Ride Out Anywhere

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Paul Coene

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In the UK like most places we have been told to STAY AT HOME. Last weekend in mid wales the police issued over one thousand fines to bikers from the midlands coming for a ride out to mid wales. What part of Stay at home do people not understand?
I think people do not understand what makes no sense. I don't know the rules in the UK, but In Belgium, cycling and jogging is allowed, even if those people are surrounded by a cloud of drops of sweat and spit in their slipstream which is a real danger for other people if they are contaminated. I don't see where the danger for contamination is if a biker is passing you.
 

Peter Holmes

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I think the problem and the thinking is this, they quite understandably want everyone to stay indoors so as not to spread the virus, and as the current rate of deaths continue to rise this makes perfect sense to me, but they also recognise the need for at least one form of exercise a day, a bit like being in prison but being allowed to walk around the exercise yard once a day, so it has been decided that anything that gives you some form of cardio vascular exercise is permissible, I assume that driving a car or riding a motorcycle does not fulfil that criteria, no matter how good it might make the individual feel. Apparently on that first weekend of good weather when a lot of people flocked to the beaches and parks, hoards of motorcyclists flocked to Loomies at Meon, a very well known meeting place and cafe, I have in the past, last year in fact, been there when it is busy, the motorcycle park and cafe holds a lot of people, and apparently it was heaving with people, so there is the problem, I wonder how many of those people are now in hospital requiring treatment.
 

Paul Coene

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Thanks for your reply Peter, and I see that the procedures in the UK are very similar to those over here (now at least).
But I still think many of those measures go against all logic. People who live in little flats should be advised to avoid the elevators where people stand much to close to each other, take their car or motorcycle and go as far as necessary to find a place where you hardly meet somebody else. And what's a bigger danger: shopping for food in a crowdy foodstore or shopping for nuts and bolts in a quiet hardware store ? In my opinion, there should be only one rule: respect the so called "social distancing". It would cover anything, would be much easier to understand and to accept and it wouldn't ruin the economy.
 

Simon Dinsdale

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Ignoring the question of do the rules allow riding a motorcyle or not and is it fair or not, and look at it from another point of view:

You take your motorcycle out for a run, suffer a punture and get thrown off the bike and end up taken to hospital by ambulance to be checked over. So firstly you have taken an ambulance away from helping with the covid-19 situation and the last thing I would want to do at the moment is go anywhere near any hospital due to them been overun with covi-19 cases and because of that I certainly won't be taking a motorcycle out at the moment.
I think the health services in all countries are busy enough at the moment.
 

Bill Thomas

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Not sure it's safe to stay in my house, The Wife's been told She can't go out for 12 weeks,
Just got Her 3 boxes of Wine, But that won't last long !.
It was a long Winter, But I am trying to be good, There's a few Lads Thrashing around.
I would like to have a short ride, But maybe not.
 

Peter Holmes

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Thanks for your reply Peter, and I see that the procedures in the UK are very similar to those over here (now at least).
But I still think many of those measures go against all logic. People who live in little flats should be advised to avoid the elevators where people stand much to close to each other, take their car or motorcycle and go as far as necessary to find a place where you hardly meet somebody else. And what's a bigger danger: shopping for food in a crowdy foodstore or shopping for nuts and bolts in a quiet hardware store ? In my opinion, there should be only one rule: respect the so called "social distancing". It would cover anything, would be much easier to understand and to accept and it wouldn't ruin the economy.
Social distancing is only one single measure in the fight against Covid-19, the countries that have had most success in knocking back this virus have put in far greater measures than simply just standing 2 metres apart, and though it is true that most economies in the world are being trashed, I think that would pall into insignificance if this virus was simply allowed to spread unchecked, Christ, isn't it killing enough people already as it is. Just the very fact that in choosing to go out on your motorcycle for a pleasure trip, you will at some point need to call into a filling station and commit to a transaction that you needn't have made, for me that puts it into the bracket of an unnecessary journey.
 

vibrac

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I see Eugene Lavertey world superbike star has packed in push bike riding during the pandemic for the reasons I mentioned
And is learning the guitar and Portuguese
I tried that guitar bit once Buddy Holly riffs were ok but I will stick to the workshop.
 
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