Indie

If I'm too sick to ride, I'm probably also too sick to pay attention to the road. If I had a driver's license I wouldn't drive in that situation either.

Yellowbeard

I rarely get sick, but the last time I did I went out and attempted a century. Got caught in the rain, unfortunately, and only made it 120 km. The whole thing was pretty ill-advised, not so much because I was sick (went out because I felt so much better on the bike) but because I was underdressed. Definitely have a bad streak going for going out underdressed.

I've also commuted on a sprained ankle. Given the choice between buses and bike, bike worked much better.

RVD72

While it's obviously good practice to stay home when you are sick so that you don't get others sick, unfortunately this is an area where theory is different from practice.

We are taught from the time we are little kids to tough it out. When I went to middle school in Korea, the teachers actually beat on you (corporal punishment) if you missed school because you were sick. We even had a kid in our class who got chicken pox and came to school. Miraculously he didn't infect other kids but the kids who never got chicken pox were simply told to stay away from him. The kid also use calamine lotion and he said that it stopped it from spreading, etc.

As an adult, too many people abuse the sick day policy at work. I've had employees who always seem to call in sick after a long weekend. As a result, we employers have had to institute caps on sick days (e.g. 2 sick days a year and after that it comes out of your vacation days, etc.).

My 3 year old goes to pre-school. His school costs $1300/mo and at first we kept him at home when he had a fever or runny nose. We then realized that he one month he only went to school for 5 days. His teachers called and asked what was up and we basically told them that he has a fever and/or runny nose. The problem is that he would get better, go back to school, and come back sick again from the other kids. He would have probably never went to school from the months of July-October.

The teachers told us to simply bring him to school if he seems energetic enough and they would call us if they feel that he's too sick and spreading germs.

It was simply not practical to have him stay home unless every kid's parent did that but then you'd have an empty school.

RVD.

sauerwald

I was recently relocated across country, and along with the relocation came a decision to live more simply. In the East, I rode my bike most of the time, but relied on a car for some things. I decided to not move the car with me and am now car free. When looking for a house to live in, we specifically chose one which would be within bike range of work, but at the same time, I looked to make sure that there was an alternate way to get to work via public transit (there is), so that in the event of an injury that kept me off of the bike, I could still live without a personal automobile.

andmalc

I read a study somewhere recently that found that moderate exercise (such walking, easy jogging) helps prevent and relieve sickness such as colds. Strenuous exercise however can make you sicker. So, yeah, bike if your commute is easy and/or short.

Connell

Back in my youth I worked in a small retail establishment. There were five employees besides myself working in very close proximity and as we lived in a damp climate, and were constantly in contact with sick members of the public, it was routine for us to share the same cold for weeks at a time.

One of the several negative points about the job was the boss's wife who used to come in for a few hours a day and cause no end of pain and heartache by sticking her nose into things she knew nothing about. She never tired of telling us what weaklings we were, because SHE never got sick. Of course, she conveniently overlooked the fact that we worked 4-5 times the hours she did, were unable to enjoy the multiple foreign vacations she and her husband took each year, and didn't get to visit the spa every few days as she did.

However, one winter she finally did come down with a cold and as I'd been sick a few days earlier, she decided it was MY fault for giving it to her and was told in no uncertain terms to stay home the next time I was sick. Interestingly, I wasn't ill at all for the rest of that winter but everyone else on the staff was. Multiple times. And they all stayed home when they were. Which meant the Boss's wife had to give up her part-time lifestyle and start putting in some extra hours to cover for the absent staff.

Ha
Ha
Ha

alfonsol

That is true in the extreme. I almost /never/ want to ride to work, but the knowledge that just a few moments on the back will wash that away gets back on it.

If I'm sick sick, I generally stay home. If that's not an option, I fortunately live in a city with halfway decent public transit.

//Not car-free

Roody

If I was your dentist I would have told you to take your germs home and come back when you wouldn't be sneezing in my face.

On second thought, I would have told you not to bother coming back.

travelmama

If I have to work and am feeling so-so, I will ride. If I am feeling terrible, I will ride the scooter to work. I was and still am tired but I rode to the gym to get a nice work out despite how I was feeling.

gerv 

I have been sick for the last 3 weeks... first H1N1, then a terrible bronchitis. I have been able to do some riding, mostly at a very slow pace. The odd thing is that I felt much better after the ride... which would last for about 4 hours. Then my lungs would return to being sick.

IMHO, if you do ride while sick, you should take it very easy.

georgewietor

I tend to feel that strenuous exercise during a viral illness is not a good idea. Any cardiologists out there? George.