Bah Humbug

And the naming of a yummy fruit after a location is entirely different from naming a pandemic disease after a region.

Bah Humbug

It is completely racist, which is why only racists keep insisting on calling it Chinese or Wuhan at every opportunity instead of by any official way of referring to it.

Welcome to my ignore list, <redacted>.

FlashBazbo

Wow, this thread has gotten out of hand, hasn't it!

Folks, please realize that the experience of COVID19 is radically different depending on where you live. If you live in the New York City area, be afraid. Be very afraid. If you're over 80, are obese, and have a heart condition, be very afraid wherever you are. But if you are healthy and live in an area with no deaths and no hospitalizations and single-digit cases . . . the necessary precautions are very different. In our county, the chances of catching COVID on a group ride are roughly on par with the chances of experiencing a polar bear mauling on the same group ride. (To my knowledge, there has never been a polar bear sighted in our county, but it's theoretically possible.)

Interesting factoid: In Tennessee, deaths from the 2018 influenza were FIVE TIMES greater than deaths to-date from COVID19. (Of course, in counties like mine, deaths from flu THIS YEAR have been infinitely greater than from COVID19. COVID still hasn't come to town.)

Kapusta

So why f#ck that up now?

FlashBazbo

How can we possibly do that? Here’s an irrefutable scientific fact: If COVID isn’t here, it’s not possible to catch it. (I refuse to panic about COVID or polar bears until one or the other makes an actual, rather than imaginary, appearance.)

WhyFi

Uhhhh, a huge part of the problem with covid is that a) many are asymptomatic and b) testing is a joke. Given those two irrefutable scientific facts, carrying on with business as usual is a good way to set up the kindling for the covid spark.

Bah Humbug

"I'm not shutting this barn door until I see that all the horses have gotten out."

Kapusta

You know what every town, county, state, and country with a COVID-19 outbreak has in common?
At one point, nobody had it.

You know what almost all of them have in common?
It was spreading before any reported cases showed up.

6K cases (which is a fraction of actual cases) in the state and you feel certain there are no un-tested ones in your county?

downhillmaster

Wow.
I guess just about every left leaning news outlet is racist.
What’s the official, non-racist way to refer to West Nile virus or Ebola btw?

FlashBazbo

I'm sorry, guys. I'd love to play along, but I just can't. I don't worry about COVID, polar bears, killer bees, or anything else that hasn't shown itself to be a genuine threat in my neck of the woods. Heck, I don't worry about brown bear attacks and they HAVE been sighted in my area. I don't check my closets or under the bed at night to see if the boogey man is there. Life is too long to spend it cowering from some imagined threat. There are real issues that deserve my attention. There are BIGGER, more URGENT things for all of us, honestly, to worry about.

Inattentive drivers. Your chances and mine -- and those of cyclists even in New York City -- are far, far greater of being killed by an inattentive driver than they are of being killed by COVID. That's just an honest fact. Let's put things in perspective. Think reasonably. Did you quit cycling because of the inattentive driver problem? Me, neither. But there are people out there who believe cycling, in the face of inattentive drivers, is an unreasonable risk. Because I live in a relatively COVID-free zone, I'm far more concerned about inattentive drivers. Let's shut down for them! (I'm only slightly joking about that last part.)

I'm not saying COVID is harmless. I'm not saying I want to catch it or spread it. I'm just saying that intelligent people evaluate the risks in their lives and when risks are astonishingly remote, it is irresponsible for them to waste time worrying about them. If you know people who have COVID, you must take responsible measures to avoid infection. If your area has a statistically meaningful outbreak of COVID, you must take responsible measures to avoid infection. It's the same with the flu. (And somehow, just saying that avoiding the flu is a smart thing is somehow politically incorrect. That shows how ridiculous the COVID enthusiasts have become! C'mon, folks. Use your minds. Think for yourselves!)

WhyFi

Anyone of at least moderate intellect would be able to distinguish the differences in how the above threats propagate and recognize your strawman for what it is. Try harder.

tomato coupe

Okay, let's do that. About 800 bicyclists are killed every year in the U.S. More than 100,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States in two months.

WhyFi

Intelligent people understand GIGO and how it applies to the current situation.

FlashBazbo

Yes, let's. Since we're talking about running the risk of (1) catching COVID on a (2) group ride,in (3) an area with ZERO COVID hospitalizations and ZERO COVID deaths, and then (4) dying of COVID . . . Exactly how many of those 100,000 do you reckon fit that description? We're getting worse than silly here.

Think, folks. Think. Drop the emotions and the hype. Think.

tomato coupe

The post I responded to (#110) made no mention of group rides. Your statement was:

Kapusta

This ^^^^^ is why we are going to keep getting hammered by this.

I look forward to the day when we are as immune to catching COVID-19 as some people seem to be to understanding the epidemiological risks of it and how it spreads.

WhyFi

I love a good Dunning-Kruger pep-talk.

Kapusta

No hospitalizations or deaths..... that actually does not say much. In our county we have 155 confirmed cases, but no deaths and only 2 or 3 locals hospitalized. No hospitalizations or deaths does not tell you it is not spreading around the community. How much testing is being done? If you are claiming zero confirmed cases, you either have a very, very small population, or you are not testing much.

Also, do you still not get that the issue is not YOU dying, but of spreading it?

Yes, THINK. You want to talk about risk/benefit.... what exactly is the benefit here of taking the risk? A group ride? That's it? Is there something else I am missing here?

Bah Humbug

colnago62

There have been a fair amount of stories of cyclists testing positive. It is probably very difficult to determine exactly when they were effected. For me, there is enough doubt that I will not participate in any group rides until this is more under control.

noisebeam

As a cyclist you are probably not only wanting to avoid death, but also any damage to your cardio system.

znomit

My point was it should be renamed the USA flu if you insist on naming it geographically.

The Spanish Flu didn’t originate in Spain.

noisebeam

These Athletes Had the Coronavirus. Will They Ever Be the Same?

Rogerogeroge

We're talking about New York City, where they have recorded over 16,000 deaths, and probably an additional 4,000!!!!! And that's in a time span of just over two months!

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page

You're saying that inattentive drivers are a bigger risk right now?

Amen. People are so frigging spoiled that they can't buckle down and do what's best for society for a few months. These people would have folded if they had to live through WWII or the Great Depression.

merlinextraligh

Really good interview with Dr. Michael Roshen in Velonews regarding cycling and Covid 19.

Dr. Roshen Is Chief Medical Officer of USA Cycling, has been team doctor for Pro teams, treats COVID 19 patients as an ER doctor, and has a PHD in immunology. So he”s likely the most qualified person in the world to discuss the virus’s effect on cycling and best practices for races group ride.

I would highly recommend reading the interview.