eja_ bottecchia

Thank you. The Bottecchia was a gift from my Mom who, although as a little girl she was too poor to ever afford a bike, neverthelss wanted me to own my dream Italian ride.

I only ride it out on special occasions for fear of having something happen to it (like when my car was rear ended while I carried the C60 in the bike rack).

If tomorrow I lost all my bikes, but still had the Bottecchia, I would be a happy man.

Mom was the best (well, ALL Moms are great).

jadocs

That’s beautiful, and yes you are right Mom’s are the best.

Seu

My riding habits are not going to change but the chance of getting Coronavirus in the social part of road cycling could cause a pause in the after ride coffee hour. Cough droplets in a pace line would blow back through the group. Group riding seems questionable.

I'm a solo road rider and it's a way to stay safe.

Daniel4

If coronavirus is causing more people to just stay home, that means there will be less cars on the road and bicycling will be safer.

Kapusta

This had affected my purchasing behavior. I just ordered a few bike components I plan to replace (tires, a chainring, and chain) that I likely won’t need until this summer due to the uncertainty if they will be available a few months from now.

While cycling related supply chain issues are trivial in the larger scheme of things, it is nonetheless a microcosm for what happens throughout the economy.

travelerman

Most of my rides are solo... what I am concerned about is the event rides, with the communal snack tables and water jugs. For a similar reason, I will not eat at a restaurant buffet until this has blown over; it always messes with my head, thinking about how many strangers' hands have been on the serving utensils, where those hands have been, and how much of that I am potentially consuming.

billridesbikes

Probably ramp up my Zwift cycling a bit more and reduce gym visits to only swimming. IMAHO the panic is a little overblown, but the situation is serious. All indications are this isn’t SARS or Ebola but it does seem much worse than the flu. Not going to do any group rides or mass start events until this wanes a bit.

wolfchild

I am more worried about the shortage of toilet paper than the shortage of bike components. I was at two different grocery stores this weekend and all the toilet paper was completely sold out.
Are people going insane or what ??

indyfabz

The chain grocery store I went to this morning had plenty of TP.

eja_ bottecchia

I was raised in Cuba, where chronic shortages are a daily occurrence.

The woman who cuts my hair was raised in Eastern Europe, where chronic shortages are also a way of life.

She and I both got a good laugh talking about the toilet paper hoarders.

There are lots of handy substitutes, including old newspaper.

Both Pravda and Granma (the Cuban government official rag) made excellent substitutes for toilet paper.

Carry on and don’t panic.

August West

Talked to my friend in Mesa, AZ Thursday and he told me the same thing. Luckily, I way over-buy TP mega packs when it is on sale so I might run out of something but it won't be TP

indyfabz

I’m a bachelor living alone. A roll of TP lasts me a long time.

livedarklions

SARS and Ebola were actually too debilitating and fatal to spread as much. A lot of people are likely to get the coronavirus and not get very sick and will give it to someone who will get very sick and possibly die.

The lack of tests is going to be a major scandal in the next few weeks, we really have no idea how far this has already spread in the US.
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indyfabz

Yep. If you got SARS or Ebola you were likely not walking around for weeks not knowing you had it and infecting others. Not only that, Ebola is more difficult to transmit.

philbob57

This looks like a great marketing tool for the dying printed news industry. The name of the newspaper isn't relevant....

Kabuki12

I just sent an email off to the coordinators at Eroica California to see if our event will be postponed or cancelled as well. Actually I sent it a couple of days ago so I am waiting for a response. I told them in the message that we are already pondering this . Joe

freeranger

I may buy new tires for our road bikes this season. Guess if and when I do, I'll see if the virus has an effect on getting them. But so far, the only way it has affected me is that I have the cleanest hands ever!

Miele Man

I wonder how the return of warm weather in the Sprintime will affect the spread of this virus - that is will it be spread further and faster by msquitoes or black flies.

Time will tell.

Cheers

pdlamb

Johnny Carson style: get your toilet paper now before the hoarders buy it all!

Daniel4

Conserve. Use both sides.

Daniel4

Have you ever had to take a dump in the woods on a canoe trip with mosquitos and black flies all around? If you remember to, just rub bug repellant all around your groin before you go.

AdkMtnMonster

I wasn’t the guy that brought up climate change, but I did make a reference to Montana previously being at the bottom of the ocean. That was right before I wished the the dude a good ride with favorable winds. Two separate sentences. One joke about rapid climate shift. One hoping for great riding conditions. I’m sorry you feel so upset about it. I hope you have great health and happiness and your tires never flat. Unless you’re in the process of changing them out for new ones. Because changing fully aired-up tires is really hard to do.

livedarklions

Bar bet!

AndreyT

"Are"? When was the last time you visited Eastern Europe?

Well, at least they were good for that. Compare that to the modern US, and in general so called "Western" mass-media: thousands of computer-generated web sites with endless stream of deep-scheissed Nazist propaganda. And one can't even wipe their bottoms with that! Unless one used one's smartphone... you know, "Demolition Man"-style...

eja_ bottecchia

Obviously not as recently as you have.