Lockdown

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
I’ve upped my training and my rides but the staying at home is getting more difficult. Indications are it’s going to be quite a while before this pandemic will subside

What are other folks doing to get over the boredom of lockdown?
Tips etc
 
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kangooroo

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 24, 2015
267
182
Wye Valley
I'm still going out for permitted socially-distant bike rides but I live in a rural area with deserted country lanes and barely see anyone. There's hardly any traffic and I've even seen ducks and chickens out on the roads.
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
Discovery
Coronviruses were first discovered in the 1930s when an acute respiratory infection of domesticated chickens was shown to be caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). In the 1940s, two more animal coronaviruses, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), were isolated.[8]

Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s.[9] The earliest ones studied were from human patients with the common cold, which were later named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43.[10] Other human coronaviruses have since been identified, including SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Most of these have involved serious respiratory tract infections.

90 years so far but we now have action in the last month but cant test for it any time soon as it came from no where pmsl :D
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,990
8,172
60
West Sx RH
I'm not totally locked down as I have a key worker job and running errands for the Mrs and her granny. Though I ride my bike many times a week locally have not ventured out on a proper ride, about 10 miles is the most I have done for a while.
With part of my time I am carrying out essential ext jobs like the garden, Fibre glass lining my concrete gutters and raking out the westerly rear facing brick work and repointing.
And the bees of course.
 
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Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
I’ve cast a concrete planter I have been meaning to do for months, refurbished a military box of my fathers, cut the grass 100 times (slight exaggeration) now starting on my workshop.
I have two sets of doors to make as I have spare timber in my store The real time consumer I could have done is totally refurbished my lounge and spare bedroom, the problem is the closure of nearby builders merchants, the only one open says the country’s stock of plasterboard has gone.
I am hoping to find vegetable seeds somewhere to plant as I think it’s going to be along haul.
 

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
Discovery
Coronviruses were first discovered in the 1930s when an acute respiratory infection of domesticated chickens was shown to be caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). In the 1940s, two more animal coronaviruses, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), were isolated.[8]

Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s.[9] The earliest ones studied were from human patients with the common cold, which were later named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43.[10] Other human coronaviruses have since been identified, including SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Most of these have involved serious respiratory tract infections.

90 years so far but we now have action in the last month but cant test for it any time soon as it came from no where pmsl :D
soundwave

is this information accurate? can I ask what your take on it is please?
 

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
I'm still going out for permitted socially-distant bike rides but I live in a rural area with deserted country lanes and barely see anyone. There's hardly any traffic and I've even seen ducks and chickens out on the roads.
I’m still going out riding and to be honest have upped the milage. I live in a rural area the most people I see is actually coming up my road, the rest of the time are rural semi deserted roads. I do not ride the off road trails now as at the very beginning of this it was quite well populated with riders and walkers etc., with little passing distance.
main roads look a better option as there are few vehicles, no pedestrians with the odd cyclist, something I thought I’d never witness in my lifetime.
 

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
I'm not totally locked down as I have a key worker job and running errands for the Mrs and her granny. Though I ride my bike many times a week locally have not ventured out on a proper ride, about 10 miles is the most I have done for a while.
With part of my time I am carrying out essential ext jobs like the garden, Fibre glass lining my concrete gutters and raking out the westerly rear facing brick work and repointing.
And the bees of course.
Neil
I can honestly say I’m going to enjoy doing the jobs I’ve avoided for some time, years in some cases with a couple mentioned already.
My wife (apart from the restriction/situation itself) seems more than happy at the thought of these naggable jobs now on the to do’ list with a honest expectation of them actually being completed. Lol
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,406
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
soundwave

is this information accurate? can I ask what your take on it is please?
it's accurate and from wikipedia.
our problem is our politicians - we started with a strategy to let the disease runs its natural course, 95% of us won't die from it and our immune system will be better after it.
The problem is the other 5%. They will hit the NHS so hard that it would collapse at the first encounters.
The politicians switched strategy from 'herd immunity' to 'suppression' when the death toll in Italy rose significantly.
So how does the government suppress corona virus without knowing who has had it, who still has it and who is still not exposed to it?
The only solution is to lockdown everybody.
If the number of spreaders don't increase, then the number of new cases follows a classical bell shape of distribution. After two weeks, 95% of those spreaders would acquire immunity and stop being a menace to those who still have not got it.
If the lockdown is not perfect, then the bell shape curve will be wider. How much wider depends on how infectious the disease is.
Italy lockdown on 09-March and their wave is peaking in the last couple of days. It will take them another 3 weeks to suppress the current wave.
Our wave is two weeks behind Italy.
We should be out of lockdown in 5-6 weeks.
 

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
3,642
2,652
Winchester
Discovery
Coronviruses were first discovered in the 1930s when an acute respiratory infection of domesticated chickens was shown to be caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). In the 1940s, two more animal coronaviruses, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), were isolated.[8]

Human coronaviruses were discovered in the 1960s.[9] The earliest ones studied were from human patients with the common cold, which were later named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43.[10] Other human coronaviruses have since been identified, including SARS-CoV in 2003, HCoV NL63 in 2004, HKU1 in 2005, MERS-CoV in 2012, and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Most of these have involved serious respiratory tract infections.

90 years so far but we now have action in the last month but cant test for it any time soon as it came from no where pmsl :D
Even though Coronavirus has been around some time as mentioned there are significant difference between the strains so preparing tests well in advance is not as easy as it might be. Even so, the German level of testing and results seem to indicate it could have been handled very much better than it has been (is being) by our vacillating government.

Very little is known yet about probability and timing of any subsequent waves. The models are pretty unstable even for the first wave, and second wave prediction is much more difficult. Quite possibly a relatively small second wave soon after the first, and a bigger wave next winter (when we will be better prepared?)

We will learn a lot from China's experience as regions come out of lockdown. We probably won't be able to learn much from Italy as any reduction of lockdown they may have in a few weeks won't show its effect until after we are having to make our decisions. That will be the 5-6 weeks that Woosh mentions. I suspect we will see small relaxation and adjustments then, but I guess that very significant restriction will remain after that.
 

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
it's accurate and from wikipedia.
our problem is our politicians - we started with a strategy to let the disease runs its natural course, 95% of us won't die from it and our immune system will be better after it.
The problem is the other 5%. They will hit the NHS so hard that it would collapse at the first encounters.
The politicians switched strategy from 'herd immunity' to 'suppression' when the death toll in Italy rose significantly.
So how does the government suppress corona virus without knowing who has had it, who still has it and who is still not exposed to it?
The only solution is to lockdown everybody.
If the number of spreaders don't increase, then the number of new cases follows a classical bell shape of distribution. After two weeks, 95% of those spreaders would acquire immunity and stop being a menace to those who still have not got it.
If the lockdown is not perfect, then the bell shape curve will be wider. How much wider depends on how infectious the disease is.
Italy lockdown on 09-March and their wave is peaking in the last couple of days. It will take them another 3 weeks to suppress the current wave.
Our wave is two weeks behind Italy.
We should be out of lockdown in 5-6 weeks.
let’s hope it’s not longer.
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,425
1,251
Surrey
Like Nealth I am a key worker and obliged to continue doing what is considered an essential job. On the plus side as I commute to work on one of two electric bikes my bike riding is now officially sanctioned by the government. On the negative side, at work doing my essential task I am at a considerably higher risk of catching this horrible virus than I would be sat at home.

As my shifts have been late shifts I have been using my hard tail Haibike to get to work cross country using a 12 mile route. Usually I don't see a soul on this off road route, or very rarely, but the lock down has brought many more people out onto the tracks and bridal paths I use.

It has to be said that most of these people are close to the start or finish of the off road route where I am near to where people live on the outskirts of Godalming and Farnham.

However some of them are in the middle of nowhere, if that is possible in Surrey!

I quite often get a look of horror on their faces as if to say "What are you doing here", as if by being in the countryside they thought it would guarantee no one being there!

On both Monday and Tuesday the weather has been splendid, the tracks and countryside fabulous, and the exercise has done me the world of good.

Ride to Work 22 March 20 005.JPG
Picture taken on my ride to work on Monday the 20th of March

I ride home on a B road and last night was not overtaken by one car on my 10 mile journey.
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,761
30,348
What are other folks doing to get over the boredom of lockdown?
Tips etc
My circumstances are radically different from most of those above since I live just inside the Greater London southern boundary with Surrey and nearby Kent. That means high density housing and the London sprawl extending far beyond its border, so we still get to enjoy queues at traffic lights and roundabouts, difficulty getting out of side roads into the main traffic stream and never being out of sight of other vehicles in both directions.

Certainly the traffic is much lighter, but such is the number of key workers, public transport and those going to essential shopping we can never have empty roads in the urban areas.

Living in a modern high density estate my home is quite small so I quickly ran out of jobs to do, so no tips I'm afraid. By sheer bad luck I'd completed the entire redecoration just before Covid-19 struck, so I'd even denied myself that to occupy me!

Due to old age and a worsened heart condition since last August, I can no longer cycle or e-bike in the hilly North Downs without serious risk of a stroke or major heart attack so my exercise is all walking now. But that presents another problem since in this high density estate there's always numerous others about, walking dogs or for exercise and due to the nature of the estate, adequate separation is often impossible.

So I ignore the rules and drive either 2 miles to a place where I can briefly safely walk, or 5.2 miles to where I can safely walk a longer distance, both without seeing anyone at all during walking. Mine is a fully electric car anyway, so as well as not infecting anyone or catching anything in driving a short distance, I'm not gassing them with exhaust fumes either.
.
 

Laser Man

Pedelecer
Jul 1, 2018
196
122
Michelmersh SO51
We live out in the sticks on a road which only serves a few dozen houses before turning into single -track with grass in the middle.
Hardly any cars, but there is a continuous stream of cyclists and walkers!
 
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,425
1,251
Surrey
Well I have just done five days at work, and if I have managed not to catch this dratted virus I am now not back at work until the 16th of April.

I say five days work but for the first two of them I was on call at home and did not get called in. I was of course poised and ready like a coiled spring.

The remaining three were late shifts and enabled me to enjoy my cross country route to work and road ride home. 12 miles cross country and 10 miles home on the road, so 66 miles in all away from the lock down in the fresh air.

Ride to Work End Year 5 013.JPG
 

D C

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 25, 2013
1,140
575
Due to old age and a worsened heart condition since last August, I can no longer cycle or e-bike in the hilly North Downs without serious risk of a stroke or major heart attack so
So sorry to hear that Tony.
I think those of us who are lucky enough to live in sparsely populated rural areas need to have consideration for how different and difficult it can be for others and to accept without criticism that they sometimes have to do things differently.
Dave.
 

Bobajob

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 1, 2019
313
140
Cornwall
Well I have just done five days at work, and if I have managed not to catch this dratted virus I am now not back at work until the 16th of April.

I say five days work but for the first two of them I was on call at home and did not get called in. I was of course poised and ready like a coiled spring.

The remaining three were late shifts and enabled me to enjoy my cross country route to work and road ride home. 12 miles cross country and 10 miles home on the road, so 66 miles in all away from the lock down in the fresh air.

View attachment 34571
I wish you the very best George
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,761
30,348
View attachment 34578
I still get out for exercise, cycle around, and along the local cycle lane. Yes, that's all of it! :cool:
Show your local authority the photo below so they know how it should be done. The road the other side of the wide grass and scrub verge is a dual carriageway, all in the London Borough of Croydon. However we do have our very bad bits too.