanied by a photo of cyclists riding on Box Hill in Surrey – even though it is closed to all traffic, including bicycles, for the Easter weekend.
The photo is similar to one used by siter paper The Times last week, which due to foreshortening caused by the use of a telephoto lens and shooting the cyclists head-one appeared to give the impression they were riding as a group.
> Times latest newspaper accused of trying to shame cyclists with dodgy telephoto pics
In fact, as an image shot by one of the cyclists in that very group showed, the cyclists – who were riding either alone, or with another member of their household – were spaced well apart.<ul>
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
97 thoughts on “Sunday Times names and shames cyclists racking up miles on Strava”
Oh, good grief
Oh, good grief <face/palm>
So what, not doing any harm
So what, not doing any harm and probably protecting themselves by keeping healthy and away from others
Seems the Times has moved on
Seems the Times has moved on since they campaigned for their cycling journalist Mary Bowers who was run over in London.
Milkfloat wrote:
Thank you, I was going to say the same thing. But it is a Murdoch paper, so at best, any ethics or morals were a transient thing.
Milkfloat wrote:
Being right wing and sensationalist is what sells papers and creates clicks these days. Being balanced and reasonable is so out of fashion.
I can’t see a problem with
I can’t see a problem with lone cyclists doing a ride if they don’t go near other cyclists and avoid busy areas. The rides that I’ve been doing don’t even involve me touching anything or being anywhere near anyone else for more than a few seconds, so I’d wager that going shopping is more likely for me to catch and/or spread any virus.
That’s all true – but not how
That’s all true – but not how it’s seen by others. And a complete ban isn’t unthinkable – see France, Spain, Italy.
Why can’t people just set their Strava uploads to more private settings for a few weeks? Not much consolation being ‘right’ if you’ve lost your rights.
(Good to see lots of pro-cyclist comments under the ST article though)
*checks Strava settings* – I
*checks Strava settings* – I’m fine, only got about 10 people who can see my rides (they’re only up to an hour and a half anyway).
FUCKS SAKE. I’m getting
FUCKS SAKE. I’m getting absolutely fucking sick of this. You want to see something dangerous? Try going to the supermarket with all the rest of the fucking sheep and interacting with the cashiers who come into close contact (within a foot) of hundreds of people every single day. Living on your own, working from home, riding on your own and seeing nobody else there is as close to a zero chance of spreading covid-19 as it is possible to get (outside of quarantining yourself completely) – whether you ride for 30 minutes a day or 12 hours a day.
This is 100% devised by the government so that they can blame their abject, utter failure to put together a coherent strategy to contain the spread early enough on the general public, using their attack dogs in the media to turn a bored, frightened public on an already nicely marginalised group.
The sole reason for this – when you strip away the bullshit about ‘DANGER’ – is that cycling is pretty much the one thing you can do ‘normally’ during this crisis (lack of group rides notwithstanding) – and that pisses people off who usually get their kicks from going to the pub, cinema restaurants, gym or team sports
Pathetic
Zebulebu wrote:
Why am I only allowed to like this once? Consider it liked infinite times.
If you like it infinitely,
If you like it infinitely, how will we know if anyone else likes it?
Organon wrote:
Easy; it’ll be infinity plus 1.
Totally agree with you. I’ve
Totally agree with you. I’ve been on a 5 hour ride this week on deserted roads in Devon. On another day I had to go to a supermarket to stock up on essentials. From a virus spreading perspective, which is the more hazardous? I’m not angry with people who don’t cycle, its not for everyone. But non cyclists shouldn’t be angry with cyclists either. I am lucky that I’ve always liked to cycle and it gives me lots of benefits without putting others at risk.
Zebulebu wrote:
I think not buying food for more weeks will have a bigger impact.
However, back to the story
1 depending on fitness, so more tha an hour not an issue for those who are fitter
2. 50 miles is only 3 hours, riding this every day is not that hard
4. most people who enter the challenge don’t finish it in normal months, never mind now
5. trainer rides count to the total (a change due to the virus)
6 1250km/30 days is only 42km a day, 90 minutes for many people, not excessive excerise at all, especially with the time released from pointless commuting in polluting cars
The world’s response to the
The world’s response to the pandemic is in stark contrast to it’s response to air pollution and climate change.
We should be taking similar degrees of action to mitigate the unnecessary air pollution including addressing the contribution from excessive car use. It would save – prolong – the lives of more people than coronavirus will likely kill, and that would be each and every year. There would also be a drop in deaths caused by road traffic incidents.
And if the climate change forecasts are correct then this pandemic will seem like a walk in the park in comparison.
But hey let’s demonise people for riding bikes ?
To the people of the UK, i’m
To the people of the UK, i’m sorry that you feel that people cycling is putting the NHS or yourselves in danger.
There is an error in this
There is an error in this article. It states that the Times has ‘named and shamed’ people. I think perhaps you meant to write ‘named and vilified’ – easy mistake to make…
the Times should fact check
the Times should fact check their information before going to print.
The Bloke in 3rd place on the Strava Distance Challenge has actually been riding on Zwift for ther last 26 days and hasnt been on the road once.
https://www.strava.com/athletes/9633064
The Editor should write a retraction and appologise for being Xenophopic towards cyclists. That or Talk more crap from Jeremy Clartkson then we can have a laugh.
Vlad, is UKRC forum still
Vlad, is UKRC forum still going? I lost contact when Martin updated the site but would like to get back on board.
CTGK
The website is located here..
The website is located here….
http://www.ukrc.club/
Thanx, all signed up again.
Thanx, all signed up again.
Send them a solicitor’s
Send them a solicitor’s letter, I’d would be looking for more than a retraction.
.
.
gibbon wrote:
and the right wing media, desperately blaming everyone except those really to blame: the government, who did nothing for months.
That photo in the times – was
That photo in the times – was it taken over the weekend?
If it was then that’s a journey that could have been avoided. If it wasn’t then I feel for the riders who are probably going to be recognized.
People work at weekends too
People work at weekends too you know.
There was a similar “discussion” on a local village forum page the other day, complaints about “all these cyclists” (none of them actually doing anything wrong, they were just existing) and i pointed out that no-one is able to tell if it’s someone going to or from work, if it’s a doctor on their way home from shift, of its someone 2 miles from home or if it’s a rider who’s midway through a 6hr ride…
Lycra is meaningless – many cyclists wear Lycra when they commute to work.
This really is the thin end of the wedge, this sort of “naming and shaming” needs to be condemned outright. We’re not in North Korea or some Gestapo fantasy land (yet). The Times admitted (in a roundabout way) that the riders weren’t doing anything wrong. But how long until some driver, enraged by these clickbait articles, decides to “teach a lesson” to some cyclist and ends up killing a nurse or doctor on their way to/from work?!
When my parts turn up this
When my parts turn up this week for my tourer, I shall be going for longer rides. I can carry the extra food and fluid to ride without interacting with others.
From the article’s photo
From the article’s photo caption:
“Cyclists enjoying … ”
That’s their problem with cyclists right there.
I was standing in the sun in
I was standing in the sun in a queue outside a shop yesterday in a usually busy part of London and I kept hearing one of my favourite sounds, not usually heard above the traffic. Now in the absence of endless cars, vans, motorbikes i could hear it distinctly before I could see the source. Not the sound of birds singing or children laughing but the whir of a well tuned road bike.
Again there were so many people cycling yesterday. And all types; families, oldies, women, the not so trim, fold up bikes, Teenagers . . . . Why isn’t that reported on by The Times?
I was painting the outside of
I was painting the outside of my house on Sunday, I kept turning round on the ladders to see the bikes going past. I could hear them coming, something I have never heard before. It was a joy to hear the clicking of well maintained gears, quality freehubs etc.
The government guidelines are
The government guidelines are indeed vague. But if you take a legal approach to the definition of ‘minimising’ time outdoors (which is in the guidelines) a reasonable person (i.e. the old fashioned man on the Clapham omnibus) is not going to think that a 5 hour ride in the sunshine is reasonable. I saw a well thought out opinion in Cyclist the other day which felt that an hour was about ok. There’s a bit of an attitude in some quarters of looking to stretch the definition as much as possible – a bit of an ‘I’m alright Jack’ that simply pisses non-cyclists off and that fuels a possible fire that will get us completely locked down like France.
So if you’re thinking about doing that 2 hour plus ride, then you’re not really minimising your time are you? In which case, why should anyone else follow the other guidelines when you can’t?
barongreenback wrote:
So, up to 2 hours is okay then?
Thanks for deliberately
Thanks for deliberately trying to make me the arbiter of the rules rather than engaging with the point 🙂
barongreenback wrote:
My bad – you just sounded authoritative.
barongreenback wrote:
Amen. I was a little suprised at this article and the comments as I thought the guidance was one hour per day max, so I can understand why people think cyclists going out for multi-hour rides are taking the piss. As it turns out, the guidance and the law behind it is suitably vague. But then they’ve been made on the fly so how people expect them to be perfect, I don’t know.
But that’s an bit of a
But that’s an bit of a misapplication of the ‘Clapham omnibus test’, which assumes that the person in question is apprised of all the relevant facts of the case, including the intention of the law in question.
The problem is the government has made no effort to communicate why they’ve issued the guidelines they have, so people have just been left to guess at what falls within the spirit of them. So some people are going to guess that going much beyond the end of your street is irresponsible, because your more or less guaranteed to get mown down by an innocent motorist the moment you do, while others will think that doing a century is fine because it doesn’t seem to them to be presenting a significant danger to themselves or other people.
As far as I can make out, the twin imperatives of the current rules are to
a) avoid transmission of the virus
b) avoid adding strain to critical services
The measure of what’s reasonable should therefore be taking reasonable care to
1) avoid close / sustained proximity to people outside of your household group (so no group riding or coffee stops, and don’t put yourself in a position where you might require public transport or a lift home if something went wrong)
2) avoid behaviour that presents a meaningful risk of requiring assistance from emergency services (don’t do more than you’re capable of, don’t push it on descents or ride technical trails hard, etc.)
In light of that, absolute times or distances seem irrelevant – it’s perfectly possible to ride a six hour century while respecting the intention of the law, provided (i) that’s within your capabilities, (ii) you’re avoiding other people while doing it, and (iii) you’re sticking to relatively local loops or are equipped to be self-sufficient in the event of a problem.
As I say, though, everyone, including me, is surmising in the dark, because the government can’t be bothered to explain itself properly.
I see more people and come
I see more people and come within closer proximity to people cycling round the block than I would if I was cycling in the hills. We’ve a 2km max radius from your house in Ireland, except for essential travel.
Our 2km limit is a bit of a
Our 2km limit is a bit of a pain but at least we’re still allowed outside. I don’t even have a loop within my 2km radius. The main problem as you say is that if your in a town/village everyone is out in that 2km so you end up seeing far more people than you usually would on a ride. Even if your living in a very rural area like me this happens. Only start from home would be more sensible. Re the English rules surely a “short” ride is subjective depending on what your used to. I don’t consider a 4hr ride as a long ride. The first hour just gets you warmed up.
I read the ST article and it
I read the ST article and it was amusing to see strava users hoisted by their own peotard. The more serious point, obfuscated by the author of this piece, is how much civic responsibility should cyclists be taking on in the current climate. Road cc is quick to take the moral high ground when debating the behaviour of other road users. About time it took a dose of it’s own medicine and condemned this obviously socially irresponsible behaviour.
philtregear wrote:
— philtregearWhy is it socially irresponsible? It’s not obvious to me.
Nor me
Nor me
Because you are spreading it
Because you are spreading it around – like the plague or something. Then everyone will die.
The responsibility is to
The responsibility is to demonstrate social lly isolating behaviour. Boasting about how long you have been out on strava is the opposite of this.
philtregear wrote:
Uh? You seem confused. Social distance is about staying 2m away from other people. It had nothing to do with the distance recorded on Strava. Never mind opposites, they are not even on the same axis.
It is, but there seems to be
It is, but there seems to be a confusing conflation of that with the issue of ‘travelling to a different area’. Hence most countries other than the UK stopping all incoming flights and more-or-less closing borders, or the police telling people off for shopping at a shop that isn’t the closest one, or following lone hikers with drones.
I find the whole thing quite confusing, myself. It’s not helped by government daily briefings where they pretty much completely ignore every single question, just instead saying something else entirely unrelated to the question just asked. I know that’s a bit off-the-subject but I just listened to one and I’m finding the things a bit surreal – they have the form of a question-answer format, but the content is completely unrelated.
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
Even worse was the pretend apology from Priti Patel ‘sorry if people feel there have been failings’ over PPE” not that she was sorry they’d failed to supply it. Positively vomit inducing.
I saw that and thought how it
I saw that and thought how it sounded like a satirical fiction rather than reality, like if a TV show was trying to show a heartless and uncaring politician or corporate lawyer type who isn’t even really pretending to be a normal human being. IMO.
No it’s not. I see fewer
No it’s not. I see fewer people while I’m out cycling in the countryside than I do in the local supermarket. I appreciate that everyone’s situation is different but out on a bike I’m far more socially distant and therefore near zero risk.
You could actually argue the opposite – boasting about how long you’ve been out on Strava shows how keen you are to get away from everyone!
Just been out for 12 miles.
Just been out for 12 miles. Beautiful countryside, really lifts the spirits. Saw about 20 other cyclists. Saw at least 400+ cars. The cyclists were all out with a “reasonable excuse” as defined in law, exercise, by default. The motorists? Why does the Times not report on all the motor traffic?
I saw quite a bit of
I saw quite a bit of “essential” car journeys yesterday. Odd when even supermarkets were closed. I even saw a “vital” easter egg delivery.
ktache wrote:
The police seem to have trouble seeing these ‘essential’ car journeys. Maybe because they’re too busy flying drones and goose stepping around the parks.
It’s not the police harassing
It’s not the police harassing cyclists, and neither would I want them mounting roadblocks to interrogate motorists. It’s the likes of the Sunday Times – why are they so obsessed with cyclists yet they don’t publish any telephoto pics of motorists? If their agenda was unnecessary excursions beyond the home then I’d expect some variety to their coverage. If anything, there can be an assumption that cyclists are legitimately taking exercise, something motorists can not claim. So I’m guessing their agenda is just anti-cyclist.
The fuckwit neighbours had
The fuckwit neighbours had their ‘vital’ builder down all weekend, constructing their ‘vital’ outbuilding. The fuckwit showed no signs of socially distancing from the builder, nor his mates, who came down for a nosey.
We were only discussing this
We were only discussing this today whilst on our daily walk. At the beginning of the lockdown, the roads were definately quieter. But I think people are getting bored, the novelty has worn off, the ‘me me me’ snowflake brigade are thinking “I will not do what you instruct me”.
We live on a main A road. I was painting the house windows on Good Friday. The traffic was astonishing, just like a normal day. Easter Sunday was unbelievable. After a quiet start, it was busy as fuck, considering all the supermarkets and everywhere else were closed, where were all these motorists going on their ‘essential’ journeys? Even the retarded Fuckwit neighbours were in, out, in, out, in, out, all day, as usual.
When out today for my
When out today for my mandated daily exercise I saw one definite, and with the next vehicle, a very probable learner driver being given an informal lesson by their parent. Essential journey?
Yeah I’ve seen a few learner
Yeah I’ve seen a few learner drivers out. Ridiculous.
Here’s another hate filled
Here’s another hate filled article from the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/13/pop-up-bike-lanes-help-with-coronavirus-social-distancing-in-germany
Am I missing something?
Am I missing something? Perhaps sarcasm that’s too subtle for me.
Thanks for the link, though. There is an opportunity to reallocate roadspace temporarily, and keep it that way if people like it.
Sorry Harrogate xxxxx Spa,
Sorry Harrogate xxxxx Spa, somebody had found it as hate filled as some of the right wing nasties out there earlier in the weekend. Referencing that…
Spewing it’s hate filled communistic bile…
How’s the recent dry weather made the Stray look?
Down in the now drought afflicted South, all of my formally impassable mudpits of bridleways are now incredibly dry, the horse hoofprints are now set in dry mud, almost concrete like, much like the ruts were during the beast from the east, even bits of the Thames that had flooded fields are drying out.
The Stray is dry again.
The Stray is dry again.
It’s only one bit – West Park Stray – where the UCI trucks and stalls were. Much of the grass there has been killed off. It’ll recover one day!
It seems to me that its very
It seems to me that its very easy as a cyclist, cycling around the empty countryside for hour up on hour, not coming into close contact with anyone, feeling safer that normal, being pretty self sufficient as far as most repairs are concerned (I’ve called out family to collect me once in the last 10 years!, and had one big off in the last 20 years!), that we should be able to do this. Whats the harm?
And I was of this opinion until very recently, but my partner pointed out that if we arent seen to follow the spirit of the rules then why should anyone else. I think a working society is often about perception (probably because lots of people arent able to think things thru logically themselves!), and i think we should do our bit so I am limiting my rides to less than 2 hours – and only 3 times a week anyway.
If someone could actually try
If someone could actually try to express the spirit of the rules, maybe we could try to work out how to be seen to be following them. Unfortunately, the government seems to be either unwilling to or incapable of doing so.
It’s not that they have the
It’s not that they have the wrong strategy, it’s that they, just like the Trump administration, don’t seem to have _any_ strategy at all. Since the start it’s been very clear they have no clue what they are doing. It’s been a farce.
At least the Americans have people with some power at the level of individual states and cities who can partially make up for the lack of ideas at the top.
When there’s no clear direction or plan coming from the top, people are going to turn on each other in fear and confusion. So hardly surprising velociphobia is part of it.
That’s it, blame the
That’s it, blame the government. There isn’t a country in the world with a grip on this. It is, you don’t need to be told, an unprecedented situation. Nobody knows or has experience on what to, they simply have no experience.
I’m afraid your assertions
I’m afraid your assertions are not correct.
The protocols for viral pandemics were pretty much established after SARS.
Asia, by and large, has been extremely effective in combating C-19.
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore all had their first confirmed cases before Europe but acted early and fast. Consequently, they have all have deaths in single digits.
Test, trace, quarantine – and wear a mask to hinder passing anything on.
The West didn’t follow the protocols and has paid dearly.
However, it is a myth to say we didn’t know how to address the danger.
biker phil wrote:
— biker philNot true. There are countries where their strategy has worked better than in the UK. Those governments genuinely listened to medical experts, they didn’t sit around for 2 months, didn’t propose ‘herd immunity’ as a valid approach, they didn’t make vague noises about PPE while doing nothing then make accusations about NHS staff wasting it… so yes, I’m saying that our government, which we already have seen is run by people with little or no conscience, has a great number of very serious questions they have not answered. This is partly because parliament is paused and most of the MSM is happy to give them an easy ride.
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/04/11/a-national-scandal-a-timeline-of-the-uk-governments-woeful-response-to-the-coronavirus-crisis/
This is 43 minutes well spent IMHO if you can handle listening to proper experts – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05-jbrHRmrs
Alternatively you can shove you head in the sand and shout “Bloody cyclists!”
Except Taiwan, Singapore,
Except Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan have all done a heck of a lot better than we have. Australia and New Zealand possibly also. We seem to be set to do worse than even most of the rest of Europe. In deaths-per-capita we are only behind Italy and Spain (would be ahead of France if we counted care-home deaths as they do), and we could yet overtake them all, unless Trump manages to take the US to the top spot.
It was clear this was coming back in late January, but the government did nothing till well into March. They didn’t stock up on PPE equipment for the medical workers, didn’t look into how to try to keep the economy alive, didn’t get more ventilators, didn’t come up with a real plan, didn’t learn from what East Asian countries were doing (ignored the possibility that simple masks can help), and just sat on their arses while people bought the infection in (mostly from Italy). They seem incapable of scaling up testing, or even of coming up with any ideas for making the ‘lock down’ fairer in its impact.
They just hold these pointless briefings that are like some surreal comedy, where it takes a Q&A format, but the A’s don’t in any way relate to the Q’s. The best that could be said for them is they just manage to stop short of being as much of a car-crash as Trump’s efforts.
Even the US under the orange clown is doing much better than us with testing rates, largely thanks to the second tier of government over there.
They started off going with that cockamanie ‘herd immunity’ plan, which every expert in the world thought was crazy. Before suddenly changing tack again and since then they seem to have been blundering around with no direction at all.
Yes, I ‘blame the government’ – it’s their _job_ to organise the response to this. Are you seriously suggesting the government has no responsibility for dealing with a collective disaster like a pandemic? What the hell are they for then?
Sure, so then there is a
Sure, so then there is a legitimate role for the media – to dispel such misguided perception precisely so that people can make the best of these straightened times without incurring rancour built on fear and ignorance. But instead they do the very opposite and stoke the fires.
But how does anyone know how
But how does anyone know how long you have been out?
As someone posted earlier, a lot of it is simply jealousy because cyclists can carry in as normal whereas people can’t go to the gym.
Completely agree with that
Completely agree with that last bit, although it goes without saying that the newspapers are tending simply to stoke bad feeling towards cyclists in general, and to tar all of us with the same brush, just out of mean-spirited prejudice. A lot of people are making a lot of sacrifices at this time, often involving being barred from doing things where, so long as sufficiently few people do those activities at any given time, any particular person doing that activity is quite unlikely to create problems with regards to spreading the virus etc. (consider e.g. fishing) – and aspects of the reasoning wheeled out to justify being able to go for long rides commonly generalise to those cases too. Many noncyclists are therefore inevitably going to hear about cyclists going for day-long rides, traveling through places that would otherwise have fewer people passing through them etc., and feel resentment. Maybe the law doesn’t explicitly block people from riding long distances, and for long stretches of time, but the fact that one is legally permitted to do something doesn’t mean that one should do it: many forms of tax evasion underline that point pretty firmly.
demondig wrote:
Get real! Most riders are not doing day-long rides.
With the quieter roads the people writing nasty articles (and bitching on cycling websites) could easily go for rides themselves instead of bashing cyclists.
Where are the nasty articles by people who don’t have large gardens – or those who don’t have any garden at all – about people with significant property who can walk some distance, have barbeques and experience other outdoor pleasures within their own grounds due to their good fortune? The people in households without cars don’t get to vent in The Sunday Times about the multi-dimensional harm caused by traffic outside their door.
And let’s get this in perspective. The proportion of Strava users – itself a subset of all people who cycle – doing long rides is rather small, yet the style of bitchy, blame-game journalism means that all cyclists are tarred with that brush. One cyclist I know is riding to town, doing a shift of Deliveroo-type jobs and riding home.
Incidentally, the 1,250 km strave challenge mentioned above amounts to 41.6 km (26 miles) per day. That’s certainly less than 2 hours of riding for most of us.
Sure, I agree with all that.
Sure, I agree with all that. Some people are heading out for lots of long rides, though – my own Strava feed tells me that – and it’s a fair question how far there are moral considerations bearing on whether they should be doing so, even while the letter of the law does perhaps permit the activities, and even though most cyclists aren’t spending anything like the day in the saddle. The newpaper articles don’t address these issues in any sort of reasonable manner, needless to say – they tend just to be taking pot-shots at cyclists – but they are interesting questions nonetheless.
demondig wrote:
.
There’s no frothing at the
There’s no frothing at the mouth here. Nor any outrage. Nor any rocks being thrown. Nor any condemnation of anyone. It’s just an interesting question how far there are ethical considerations weighing against doing long rides in the current environment, that are independent of the extent to which any particular one of those rides might lead to any immediate harms. It’s possible, after all, to consider moral issues calmly: don’t take the suggestion that there might be reasons against acting in a certain way as itself amounting to a vilification of that course of action! I’m inclined to think that there are reasons weighing against doing long rides, which is why I’m not myself doing any – in the normal run of events I’d be doing a lot of long rides myself around now, but I haven’t been out in some weeks – but these are complex questions.
demondig wrote:
— demondigI think your choice is very reasonable. I’ve had similar thoughts myself, not only about how far to ride in the current situation but throughout my adult life about rock climbing, riding powerful motorbikes and other dangerous activities. I’m not sure it’s complex but it’s certainly individual.
What I take issue with is some people taking it upon themselves to decide what everyone else should or should not do and telling them so. When those people are journalists I think they are abusing their privileged position. I think that there are far more important questions that are not being asked while cyclists as a collective (which we aren’t) are being scapegoated once more.
I don’t quite know what I
I don’t quite know what I think about those out cycling long-distances. There’s a basis for thinking they maybe shouldn’t be doing that. I’m not a cyclist currently, I’m barely a ‘go-outside-ist’ (and I have no garden or balcony, hence am in an even worse mood than usual).
But I certainly think the country has much bigger problems to worry about than a few guys on Strava. I feel it’s a distraction activity by a media that continues to fail to do its real job, just as it failed to give this the attention it merited back not just in early March, when it was clear they should be stopping or restricting travel to northern Italy or even the whole of Europe, but right back to January, when it was obvious this was going to arrive here at some point from China.
I reckon this sort of thing is partly projection of a guilty-concience by our useless media.
“…and i think we should do
“…and i think we should do our bit so I am limiting my rides to less than 2 hours – and only 3 times a week anyway.”
And you’ll be pissing in the wind, because those who subscribe to that reductive logic will never be satisfied until you share their misery.
Two hours? On a bike? Multiple times per week? You’re up against people who have never conceived of such excess in their lives and think nothing of driving under a mile to the shops every day.
I have a neighbour who drives
I have a neighbour who drives to the shop which can be seen from his house. And yes, he is fat.
You are right. Well done
You are right. Well done
Another viewpoint from the
A different viewpoint from the media:
“I’d also strongly argue against any bans on recreational and leisure cycling, which is so good for both physical and mental health. The rationale for these appears to be to take the strain off health services, in case a cyclist is injured and needs treatment.
This approaches the issue from the wrong way. Cycling is an inherently safe form of transport where the danger is almost all external – that is, from drivers and other motor vehicle users. If the intention really is to prevent road casualties, then the best way, surely, would be to reduce speed limits, and urge careful driving.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2020/mar/20/why-not-encourage-cycling-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown
From the (hatefilled)
From the (hatefilled) Guardians letters page
• As a stickler for tradition, I shall be spending part of bank holiday Monday sitting in my car on the drive, pretending I’m in a traffic jam. If it rains, so much the better.
Kevin Rushfirth
Otley, West Yorkshire
https://www.cambridge-news.co
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/ridiculous-sign-trying-stop-cyclists-18084476
Nothing like fear and ignorance to bring out the worst in people.
Someone should put a sign up
Someone should put a sign up on the village border ” villagers do not pass this sign: keep your viruses in your own village. Stay away from the town”.
Those unhygienic cyclists,
Those unhygienic cyclists, with virus in their pants…
Ignorance is bliss. If they
Ignorance is bliss. If they only knew the truth – cyclists don’t wear them!
I don’t know. This is an
I don’t know. This is an unprecedented situation and everyone (especially this incompetent, shambolic government) is making up the rules as they go. The newspapers seem to love having a go at cyclists above all others, but if the restrictions are supposed to be about how far you travel and how much spacing you keep from others, then cycling within the rules is going to be tricky. Also, putting your rides publicly on Strava in these times seems a bit dim.
I do, though, find it weird that there’s all this discussion over how far you are allowed to travel, when long-haul passenger flights have continued to arrive regularly at UK airports, unrestricted at our end, for the entire crisis.
Well, it isn’t North
Well, it isn’t North Yorkshire, but it would appear the PCC from that area was right; there are villages really worried about cyclists.
Legally there’s not a
Legally there’s not a question. There is no legal restriction on how much outdoor exercise you can do. In Wales you have to do it all in one go but in England you’re not even limited to that. (Don’t know Scotland/NI situation).
We’ve been asked by the government to minimise the time outside the house so the onus is on everybody to do so.
If you need a long ride to switch off then so be it. I’ve certainly benefitted from a 2 hour ride today. But I don’t think many people need to do that every day.
Basically do the minimum amount you need to.
Essentially if people don’t comply with the ‘spirit’ of the law then the government will be forced to legislate to ensure compliance.
We’ve actually been very fortunate compared to a lot of European countries so should be grateful for that.
Not as fortunate as the Swedish mind.
The fear that the government
The fear that the government will clamp down on any form of outdoor physical exercise is the reason why I’ve not been going out for longer than 60-70 minutes after I heard Gove suggest a time if 60 minutes for a bike ride. In the current climate cyclists should take the opportunity to do shorter higher intensity, better quality rides rather than +2hr slogs.
Increasingly I agree with
Increasingly I agree with this point of view. Nothing to do with the fact that I, and everyone else, is safer if I ride off into the middle of nowhere and see almost no one. But the rules / guidelines have not been framed with cyclists in mind – they are for people who would do almost anything to avoid exercise but want an excuse to leave the house.
If we cyclists are seen to be doing something different that allows us more freedom, others may think that as we are “flouting” what seem to be rules, then they might as well – hence park and beach gatherings, house parties, going to one’s holiday home what one has in Fife etc.
So although I’ve already done some normal length rides during lockdown, I have switched to shorter, more intense but frankly duller routes that I’m going to have to do more often. At least sunset is later and I might get out after work.
Like so many other things, this is bad science on a personal level but probably better in the aggregate population of blockheads.
In our business we’ve been
In our business we’ve been fortunate to be able to work from home, using technology to keep in touch. To try to also keep active, one of the bosses set up a Strava group and asked that we post rides, walks, runs,swims, home workouts etc on it. What has become clear is the number of pepole who are out for considerably more than an hour for their walks.
Anyone know of any walking groups on Strava that would show the length of time people are out?
A Murdoch rag? They’ll target
A Murdoch rag? They’ll target anyone who doesn’t support the fossil fuel industry by driving instead of riding or walking.
It’s all part of the campaign to create an environment of polarisation between those who supprt that industry & those who do their best to minimise their emissions.
During the COVID-19 crisis, I find the best use for Murdoch publications is toilet paper.
If you look at the full page
If you look at the full page spread of The Times and zoom in on the left on the facing page to that MAMIL article, there’s a small column of news snippets. One of them is a paragraph about a hit & run driver who killed a female horse rider and her horse.
Presumably such an essential journey that he/she fled the scene immediately to get to their key worker job…
No outrage. No tweets demanding that drivers (or horse riders) stay home. Bet the driver won’t be “named and shamed”.
But oh yeah, a cyclist rode 100 miles: HATE NOW, click here to register your hate! Post bile in our comments section here!
Good lord! You mean you
Good lord! You mean you think there might be some double standards at play, here?
thank god for the Times in
thank god for the Times in times like this narrow minded bigots who hate everything also need help and supportive articles as well I am just waiting for the journ to find a strava user who did a three hour ride is a person of colour and who voted remain, then the average Times reader would have an orgasm of hate !!
I once worked on a small
I once worked on a small project in East London to encourage Muslim women to cycle. It was actually more to do with class and deprivation as these are two of the biggest impediments to cycling in London. We received bikes from charities but also a tiny £500 grant from an EU fund and another £500 from a TfL fund.
I often thought how the ignorant press would go apoplectic with manufactured rage if they knew the equation we were working with i.e
bicycle + Muslim + woman + EU = we want our country back (x 10)
Notice that we (of any age)
Notice that we (of any age) are at top of the list for treatment should we get infected with the coronavirus.