jethro00

Part of our morning ride 5 days a week goes through a college campus. So, we need to wear masks while on campus. We ride early enough so that we rarely come close to anyone. But, we need to set a good example for any students out early.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a mask while cycling. It's really hot and humid right now. Ideally we can find masks that are easy to remove while riding, since most of our ride is not on campus.

Alcanbrad

A buff worn around the neck is easy to pull up and down with one hand

JanMM

Do you ride on private (college) property? Does the college require masks to be worn while outside cycling or running, etc. whether or not social distancing is maintained? Do local health dept. or government rules require that masks be worn while cycling?
If you need masks, the kind with elastic loops around the ears are easy to put on and remove.

Kat12

But have possibly been found to be ineffective.

Tony Marley

I find the paper surgical masks to be more comfortable than cloth masks when cycling. In Dubai we are required to wear the masks when outside the residence, at risk of a $675 fine. The mask gets sweaty and is obviously ineffective, but it does not cling to the nose the way a cloth mask does when it gets sweaty.

jethro00

<<Do you ride on private (college) property? Does the college require masks to be worn while outside cycling or running, etc. whether or not social distancing is maintained? >>

A small part of our morning ride is across a private university campus (my alma matter). They do require masks for biking and jogging across campus. We bike early enough that they have not stopped us when we are not wearing masks and we only see a few students as early as we ride. The university has gone to great lengths to try to make it work for the students (18 portable buildings erected on quads for classrooms and a dining facility, etc.). The biggest challenge is going to be whether young students can be disciplined enough to follow the rules to make it work. So, even if they don't stop us, we need to be examples for the students while on campus.

We tried it this morning. I have a nice cloth mask with bicycles on it that a friend sewed for me. It even matches the bike color. It has elastic that goes behind the ears. But, with a helmet on, I had some difficulty getting it on and off entering and leaving campus. We had to stop and my stoker helped out. I was hoping someone has a better solution. If I come up with anything good, I'll post about it.

jadocs

In that case your only option is to have something you can pull up over your face, so a lightweight neck gator.

Given the fact that this is only for a short portion of the ride and you are not really trying to prevent anything other than providing a visual for the students.

conspiratemus1

Doesn’t matter for outside where all you need is a “social theatre” mask to avoid trouble with the enforcers (official and self-appointed busybodies.) A scrap of cloth over your lower face that looks like a mask from a distance should suffice. Save your real masks for indoor use, because they become less effective at protecting others the longer they are worn.

diabloridr

Or not:

https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/arti...d-15484868.php

The scientific method trudges along.

Kat12

Or maybe. This is precisely why it's good for people to know about these things, so they can make the decision for themselves. Most of the ones I've seen are pretty thin and worn in one layer; I didn't put much stock in them before this and I certainly wouldn't now.

It's too bad their descriptions of the materials are unfortunate; the gaiter they tested is *not* a "neck fleece" and I don't even know where they got that description since it has nothing to do with fleece.

conspiratemus1

But unless you are going to accost someone and call them out for wearing only a gaiter outside, it doesn’t matter what you think of them. The OP was asking for suggestions to get across campus, outside, without looking like a total scofflaw. A gaiter does the trick just like the two seconds under the cold water tap, no soap, suffices as the “social handwash” that most men do after using a urinal.

Inside, sure I’d keep a wider berth from someone who was wearing a gaiter as the ticket to be allowed in. I don’t think it’s realistic to expect non-professional front-line workers to scrutinize “lower-face coverings” to see if they pass muster as proper masks. And certainly not the campus police for people outdoors.

All that said, I do believe that millennials see Covid as “boomer-remover” and are doing their level best to spread it to us through their large gatherings which will reach us through just a couple of degrees of separation. Recent surges of cases here have been mostly in young people but it doesn’t make more than a handful sick enough that they worry about it, certainly not enough to wear masks in any public place unless compelled to. Pretty soon our cases per million will be back up to where the U.S. is. Covid is doing its thing, doesn’t pay much attention to our control measures, just like gypsy moths and phragmites.

We were told, “You can re-open the bars or you can re-open the schools, but you can’t do both.” In Ontario we’ve chosen the bars, and now it looks like plans to re-open primary schools after Labour Day will be blocked on “safety” grounds by the teachers unions (which had already sabotaged the second half of the last school year with rotating strikes over wages and perqs before the pandemic got started.)

So fussing over whether gaiter=mask fills me with ennui.

jethro00

Today I experimented with using velcro straps on my cloth face mask. The mask was made by a friend and has bicycles in a pattern and actually matches the color of the bike (bonus). It has elastic straps that fit over the ears. But, I find it cumbersome to put on and off while wearing a helmet as we approach and leave campus. So, I looped a velcro strap through each elastic loop. It was easy to reach behind my head and attach and remove the 2 pieces of velcro, and that held the mask in place without being tight. I stashed the mask between my bell and cables while not in use. The only downside is a sweaty cloth mask after the second pass through campus as we head back home. We don't ride that route again until Friday. I will see how the mask dries out. We're going to order lightweight gaiters and try that next.

diabloridr

The question marks surrounding this study are why I'd take an even-money bet that an ANSI committee is currently writing a standard for anti-viral face coverings.

Give it a year or two and all this uncertainty will go away, but until then we can only make the best decisions possible with the available information.

mack_turtle

This has been debunked.

Elbeinlaw

To answer the question: As a matter of courtesy and commitment to my community of fellow cyclists and exercisers, I always wear a mask when walking or cycling.

I live in hot and sweaty Atlanta, in which by the time its 9:30 it's in the 80 degree range and 80% humidity, rapidly climbing. So yes, the mask gets sweaty. That's why I always carry at least two, so I can change out. A wet mask does not (in my humble but not professional opinion) completely permanently destroy the mask. I let them dry and sit for several days between uses.

I wear the mask on over my ears but pull it down below my chin until I'm approaching or being approached by someone about 15 to 20 yards off. Then I pull the mask up to cover my nose and mouth. When the "coast is clear," I pull it down again. Remember that aerosol droplets fan out behind the breather like the wake of a speedboat: tightly focused and concentrated immediately behind the breather, but then growing more diffuse with distance. So I keep the mask up for a good distance after I pass someone, and keep the mask up for a while after someone passes me.

There is no reason not to adopt this custom. The idea that fresh air somehow makes you immune is an idea that was tried out in the Black Plague, in the 1918 flu, and other times. It only caused millions of unnecessary deaths. All it does, folks, is to dilute the concentration of virus. We don't know if one virus particle or multiple will cause an infection, or if it will cause a minor case or death. When the facts are unknown, there's a reason to be careful.

Yes, go ahead and flame me as an agent of the deep state, friends. If you're not willing to take due care for yourself, fine: you can choose to risk death. But don't kid yourself that you're edgy or a free thinking or a committed libertarian: you're just a careless idiot. Instead of thinking of yourself, maybe you could take a little care for the people who could be harmed by your ignorant carelessness. (Detect a note of anger? You got it. I'm sick of hearing the ignorant morons arguing the anti-mask, anti-social-distancing arguments based on political philosophy. Covid don't care about your philosophy.)

jethro00

<<you're just a careless idiot.>>
<< I'm sick of hearing the ignorant morons arguing the anti-mask>>
Could we please keep responses on this thread (started by me) civil and polite?
I would like to continue to exchange experience about masks for biking without the hyperbole.
​​​​​​​BTW, thanks for sharing about your mask wearing in Atlanta.

Kat12

But some people do worry whether their masks actually protect others.

Source?

Elbeinlaw

Yes, you're right, I was neither civil not polite. I'm sorry. I think I was reacting to a confluence of all of the people on my morning workouts not wearing masks, not social distancing, etc. and then the people on this site who keep arguing that it's all unproven and all a myth, etc. But sorry to have spilled that all here.

(By the way, you mean "invective" not "hyperbole." Hyperbole would have been my calling them "the world's most careless idiots" or "the most ignorant of all morons"--which they are, but that's not appropriate for this forum.)

mack_turtle

I am primarily concerned about wearing a mask because I can protect others from my potential asymptomatic/ pre-symptomatic infection, and I want others to wear a mask to protect me from theirs. I understand how masks work. If I learned that my mask choice was ineffective, I would use something better because I am concerned about my neighbors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/w...ers-masks.html

The study that has been cited was not very thorough and its results were exaggerated by journalists eager for clickbait.

Hit Factor

I like the 16 pack of work crew masks available at Home Depot. Nice shape to them, elastic loops, and if you drop one they are inexpensive.

I won't wear a face mask while cycling as an example for anyone. I'm pretty sure studies have shown that outside, especially in a breeze, the breath droplets (that probably are not infected anyway) are too small and widely dispersed to be a problem.

Good thing I live out in the country, not very populated here.

jethro00

<<I live out in the country, >> <<I won't wear a face mask while cycling as an example for anyone.>>.
Well, if you lived in the heart of a big city and biked across a college campus you might feel differently.
There are signs posted saying access to campus requires a mask for walkers and bikers, so there is that.
But, even if you cross campus early in the morning before the enforcement folks are out, there are a trickle of students up and about.
​​​​​​​My heart goes out to them about the restrictions under which they are trying to operate.
The freshmen are 18 or 19 year olds away from home and parents for the first time, who are being asked to follow a lot of restrictive rules.
I doubt they will be able to follow the social distancing and mask rules sufficiently to stay on campus.
But, they need all the support and good examples they can get to try to motivate them to follow the rules.
Several colleges have already had to shut down in-person classes.
Where we are (Tulane U.), they have erected almost 20 portable buildings on campus for classrooms and a dining facility.
Many buildings date from the 1800s and, while architecturally grand, have small rooms.
They are really trying hard to make it work. So, we will do our small part and let the students see that wearing a mask is doable.

Hit Factor

Not a chance. I didn't write that I won't wear a mask when required.

Kat12

It is, but it's still food for thought.

Elbeinlaw

Kat12, I'm afraid you buried the lede, so I want to repeat it:

I can protect others from my potential asymptomatic/ pre-symptomatic infection, and I want others to wear a mask to protect me from theirs.

It's really a matter of (1) common courtesy to our fellows and (2) of taking responsibility for the communities of which we are all members. Not doing it tells me everything I need to know about the person who's not doing it.

conspiratemus1

Exactly. Which is why I save my “real” mask for inside, where it is mandated by local public health directive, and not outside, where it is not. If your real mask is wet from water condensing from your breath through prolonged use outside, it will be less effective inside where it really matters. If your local public health authorities direct otherwise — New Zealand is going to require mask use everywhere in Auckland owing to clusters that have popped up there — please obey their directives.

In Canada 15% of people polled recently said they were taking no steps whatsoever, including wearing masks inside, to reduce the spread of Coronavirus. Most of these “happy spreaders” are young city-dwellers and older people who live in parts of the country that have seen very few cases. About half of respondents said they were good doobies and complying meticulously with our admittedly not-very-stringent measures. People in surveys generally exaggerate, sometimes wildly, the degree to which they adopt social engineering measures like driving habits, trash recycling, reducing carbon footprint, etc. etc. In this context, I’m not going to get bent out of shape if someone at the ATM is wearing a gaiter.

Anyway the OP has already found a solution that meets his needs.