jimincalif

March already? Spring arrives on the 19th or 20th, depending on your longitude. And Daylight Savings Time returns next week for most of us in Canada and the U.S. Yeah!

dagray

Didn't get to ride yesterday as I ended up having to deal with a bad starter in our 2005 Tahoe. Good news is it is fixed and I paid cash.

jsigone

anyone stupid enough to do the March Solvang double without training? maybe me

TrojanHorse

Nah, that was last year's strategy. It worked though. I guess zwift is good for something.

jsigone

all my "training" has been short duration power crap needed for crit racing survival

Hotel is already booked for Solvang, but not the ride HAHA

RubeRad

Speaking of 'without training', I've signed up for a grandmasters (male 38+ female 35+) ultimate frisbee hat tournament on Sunday. 4 games, hopefully enough subbing to not destroy my poor fat old body

TrojanHorse

I assume you died?

RubeRad

Almost. It was actually easier than pickup, because at a pickup game there's always just barely enough people to play. Any odd man out is a sub for one team, and you almost never get a break. Which is fine for lunchtime. For this tournament, each of the 4 teams had 11 or 12 players, so I was able to play 2/3 then 1/2 then 1/3 of the points as I wore out. Played 4 games.

Still I couldn't walk regular until Wed

SethAZ 

I've got a bit of a quandary. Due to work schedule changes and the like I have vastly less freedom to get out my old 32-mile route compared to what I've had in years past. At the moment I'm eking out 16-18 mile "lunch hour" rides. I used to be able to take a break during the day for a good ride, but I don't have that flexibility with my job anymore, so it's either lunch hour rides, or getting up at least an hour earlier than usual in order to get in longer rides before I start. I'm not a morning person, so that takes some discipline and planning (gotta go to bed commensurately earlier the night before, which doesn't come naturally to me).

To top it off, a lot's changed in the last couple of years. Routes I rode regularly a couple years ago before I was deployed have become significantly more heavily trafficked since then. I'm wondering whether it's time for me to scout out some new routes that aren't on crappy road surfaces, nor on heavily trafficked roads.

I might not be happy that most of my rides since I started spinning back up have been in the 16-18 mile range, but to be honest it's probably good for me to get these in to build my legs and cardio back up before I start pushing for the mileage.

jsigone

working from home = gain weight?

RubeRad

There is the lack of biking to work, but I have had to pop into work a few times for stuff that couldn't be done remotely, and because of the rain I just drove.

jimincalif

I'm not a morning person either. A couple of years ago a tri group started doing Weds evening hill repeat rides near my house at 6:00 pm, so I joined in. This helped me quite a bit, not only with climbing itself, but I would just have a very light snack before going out and then a very light something after coming back. Getting out in the evening helped my "kitchen grazing" too. I tend to wander in and look for munchies in the evening. With days getting longer this gets easier to do. I've been doing it on a less consistent basis in the dark this winter. I'd rather wait til rush hour traffic dies down and ride in the dark than face the worst of the traffic when drivers are on a mission to get home - or else. Nothing wrong with your range. I try to get minimum of 22 miles and 1,000' when going out for a pure training ride. Can mix it up with some intervals too.

indyfabz

That has been on my mind.

I have been walking 2 miles to the office. I may work from home if I want to, but coming to work gets me out on my feet. I don't encounter many people. Yesterday during my walk in I passed 25 people on my side of the street in a city of roughly 1.5 million people. I am the only one who comes into our office, and the building is virtually deserted.

I have already had to scrub my planned long weekend tour scheduled for Easter weekend due to a campground closure and the ferry I need no longer allowing foot traffic. There is one possibility left that is dependent on a private campground being open.

I also fear the June trip to MT and ID may not be the best idea. So many variables to consider, including possible small town hostility towards out of towners. If you are told to keep moving it's a lot harder to do on a bike than in a car.

jsigone

I see many neighbors walking dogs, running than normally. People are actually waving as they drive by. Being socially isolated made them more social. I hope it continues once the virus dies off.

Work seems more crazy at home and trying to home school two kids at the same time. Day 2 for me, so still working on the routine with them, including getting out of the house and getting free bagged lunch from their school. I've been taking them to the a local MTB/hiking trail for parking lot picnic. Kids are 4 & 7, watching ipad and eating in the back section of the land cruiser.

RubeRad

I wouldn't count on it. I remember this huge San Diego-wide power outage probably about 10 years back. It was eerie, everybody in the neighborhood wandering out of their houses, not so much being social as awkwardly waving 'oh hey, it's kind of weird to not just ignore each other, right?'. I heard there was a little baby boom 9mo after that day. I bet there will be a bigger one 9mo from now.

Dibs as coiner of the terms 'Corona Baby' and 'Corona Boomer' !

TrojanHorse

Yeah, people were positively NICE after 9/11 but that evaporated quickly. Enjoy it while you can.

I walk my two dogs every day and I've never seen as many other walkers, joggers and cyclists as I did yesterday.

dagray

Wife and I walked to church today. It was a great service, but not many were in attendance. We had many live streaming the service and watching from home.

It was a nice walk there and back.

I have been working from home three days last week (Tue-Thurs), and have been informed that when I get my work credit card reconciled tomorrow that I am to pack everything I think I will need to work from home.
I don't have a good workspace for telework as I really only have the dining table to use for now.

jimincalif

I normally work from home too, so no problem on that front - at least until I become unemployed. Sales activity came to a screeching halt last week. Our clientele is diversified over many industries, so that’s good, but margins being what they are it doesn’t take a huge drop in biz to get a negative bottom line. Real estate sales - full stop, headhunters - full stop, dentists - full stop, small retail - dead. Restaurants - on life support. Just to name a few off the top of my head. At the moment we’re focused on cash flow for the next 3-5 months. If it goes longer all bets are off, for all of us.

RubeRad

I can mostly work from home, got called in a couple days last week.

Our church was streaming-only today, in conformance with the CA declaration. No singing, at this point they didn't think they could set up the stream so families at home could sing along without it being too awkward. Maybe next week.

Last couple mornings I went out for a little 'run'. Was hoping to tackle my nearby 'mountain' on mtb tomorrow morning, but looks like it will be raining overnight and in the morning.

TrojanHorse

I've got it good on the WFH front, been doing it for years and converted our den into my home office / sporting gear area (two bike trainers, a treadmill etc.). The real bonus is a significant (complete) drop in travel for me

All was well until my wife also started working from home - she's in the dining room but thinks that all hours are available for honey dos. She's really messing up my jam! Oh, and my kids are both at home again too, now that school is virtual. It's a bit crowded.

jimincalif

We're empty-nesters, so my home office is an upstairs bedroom at the front of the house, my wife's office is a downstairs bedroom at the back of the house! So all is well!

expatbrit

You and me both, Mr. Horse. I've been a telecommuter since 2007 or so, and have an office setup over my garage. It's a small space, only just bigger than the two-car garage itself, and has views out over the Sandia mountains to the east if I ever look up.

Lately, a bike has also been in here on a trainer for Zwift, though it's carefully placed to hide it from the videoconferencing unit.

I actually kinda miss the travel. Without it, how would I ever have got to meet @jsigone and be ignored by the rest of you so totally...

jsigone

its new working from home, trying to focus for the job, kids singing Frozen songs in the background while i'm web meetings. co-workers don't seem to mind yet. Time seems to go faster for now.

I feel like I"m a kid grounded again but I have a car and I have to home school a 4 and 7 year old between meetings/task. I take the kids out every day so far to get the free bagged lunch and we find a place to self isolate and have a lunch picnic. My idea is to enjoy this while I Can before the demigods government tells us to fully shelter in place.

Kid had a Zoom meeting this morning with her teacher and class, seems this maybe the new thing for the kids and would help take some stress off me for an hour each day.

I went to home depot over on Saturday for a wood project. I couldn't believe how packed the place was. People everywhere. few wearing mask, few wearing gloves including me. I watch the news and the beaches look like normal spring break, cops having to go close parking lots and lifeguard telling beach goers they are closing the parking lot and move them before they get towed. I read a post on Facebook from Ben King, pro cyclist on the trek team. Looking at his post reminds me of what I saw at Home depot. Denial and everyone thinks it's vacation time. We're between 4-5 right now, or at least how I feel in San Diego.After three weeks of quarantine in Italy, I am back in America. Before you call me irresponsible for travelling internationally during this crisis, trust that we took this decision very seriously and had good reason. Although we are healthy, we are still quarantining ourselves to avoid ANY risk. If you still feel our decision was irresponsible then you’re probably doing things right and this post is not addressed to you. However, I feel obligated to share my experience in hopes that it can make a difference.

As a professional cyclist I base in Tuscany, Italy during the cycling season. I was travelling to races at the beginning of the pandemic as the situation escalated in China. All of my races have been cancelled or postponed until the situation is under control. I observed the same stages of reaction in a diverse range of cultures and admit that I was not immune to all of them. I hope my hindsight provides you with some foresight to make good choices.

Stage 1: Downplaying
"This is China’s problem (now Italy). It’s not here. It’s fine. Lol, look at that guy. He’s not even Asian and he’s wearing a mask.”
Stage 2: Denial and lack of understanding
“I’m young and healthy. It’s just like a cold. Everyone is overreacting!”
Stage 3: Inconvenienced
“I can’t believe I can’t go out for a beer. I guess I’ll hang out with my healthy friends and go buy ALL the toilet paper before anyone else gets to it.”
Stage 4: Peer pressure, working from home or laid off, and nervous
“This is getting real. I’m not afraid to catch it but I don’t want to transmit it. I’m working from home but I’ll be back to work in a month. Poor Italians. I can’t imagine... I’ll practice social distancing but still meet my friends outdoors. I hope my parents don’t catch this.”
Stage 5: Government enforced quarantine
“I wish I’d known it would get this serious. I can’t believe people are still trying to go out. Stay away from me. I don’t want your COVID!”
Stage 5: One week into Quarantine, fear and anger
“People I know have this disease. Elderly people they know are dying. The statistics are not numbers. They are people with loved ones. Hospitals and morgues are overcapacity. Health workers are overworked. The local economy is crashing. Stay away from me!"

From what I’ve seen in the countries being hit hardest attitudes have followed these trends. Here are the facts. Many COVID-19 carriers are asymptomatic. Each positive person infects three others. The USA has not carried out nearly as many tests as Italy (implying what I believe to be much higher numbers) and yet we have one of the highest rates of transmission.

We departed from Pisa airport on Saturday morning. The airport was completely empty and shut down because our flight to Rome was the only flight that day. Rome was similar, eerily quiet and sterile. Every single person wore a mask and gloves. We had 40 people on our flight to JFK each seated in a row to themselves.

When we arrived in New York I got my first taste of the attitude that America is up against. I overheard a girl in her 20’s on our flight cursing at her sister because the family refused to send somebody to pick her up at the airport. I felt she was being irresponsible and selfish. Plus, who talks to their sister like that?

We won’t see our families for a minimum of two weeks. When we disembarked our temperature was taken. Passengers on our flight took off their masks just to clear customs and we proceeded to baggage claim. After three weeks in isolation, what I saw shocked me. Groups of Americans huddled together, brushing against other passengers to collect their bags. We stood back. On our drive from New York to Virginia we saw signs encouraging people to wash their hands and advertising at home deliveries. Children played together in parks. Parking lots were packed full of people carrying on as though nothing had changed. For them, it hasn’t… yet. I’m grateful to be home and closer to family, but honestly I feel more at risk in the USA than I did in Italy based on a mere 24 hours of observation. I'm still not afraid for myself but for the sake of those vulnerable to the virus. Please don’t take your freedom for granted. It's still your choice to take appropriate measures. I know you might think I am overreacting. One month ago, I would have too. But, we just experienced all of this. I don't want to preach or come across self-righteous, but I’ve seen where we are headed and it’s not pretty. It’s too late to stop it, but there’s still time to make a difference. This isn’t Italy’s problem. It’s ours too. It’s my problem and it’s yours.

With love, BK

RubeRad

Interesting stages from Ben King there. I haven't made it to Stage 6 (or Stage 5 part II: the sickening?) as I know no infected, not even like friend of a friend.

Here's another sentiment I've heard around a lot: "I’m not afraid to catch it but I don’t want to transmit it"

TrojanHorse

I don't know anybody with it either and I'd prefer to keep it that way. I don't think we really need to go into full quarantine mode but there is a large-ish chunk of people out there actively trying to disregard the social distancing protocol, and while it's mildly entertaining when one of those dip****s gets the virus, it's just going to extend this crap for all of us. I mean... the US is at 50,000 cases right now, allegedly. I say allegedly because there's no way enough people have bees tested to know the full extent of the virus.

I'm reading that there is interest in discontinuing this social distancing next week because hey - it's been two weeks! Yeah, no.