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It's Gove, he's creating his own little dictatorship. Today he said do not drive to the countryside, yet Hancock said local trips to the countryside to exercise are acceptable.
where are they getting this 1hr from ? One of the BBC breakfast presenters may a similar reference on friday. Can seem to find any source for it ? I’m presuming it from one of the gobshite ministers briefings.
That fishfaced bellend Michael Gove answered some random journo's question about exercise (this was outside of official press briefings, it was on the pavement) by coming up with an off the cuff answer about "depending on fitness" a run of 30 minutes, a walk of an hour or a ride of "half an hour to an hour" but depending on your fitness.
Since then it's been widely repeated as fact.
Soma.
Look after yourself mate and ignore the idiot.
Hopefully when all this is over we can come up to visit you.
Seen quite a few people slowly plod along not looking where they're going while exercising their fingers and thumbs. Could have stayed at home on the sofa next to a window for the same effect.
Yes, I've been getting grief on Faceache for riding for 90 minutes in contravention of Gove's dictat 🙄
Can we get some facts back to this thread please. Its not illegal to take a short drive to exercise, and police won't fine you if you're sensible about it. Don't go to honeypot locations.
It's not illegal to ride your bike for more than an hour, but again applying some sense is prudent.
It's also not illegal to exercise several times a day, at least not in England & Scotland.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52106843
Listen to the advice from the Government but be aware most of it is just advice. If you have more than two brain cells consider what the government actually need us all to do (be isolated insofar as possible) and go about your business as safely as you can. Drive you dog to a deserted forest nearby, take long bike rides in the country, drive a mile to avoid all the pensioners when running, whatever, as long as you isolate. Your mental health and your family will thank you for being sensible, thoughtful, and prudent whilst exercising.
If you have two or less braincells, follow the letter of the advice.
Can all the #stayathome zealots please keep their fearful and shortsighted attitudes to themselves. The attacks on this thread are directly harmful to many peoples mental health, most of which are showing good sense and care, following the letter of law, if not every ministers whim.
As many have already alluded to on this thread, I am massively saddened by mandate this crisis has provided for xenophobic, fearful, attacking, attitudes. It really has provided a stage for the worst people in our country. Again.
MODS - Please can you actually moderate this thread!
Can we get some facts back to this thread please. Its not illegal to take a short drive to exercise, and police won’t fine you if you’re sensible about it.
Police handing out fines at a local beach here on Friday, folk parking their cars to walk dogs.
Edit- soma, all the best buddy, look after yourself.
rydster
Member
Suddenly every **** has a dog during this covid-19 crisis. I’d happily have all dogs put down
We were out there walking our dogs before this all happened. I’ve started walking my dog at night now because the countryside places I used to walk her are now chock full of people. Also means I can’t ride my bike as much as I’d like because my one exercise a day is taken up with dog walking.
Extract from the NPCC guidance on Covid 19 - Police Brief in Response to Coronaviris
"Use your judgement and common sense; for example, people will want to exercise locally and may need to travel to do so,
we don’t want the public sanctioned for travelling a reasonable distance to exercise."
Any police officer dishing out fines in these circumstances hasn't read the guidance and needs to be challenged.
Genuine question, not fishing, in what circumstances would one need to travel to exercise?.
When one needs that perfect picture for instagram?
I rode from my front door today. Half the ride was dull as ditchwater but it was sooooo good to be out on the bike I didn't care.
👌🏻
In Ireland we have to stay within a 2km radius from our house for exercise and shopping , only a few exceptions for going outside it (going on a spin isn’t one of them) ... and there are police checkpoints everywhere. I wonder will it be like that in the UK soon. If not, the virus will likely get much more out of control there than here. I’m not a scientist but just going by what I hear every day. The UK approach seems to be quite relaxed, up until very recently.
If you aren’t convinced then try watching the documentary which was on Sky One a few days ago about the epicentre in Italy: Coronavirus Into the red zone.
Genuine question, not fishing, in what circumstances would one need to travel to exercise?
I don't need to drive to go riding. But going back a few pages; I live on a housing estate. In normal times it's a nice place to live with little alleyways and cul de sacs so you can walk though off the main road. It's about 3/4 of a mile to the edge of the estate where there's a footpath that takes you along a railway line and then it opens up into a common.
At present if I walk the dog to the common, or around the estate, I am constantly walking into people, backtracking out of alleys when you someone's coming the other way like a deadly game of Pacman, crossing roads to avoid other walkers and joggers, you can't get 2m off the path on the footpath bit due to a wall of undergrowth on one side or a railway line on the other (I tried and have a nasty tramlines of bramble gashes on my shin) and you can't backtrack 200m if someone else is coming.
If I get in the car and drive 2 miles I can be on the military area, where there's literally 10 square miles of space. I can park in a layby away from any villages, walk on the area without going through any housing or pinch points.....last walk I did there we saw two other groups and the closest we got was about 50m.
I get the argument that I'm extending the area I may be transmitting to but if I'm not seeing anyone and the only thing touching the area are the soles of my boots, what am I transmitting and to whom compared to the risk of walking from home?
So define need? Do i need to travel - no, I can in theory do it from home. Is it sensible to travel a short distance? In my opinion, yes.
You could of course look abroad at how that kind of interpretation of guidelines played out elsewhere… people made to stay at home, to prevent wide interpretations of what stay at home guidance means. Let’s hope we can avoid the ‘made to’ rather than ‘asked to’ approach, but speak to people in France, Italy etc and see how leaving it to people’s common sense worked out for them.
I know. Trouble is that the lowest common denominator in this instance is pretty low and so as a result I am now walking from home (at higher risk to me and others) to avoid being lumped in with the dicks that do push this beyond reasonable. The car has not moved from my driveway in more than 10 days now.
But as I said last week and times since, when the Gov can't agree on what guidance is, and when there's still no coherent (to me) argument that what i propose for me is worse than what i am now 'forced' to do, I've actually bowed to the shouts of others only because I don't want to be seen to 'break rule 1', not for any good that it's doing me or others.
If the primary objective is to avoid contact with others while taking exercise yourself or exercising animals it is not unreasonable to drive 5 -10 minutes to do so, is it?
Thankfully the Government, it's advisors and health professionals agree that there are more benefits to "exercise" than merely getting the heart rate going and moving a few muscles. There are mental health benefits too, particularly in reducing stress. These benefits are most often acquired when folk get to do something they enjoy, in a pleasant environment.
It's all very well pointing out what other countries have done but we have no way of knowing what the longer term implications on overall physical and mental health will be of adopting these policies.
Too many folk on here just picking and choosing the bits of advice they want to hear, ignoring the constantly repeated bits they don't and preaching their warped viewpoint to the rest of the forum.
PURITY SPIRAL
from my point of view as a person with secondary progressive MS it is **** ignorant to tape up seats etc, i need to sit down regularly and get of my throttle bafang ebike to relax my muscle spasms before i am fit enough to climb back on to continue, There are elderly/infirm or those with mobility difficulties who also need to sit down reguarly – if such measures are taken then you remove the ability for such people to get outside and exercise – if i don’t get out at least a few times a day my leg muscles lock up to such an extent that i will need permanent care, thankfully i stay in a very rural area of galloway where such measures are not necessary in my town.
I’m sorry but you should not, NOT be sitting on public benches at this time. That is one sure fire way to catch or spread the virus.
Imagine someone with the virus who has been coughing and spluttering and sweating goes to sit down on a bench in a park (and let’s say they touched parts of it that you end up touching), you or whoever sits down on the same bench moments later... virus has spread to another person.
Nobody is saying you can’t get out and exercise (you are probably high risk category too?), but it makes sense for parks and especially benches not to be in use and closed... unless someone was to sanitise the bench after every use which isn’t going to happen. Go on a short walk from your house but don’t go far, it’s all we need for the moment.
Elderly people have no reason to go outside at all at the moment, families and communities do all their shopping.
Speaking from Ireland.
You can tell already its going to be a scorcher today
Locally quite a few people were caught riding Aston Hill yesterday. anyone caught from today will be handed with a lifetime ban
Yes, I’ve been getting grief on Faceache for riding for 90 minutes in contravention of Gove’s dictat 🙄
Don’t put it on Facebook then.
Also means I can’t ride my bike as much as I’d like because my one exercise a day is taken up with dog walking.
You are being to cautious and over reading the guidance. A 30 minute dog walk and a 1 hour bike ride on the same day are fine. Exactly wheat I am doing.
I ride my bike at 08:00 for an hour (on roads now as even at that time there are still more people out and about on the gravel tracks and singles track and they re not wide enough to keep a good distance)
I walk dogs at about 17:00 for 30 minutes around my village and once a week drive 10 minutes down the road to very quiet places for a change of scenery.
At no time and I getting closer than about 4 metres to anyone.
So glad I've read the guidelines that mjrose posted. I felt bad the day before yesterday because I took the dog for a walk then went out on the bike in the afternoon. I can't walk my dog from my front door as the town centre is busy where I live and he's scared of traffic so I drive him down to the local canal towpath with the bike in the car which is about 2 miles away and yesterday I put all the back seats down and lay the bike flat just in case the fuzz saw my back wheel in the car.
I'm not on FB so my views are from word of mouth and what I've seen and heard on TV and radio.
If the primary objective is to avoid contact with others while taking exercise yourself or exercising animals it is not unreasonable to drive 5 -10 minutes to do so, is it?
No, that's perfectly reasonable. The primary objective is to minimise contact with other people. You can best do that by sitting inside, but if you can take exercise where you'll be largely alone then do that above walking through town to the local park where there will more likely be others. If you have to drive to get there, that's fine.
Locally quite a few people were caught riding Aston Hill yesterday. anyone caught from today will be handed with a lifetime ban
in groups I assume? Because otherwise it’s an unnecessary and heavy handed approach. Sorry about the benches thing, I posted it as a fact of what’s happened in my local park, I didn’t appreciate it’d turn into a raging argument.
Its not heavy handed at all, the park is closed. Already the park is viewed as a nuisance by the powers that be and a serious (or any kind of) injury would cause a whole world of problems.
If you have 20 minutes to spare, this is a comprehensive, experience-based overview of Covid-19 from one of the top South Korean experts that explains in detail how the virus spreads.
Two relevant points are that he advocates the universal wearing of masks outside the home and that he rates the risks of transmission in an open air setting - particularly wearing masks and with social distancing - as very low. Not non-existent, but relatively low compared to indoor environments.
Risk of transmission, unsurprisingly, is far higher when you have groups of people in enclosed spaces: religious gatherings, transport systems, shops, covert house parties - which we don't know about, but are undoubtedly happening etc.
I'm posting it not because I have any particular axe to grind, but because it gives you more context to make an informed decision on your behaviour.
Oh, and to people who think they're statistically okay if they catch this thing. I've just spent two weeks plus with relatively mild symptoms of what seems likely to be Covid-19. It's not pleasant even at that level - I'm someone who rides a bike or runs maybe six days a week and has an ftp just shy of 300 watts. I suspect I have quite good lung capacity and I also have a history of acclimatising well at high altitude (4000m plus) and I was suffering serious breathlessness just walking five metres from the sofa to the kitchen. Not nice. If you have impaired lung function, I think it would be very frightening.
If I get in the car and drive 2 miles I can be on the military area
So, next genuine question, why can you not pedal that 2 miles? The roads are dead? That way, no one can say you're in the wrong?.
FWIW this isn't a Facebook thing, I've seen no grief on there about folk exercising, but then my Facebook contacts are my actual friends, not just folk I've come across.
Mibbe its more of an overpopulated southern symptom.
I can’t ride my bike as much as I’d like because my one exercise a day is taken up with dog walking.
Presume you live in Wales then.
Elderly people have no reason to go outside at all at the moment.
Seriously? They are probably the most at risk of extended period of inactivity & need to keep active daily - as above chances of contracting covid-19 in an external setting is pretty minimal.
Why oh why do old folk not move over on shared cycle paths when I ring my bell.happened three times yesterday.they walk two abreast rather than in single file when I wanted to pass and I cannot maintain 2 metres when this happens
So, next genuine question, why can you not pedal that 2 miles? The roads are dead?
I won't speak for the poster but can speak from my experience. The roads here aren't dead. There are fewer cars. That leads to two things. The cars that are on the road are speeding and driving with less care, and people are running and walking in the road (usually staring at a phone or oblivious to the world). I still ride the 2 miles to the edge of town but that bit needs to be a pootle and it isn't that much fun, it is very much "travel". I can see why someone would want to drive it and can't really see much difference between driving it and cycling it.
If the primary objective is to avoid contact with others while taking exercise yourself or exercising animals it is not unreasonable to drive 5 -10 minutes to do so, is it?
I don't think so but there's a very vocal community (on FB but here too) that call you a dick for even countenancing it. It might be a mental health / personality trait, a need for inclusion or a lack of self-confidence maybe, but when I copped a load of stick last week for it (including reporting some posts to the Mods) two things cross my mind. 1/ I must be wrong, when so many people say I am and think I'm a dick for doing it; 2/ I don't want to be ostracized by the few virtual friends I have.
So, as above I've now fallen into conformance and I'm doing 'the right thing' rather than what i think is the safe thing.
So, next genuine question, why can you not pedal that 2 miles? The roads are dead? That way, no one can say you’re in the wrong?
I do ride from home but not to the military area, I'm doing road rides on easy / quiet loops. I'm not MTB'ing because my risk assessment says that even easy MTB'ing may see me crashing (a front wheel wash out on gravel, maybe - ask TINAS) and the only times I've crashed the road bike are due to town centre traffic, other riders in a bunch, or ice. I would go to the military area to walk the dog, and let her have a run and a sniff and a bit of an explore for her own mental stimulation. The roads are not particularly conducive to lead walking her there and besides, I don't think my knees would sustain 4 extra miles a day plus giving her the chance for a proper run, my ****ed up knees are the only reason i got into cycling in the first place.
but it makes sense for parks and especially benches not to be in use and closed…
Not in central London it doesn't, those os us with the facilities need to check their privilege. Not everyone has a garden to go into and some need to be outside for exercise and mental well being. Even the French have realised this and are allowing autistic people to visit comforting places (to them) in Paris.
We all need to extend extra empathy to our neighbours at this time not be poisonous and small-minded.
Edit If I was one of those that criticised you last week theotherjonv I apologise for my thoughtlessness.
Here we go - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-52171176 "Outdoor exercise could be banned if people flout the rules".
As stated very early in the thread: don't be a dick!
you don't stand out as one of the prime antagonists but thanks anyway.
Was just about to link to that whitestone. The next few days will dictate what happens now, if the general public can't behave (pretty much guaranteed) then we'll be restricted to turbo trainers and running round the garden, if you are lucky enough to have one.
There are fewer cars. That leads to two things. The cars that are on the road are speeding and driving with less care, and people are running and walking in the road (usually staring at a phone or oblivious to the world). I still ride the 2 miles to the edge of town but that bit needs to be a pootle and it isn’t that much fun, it is very much “travel”. I can see why someone would want to drive it and can’t really see much difference between driving it and cycling it.
So what cyclists really want - drastically less traffic - has happened, but we still aren’t happy riding on the roads? For two miles - maybe ten minutes, the same length of time it would take to drive it, in honesty.
Not in central London it doesn’t, those os us with the facilities need to check their privilege. Not everyone has a garden to go into and some need to be outside for exercise and mental well being. Even the French have realised this and are allowing autistic people to visit comforting places (to them) in Paris.
Yes, even in London. The virus doesn’t care where you’re from, if you’re a Londoner or a northerner or a Scouse , old, fat, rich, whatever. Everyone can catch it,
My sister lives there and says most of the parks are rightly closed already. Why should it be any different there? If you want to get outside, walk somewhere from your front door - pass people at a distance.
The message here is stay safe by staying indoors.
maybe ten minutes, the same length of time it would take to drive it,
So what difference does it make if someone rides it or drives it? You travel the same distance away from your house, spend the same time outside.
As I said, I do ride it and in general I'd rather dodge pedestrians than cars but riding or driving makes little difference.
Little difference if it was just you perhaps. If everyone drives 10 minutes for exercise then preventing geographic spread becomes that much harder. If it really was just you doing it, then obviously it wouldn’t really be an issue.
For the sake of everyone’s general health and well-being, no one wants STAY AT HOME to have to change to STAY IN YOUR HOME… so act wisely to avoid that. Please. Pretty please.
edit - deleted, I've said it all before.
If the London parks were open then plenty of people would go to them - and everyone would be getting their knickers in a twist about photos which had been taken to make it look like a crowd.
As stated very early in the thread: don’t be a dick!
Problem is dicks will always be dicks, a few have shown it on here.
Seriously? They are probably the most at risk of extended period of inactivity & need to keep active daily – as above chances of contracting covid-19 in an external setting is pretty minimal.
Yes seriously. That is the message over here. We have been using the word “cocooning” whereby elderly people and high risk people have all their shopping and errands done by family or people in the community, they don’t leave their door.
They certainly should not be going to busy shops if unavoidable. A walk up and down the stairs should be sufficient, if wanting fresh air then a few minutes walk from the front door is all that should done for the high risk group at the most.
I don't think that the government is looking to extend lockdown because a minority of cyclists are driving 10 minutes to ride away from busy bridleways. The issue is, and always was, that a minority of the public are still heading to busy spots to meet up and ignore social distancing rules, sunbathing in parks etc.
We need to stop beating ourselves, and each other, up on the issue.
Yep
The message here is stay safe by staying indoors.
Yes but the message also says you're allowed to leave the house for [list of reasons] inc exercise.
But then if you close the parks, you're forcing everyone into a smaller area so less chance of social distancing. More anxiety from people about exercising, encountering others, more stress.
There was a podcast I saw somewhere this morning (can't find it now) about exercise guilt, the anxiety of being dobbed in by neighbours, the stress of encountering too many others. We're already a crowded nation so it makes no sense to say "you are allowed to leave your house to exercise" and then close everywhere anyway.
Either you say - stay indoors, everywhere is closed, you're not allowed out
OR
accept that you've so far allowed people out once a day under social distancing rules and then actually give them the opportunity to do that safely, ideally locally/no driving etc but with limited short drives if absolutely necessary.
No wonder the messaging remains so confused. It's been appalling badly handled alongside the fact that a significant minority of people are also complete dickheads.
Closing honey pot sites is an obvious and perfectly understandable measure to take, be it parks in cities or beauty spots in the countryside.
The issue is, and always was, that a minority of the public are still heading to busy spots to meet up and ignore social distancing rules, sunbathing in parks etc.
We need to stop beating ourselves, and each other, up on the issue.
As I've said repeatedly, it's like a dam holding back a flood. A few folk driving 2 or 3 miles for exercise or some cyclists being out for more than an hour, these things are mere trickles. There are massive, gaping holes in the dam we should be worrying about more - like supermarkets, tube trains, care in the community services and folk like MOABs sister returning from India.
I don’t think that the government is looking to extend lockdown because a minority of cyclists are driving 10 minutes to ride away from busy bridleways. The issue is, and always was, that a minority of the public are still heading to busy spots to meet up and ignore social distancing rules, sunbathing in parks etc.
We need to stop beating ourselves, and each other, up on the issue.
This.
It won't be a lone cyclist, or even 100 lone cyclists, that gets exercise banned, it'll be the ****ing idiots using the exercise excuse to go down the park and meet their mates for a picnic, or go to the beach because the weather is nice.
I went for a 10k solo run yesterday and specifically avoided the busiest area but it still seemed like every damn family and their dog was out...
I'd quite like to go for a spin on the bike today but I don't know if I can be arsed trying to find a route where I can avoid the idiots that think it's OK to take their 7 family members, 2 dogs, pushchair, football and 3 bikes down to the park because it's "exercise" 🙄😠
There are massive, gaping holes in the dam we should be worrying about more – like supermarkets, tube trains, care in the community services and folk like MOABs sister returning from India.
And likely there are a significant number of young people socialising 'invisibly' who are also an issue.
Hancock as gormless and evasive as ever on Marr. There's clearly no exit strategy, just a series of reactive decisions without any sort of end-game. As you'd expect from this mediocre government, they're making it up as they go along and praying someone comes up with a vaccine.
That matters in this context because without any sense of a wider purpose and a finite process, a significant number of people will simply get bored of the lockdown and start flouting it or worse. Bear in mind, riots generally happen in summer because, hey, it's nice outside.
Fortunate to live in rural location. The issues I see aren’t people going out to exercise it’s interacting with other people (even seen shaking hands this morning) while out, carrying on as normal with visitors to the house and sadly cycling groups (4 or 5) out which I assume aren’t same household. Even in the supermarket people can’t manage the 2 metre rule.
Unfortunately we’ll see a blanket ban shortly except for food shopping. All thanks to a tiny minority.
it’s OK to take their 7 family members, 2 dogs, pushchair, football and 3 bikes down to the park because it’s “exercise”
Hang on:
We’ve got 3 riding the bikes
1 is in the pushchair so they’re ruled out
1 holding the dogs
The other 2 are playing 1 bounce with the footy?
Am I right?
Hang on:
We’ve got 3 riding the bikes
1 is in the pushchair so they’re ruled out
1 holding the dogs
The other 2 are playing 1 bounce with the footy?Am I right?
Holding the dogs? Why, when you can just let them run/shit wherever they want!? 🤣 And there'll be at least one bike just abandoned in the middle of the path by one of the kids...
I did actually run past a family group of 5 or 6 yesterday, all walking spanned across a 20ft wide forest path, one playing with a football. And then 100m down the path, a family group of about 6, with what looked like a picnic bag, chatting to a group of 3 (the 2 groups were 3m away from each other, at least).
I'm thinking the M25, or the main A road out our town may be the best bet to get some quiet cycling time in.
There’s clearly no exit strategy, just a series of reactive decisions without any sort of end-game.
Which is why it is a dumb question. There are many different exit strategies, all dependent on what we learn about the virus and how to deal with it in the coming months. The government needs to be reactive/adaptive. Give the scientists time to investigate, and adapt their approach based on their results. Real scientists that is, not Cummings’ pet eccentrics.
Well, other than a few walkers on the trails I had a nice ride this morning. However, there alsways one asshat and that’s you sir, the Essex builder type accent who decided to argue with me by Chingford golf course.
I approached with him and his wife standing in the middle of a pathway talking to a chap over the other side of the ditch. The pathways pretty much 2m wide. I approach thinking “ they’ll step to the side in a minute” but they don’t. I stop. It goes like this - imagine him with your best Ray Winston impression:
Him: What’s your ****ing problem?
Me: I’d like to come past please. Would you mind stepping to the side?
Him: You can get through there (points to handlebar width space behind him) - ****ing cyclists think you own the place!
Me: Mate, we are supposed to give 2m distance and I’d like to pass.
Him: (Steps a pace forward) go on then, ****ing prick.
Me: (Cycling) past, yeah ok mate, have a nice day.
I mean seriously, what a self entitled arse.
Reality surely is that you'd have put yourself (and him) at less risk with a quick pass rather than having a discussion.
(FWIW World Health Organisation guidelines are 1 metre)
Which is why it is a dumb question.
I think it's entirely reasonable for the media to ask about exit strategies, it's their job. Your answer, fwiw, was better than Hancock's by some distance.
I think it’s entirely reasonable for the media to ask about exit strategies, it’s their job. Your answer, fwiw, was better than Hancock’s by some distance.
They've been told so many times (by scientists) you can't have an exit strategy yet as we don't know enough about this novel virus. Immunity/reinfection is not proven for example. No idea of seasonality yet etc. etc. It's the same the world over. Some countries have some ideas (like us) - immunity certificates is one.
I suppose the question could be seen as an opportunity for Hancock to remind the public of all that Jamze. I take back my comment about the question being dumb, it could well be asked in good faith to help inform the public.
Yeah, I hate the Tories as much as anyone and I doubt we could have picked a worse selection of so-called leaders from the current inhabitants of the Commons, but I was under the impression that an exit strategy isn't really possible yet.
Bringing it back to the topic at hand - it would be terrible if we were put under proper lockdown based on a few media scare stories and the 2% of the population who DGAS.
I'm reasonably confident the public health experts would agree, so let's hope their advice holds sway still.
Reality surely is that you’d have put yourself (and him) at less risk with a quick pass rather than having a discussion.
I was at least 4 bikes lengths away, but still, I can see how of course its entirely my fault *rolls eyes*
I suppose the question could be seen as an opportunity for Hancock to remind the public of all that Jamze. I take back my comment about the question being dumb, it could well be asked in good faith to help inform the public.
Agreed. Didn't see the Hancock interview. My take on him is he's OK presenting the prepared briefing, seems less consistent when being grilled.
I got out of town on the bike today. Start pedalling at 5.30am to make sure I didn't meet anyone in town. Hills were lovely and quiet, think I saw 2 runners in the whole time I was there.
However, once I got back in to town it was mobbed! So many cars and folk walking around. Loads of big groups too with kids on balance bikes zooming everywhere and mum and dad on rusty old BSOs.
Best one was on the main road from the hills into town, I'm cycling back and there are two kids, about 3 and 5 in the middle of the road on a push scooter and balance bikes zooming about, doing figure of 8s etc. I have to stop as I don't want to run into them. A car is coming the other way and has to stop hard as well (there were parked cars blocking their view of the kids though I was waving him down).
Mum and dad are screaming their heads off - from about 200 yards up the road! They'd just let their kids play in the middle of a street, totally out of supervision. I got the kids to go on the pavement so the car (and I) could get past. The mum comes running up shouting about how the car was going too fast. It wasn't. I would estimate 15-20mph which is pretty reasonable for that road.
The problem was mum letting the kids use a road like a playpark.
I also saw a lot of other out of control kids/families as well.
Glad I got out early and am now at home for the duration.
As I’ve said repeatedly, it’s like a dam holding back a flood. A few folk driving 2 or 3 miles for exercise or some cyclists being out for more than an hour, these things are mere trickles. There are massive, gaping holes in the dam we should be worrying about more – like supermarkets, tube trains, care in the community services and folk like MOABs sister returning from India.
+1
As I’ve said repeatedly, it’s like a dam holding back a flood. A few folk driving 2 or 3 miles for exercise or some cyclists being out for more than an hour, these things are mere trickles. There are massive, gaping holes in the dam we should be worrying about more – like supermarkets, tube trains, care in the community services and folk like MOABs sister returning from India.
That's called whataboutary. There is also a bare minimum of social interaction to keep the lights on and food on the table (we can't shut the economy down 100%). Just because we can't totally stop all social interaction doesn't mean it's ok to have a house party or BBQ.
The problem was mum letting the kids use a road like a playpark.
In the unusual circumstances we’re in, kids playing in the streets more, to be outside or near to their home, is to be expected, perhaps.
That’s called whataboutary.
This.
Grocery shopping might be more high risk (which is why the government has asked us to do it as little as possible), but it can’t always be avoided. Car trips out to nice places can be avoided.
I had similar on the malverns a couple of days ago - a wide and ususally deserted path where a family of three on bikes had stopped to speak with someone else.
Between the four of them they were blocking my way with backs to me so I stopped and the lady turned and asked did I want to get through. Strange question as only one way to go having turned along that path! I said yes and she moved approx 30cm away from husband leaving a gap of less than 1m for me to ride between them. FFS. It was obvious for her to move to the same side as the other three and leave a 2m gap but no she put me int he situation where I had to ask again for a bigger gap.
Are there really people not watching the news or listening to government guidance?
I also saw a lot of other out of control kids/families as well.
That's what is going to happen - kids cooped up indoors with no exercise, no mingling with their peers, no school (which at least gives a sense of structure to the day), potentially a high level of shit food/sweets/fizzy drinks and they're let loose on the first nice day of the year after months of unending rain.
Yes there's bad parenting to a degree but there's also a really shit situation where play areas, parks and so on have been closed and a lot of people don't actually know where to go or what to do on a Saturday if it's not shopping or taking the kids to [insert relevant activity]. Neither of which you can do now...
The grass square in the middle of my estate is rammed with kids right now, sounds like a school at lunchtime! Plenty of parents mingling round the edge not paying attention, going to be bedlam when the dog walkers come out around 4-5pm.
Seemed pretty good today. We rode as a family and saw a few family groups, the odd couple but mostly solos. No one got too close so all fine. No one on the gnar-trails either so that's good.
I just had a bbq in my garden, is that allowed?
I can see how of course its entirely my fault *rolls eyes*
I didn't say it was your "fault". I'm merely pointing out that you could have avoided the confrontation completely if you'd heald your breath for a couple of seconds and, simply passed by.