Originally Posted by
datlas
We did a quasi-group ride. A total of 9 showed up. We broke into two groups immediately. I was in a group of 4. I advised we try to maintain social distance which kinda did not happen. Not sure if that is wise going forward. I may just go on solo rides but solo riders more vulnerable to asshat motorists too. There is no perfect solution.
IMO there is no ok group ride now.
My thought process is if the CDC tells us to keep 6 ft from others, viral particles that a person breathes out probably exist in a spherical “cloud” emanating maybe 3 feet in any direction centered on your heading (assuming they’re including a generous safety margin in the 6 ft recommendation).
But that’s standing still or maybe at walking speed. Once you get on a bike and start moving at bike speeds, that sphere turns into an ovoid with most of the bad air (if you’re sick) streaming out behind you. How far? Who knows? It depends on how fast you’re going, wind speed, probably humidity. But it’s likely more than 6 feet. Then simultaneously you have the guy riding behind you moving into your bad air at a much higher rate of speed than a person walking, further decreasing the effective distance between people.
Theres probably some other factors to consider- virus getting dispersed so delivering a lower viral dose to the next guy compared to still air (a good thing), the transient negative effect of exercise on immune function (a bad thing), the amount of virus exhaled based on resp rate (potentially a bad thing) and depth (potentially a good thing).
In short who the F knows. Other than I’m certain it’s a bad thing to do if we can’t say it’s safe.
Right now population health trumps individual health. So group rides are an easy no. Solo rides are problematic- increased risk to the individual at a time when our health care system’s resources should not be diverted. It’s hard for me to say this but I think the moral/ethical/patriotic thing right now is trainer rides.
But I feel like it’s likely that recreational cycling will be banned very soon. So I’m kind of still hanging in there myself with the solo outdoor rides. Struggling with it though because I want to do the right thing and not be selfish but I also want to get out on my bikes.