Social Distancing and Cycling

[wooglin]

A knapsack with a four litre jug of water would work..

Next you’ll be recommending a camelback for a road ride. The horror.

 

[markojp]

Next you’ll be recommending a camelback for a road ride. The horror.

Never have, never will.

 

[princo]

Exactly the problem. Some of us would like to ride quite a bit more than that.

For those that would like extra water capacity, check out the Topeak Versamount mounting straps and the likes that would allow you to add a third bottle cage on the top tube or under the downtube without mounting holes in the frame.

Here are some additional for adding extra cage mounts options: Ways to Attach Water Bottles and Add Cage Mounts to Your Bike

 

[Wannabeskibum]

I've been riding around my neighborhood; short rides, just an hour or so. I see a couple pedestrians around, but I only rarely see other cyclists.

Concord, Mass (the place the Revolutionary War began unless you're from Lexington) is a medium-length ride away; that town seems to be at the crossroads of a great many road rides here in Massachusetts as it's always swarming with cyclists. Haven't made it up that way yet though this year.

I am in Arlington - 4 miles from Lexington, about 10 from Concord Center - I lead rides for my LBS, but we have obviously suspended group rides. Concord center was empty last Sunday when I passed through on a solo ride. I have been mostly taking the opportunity to ride a lot of trail in the area - some of which have been crowded with hikers but for the most part people are keeping their distance. I have seen numerous articles indicating that 6 ft is not far enough apart for two bicyclists - more like 15 ft is appropriate - of course it is related to bike speed and the respiratory rate of the cyclist

 

[cantunamunch]

. I have seen numerous articles indicating that 6 ft is not far enough apart for two bicyclists - more like 15 ft is appropriate - of course it is related to bike speed and the respiratory rate of the cyclist

The 15 foot distance is believable but the only support I've seen for it was for transmission distance between seated bus occupants?

 

[scott43]

Well based on the traffic levels here, I'm happy to ride on the road..I can get lots of space there..

 

[Wannabeskibum]

The 15 foot distance is believable but the only support I've seen for it was for transmission distance between seated bus occupants?

Well - you got to read through it - but here is some of the support -

Aerodynamic drag in cycling pelotons: New insights by CFD simulation and wind tunnel testing

A cycling peloton is the main group of cyclists riding closely together to reduce aerodynamic drag and energy expenditure. Previous studies on small g…

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[cantunamunch]

Ah, yes. I've actually seen ^that before.

I thought you were referring to COVID aerosol transport distances like this assertion of up-to-15 feet.

Coronavirus can travel twice as far as official ‘safe distance’, study says

Health authorities advise people to stay 1-2 metres apart, but researchers found that a bus passenger infected fellow travellers sitting 4.5 metres away.

www.scmp.com

 

[Jwrags]

Got out today for a mix of paved path and cruising trail ride. Cold, sun, snow, and wind but I was at least outside.

Lava Butte in the background.

I am standing on the forest floor at the edge of the lava flow. It is probably close to 20 feet high.

 

[Popeye Cahn]

Last ride was last Tuesday, I went home sick and have been off since (symptoms not indicative of COVID). HR says I need to stay home and isolate for 2 weeks. I ride at work during the week and that's where my bike and attendant crap is for now. At this point everything has been postponed, BWR is rescheduled for November, SDBC has cancelled group rides indefinitely so who gives a f*** at this point, I'm eating Costco lasagna like a fool.

 

[cantunamunch]

You begin to perceive the wisdom of n+1

 

[Popeye Cahn]

You begin to perceive the wisdom of n+1

Oh other bikes have I, but the Cervelo is set up for groad, fits me perfectly and thus gets all the love - the others not so much. Also lack of storage limits growth in this area...

 

[cantunamunch]

It has been 4 weeks of full on. WHY is there no real time pedestrian map app?


If Google can do car traffic ...

 

[crgildart]

It has been 4 weeks of full on. WHY is there no real time pedestrian map app?


If Google can do car traffic ...

Doesn't that run off of Google Drive GPS usage? Not many using it to walk or bike..

 

[markojp]

Rid'in the road, avoiding the MUPS..... so far, so good.

 

[Rudi Riet]

Rid'in the road, avoiding the MUPS..... so far, so good.

Same here. Many of the local MTB trails in the greater DC area are seeing a lot of use, so it's difficult to find any distancing taking place. The MUPs are not feasible for safety right now.

The roads? Just fine, though I've found that a lot of local road riders in DC and the nearby 'burbs are sticking to tried-and-true routes which means there's a decent amount of traffic. There are tons of good roads - both paved and gravel - in the area, so it's easy to improvise a route that excludes the oft-traveled roads.

I did such a thing yesterday as a personal challenge. I used a route that relied quite a bit on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, a "trunk line" MUP connecting Arlington County, VA, to Purcellville, VA. Some sections of the trail are fairly lightly used right now, but those sections close to dense residential areas are packed, especially on weekends and from 4-6pm on weekdays.

So I improvised huge swaths of the route, reducing the amount on the W&OD from 19 miles to 2.1 miles. I could've gone lower still (probably down to 0.4 miles), but the sections I did use were fairly vacant yesterday in the late afternoon.

Still, I only see a few other riders on the routes I'm riding. I wish more of them would wear masks and fewer of them would ride in pacelines, even loose ones. Old habits die hard, it seems. But more folks are wearing masks, more are riding alone, more are taking precautions. It's good to see.

 

[markojp]

I am starting to have a problem with people on eBikes though. There's just a lot of new, incredibly sh(&^%%y riders on them that have no clue about much of anything. I guess they figure that their new eBike will keep the cooties away.

 

[coskigirl]

Rid'in the road, avoiding the MUPS..... so far, so good.

Same here. Many of the local MTB trails in the greater DC area are seeing a lot of use, so it's difficult to find any distancing taking place. The MUPs are not feasible for safety right now.

The MUPS around here are like a highway right now. And then there's the people on FB who insist that runners and bikes shouldn't use them so they can walk on them. I've had a couple of exchanges just based on principle because I hate that people think their form of outdoor activity is more important than another person's. However, for me the MUPS are just too busy for me to even use as a cut through on my road bike, much less to use on my mountain bike. The roads are super busy with cyclists but generally we're able to give enough space to deal with it. Mountain bike trails, yeah not gonna happen. There is simply no way to safely social distance and not risk stepping on a rattlesnake, on a cactus, or down a drop.

 

[luliski]

I felt like the trail police on my run today, and it kind of diminished my enjoyment. I came across a few inconsiderate people. For example, I was running west, and a man was walking his dog, heading east. The trail is wide enough for us to go past each with 6 feet between, as long as we each stay to our respective edges of the trail. But then a cyclist came up behind the walker, and wanted to overtake him just as I was going past him in the opposite direction. Normally, that would be fine, but not in the era of social distancing. I actually had to put my hand up to signal the cyclist to stop, and then told her she needed to wait to pass until I went by.

Earlier in my run a young man came up from behind and passed me without warning, coming too close for my comfort. I told him he could have said "excuse me," and he did apologize.

 

[cantunamunch]

But then a cyclist came up behind the walker, and wanted to overtake him just as I was going past him in the opposite direction. Normally, that would be fine, but not in the era of social distancing. I actually had to put my hand up to signal the cyclist to stop, and then told her she needed to wait to pass until I went by.

That doesn't work either - you're putting the stopped cyclist inside critical distance from the person she had intended to pass. And you're making everyone sit there longer which prolongs exposure.