raceboy

I live in L.A. County and ride 100 miles a week, more or less. L.A. County is also where the ICUs and hospitals are at 100% capacity and on the brink of overflowing. Covid is straining the medical system to the max. As a result, I'm thinking of easing back on rides since the holidays are predicted to make the current surge worse. I don't want to put any more stress on the system by having a crash, not to mention slowed emergency and intensive care should I get injured. Plus being stuck in a hospital full of Covid cooties! Yecch.

OTOH, I rationalize that riding keeps me strong and healthy as long as I the rubber side stays down on the pavement. If you live in an impacted area, what are your riding plans for the next few months?

davester

Not pulling back on riding, but I ride more cautiously. No screaming descents, no riding heavily trafficked roads (except those that have separated bike lanes).

AlmostTrick

It's been more than 13 years since I've crashed or even fell with the bike, so no.

mstateglfr 

No.

ICU beds are at 67% capacity here. ICU bed occupancy is around that number in normal times.
10 inches of snow fell yesterday.
Its 25deg right now.


I pulled back on my riding because i dont enjoy riding in these conditions.
Zwift time.

work4bike

You just jinxed yourself. I hardly crash anymore, actually I get hit by cars more than I crash, but I'd never say I'm not worried about crashing. I don't crash because I'm a careful, defensive rider and there's some luck thrown in there.

BTW, the last crash I had was back in 2013 or 14 and it was caused by a new bike that had the front wheel improperly trued, one side was relatively loose, but I'm always checking myself on dumb things I did that nearly got me in an accident, even to this day after riding for over 30 years.

As for the OP question. No, I don't ride less.

AlmostTrick

Since 13 is considered unlucky it reverses the jinx. Double negative = positive.

I consider being hit by (or hitting) cars to be a crash. The worst kind of crash! I agree there is plenty we as riders can do to reduce the risks. Sometimes, being too careful/fearful actually increases the risk.

work4bike

I've been hit by cars on four occasions, none were my fault and luckily I saw them all coming, so I count it as 1/2-a crash

veganbikes

Good to be cautious these days. Luckily I try to ride safely regardless and have certainly tried to a be a bit safer these days.

Biker395 

Being more cautious, and considering:

1. Avoiding riding.
2. Wearing a mask everywhere ... even in situations where it wasn't previously required (because of the more contagious variant now in the community).

Sucks.

Hondo Gravel

About the same. Starting Weight training again to mix things up and keep bike riding from getting stale. Luckily I ride in the boondocks so no exposure to people.

Bigbus

Only the weather dictates my riding schedule!

BHG6

I just cut back on licking door knobs....don't really consider riding to be "risky behavior"

canklecat

Yup, I radically changed my riding and workouts this year, specifically to avoid burdening the health care system and to minimize my own risk of exposure to COVID. I worked in health care for years. Some real life friends are medical professionals -- doctors, nurses, EMTs, etc., -- so I know the drill.

Before 2020, I usually rode two or three group rides a week, usually a couple of fast group rides and a longer casual group ride. That was pretty much my cycling workout, and I did relatively fewer solo efforts.

But by the end of March I'd cut out all fast group rides and didn't join another casual group ride until July. Since then I've done only about one casual group ride a month. On casual rides I can wear a mask since I'm not breathing heavily or getting my heart rate up.

I noticed many of my younger friends continued hard group rides throughout the year, including close drafting. I've seen 'em on those rides. They're young enough that it's unlikely to affect them. But I can't take that chance. I'm not sure the risk of spreading it to coworkers and families ever penetrated their consciousness. It wasn't politically driven. They're just young and feel invulnerable, and assume everyone else is the same.

I always wait between group rides to assess my potential symptoms. I've had several urgent care medical appointments this year. My routine care appointments were either done by telephone or postponed indefinitely. But I had a few urgent care visits for an eye problem (posterior vitreous detachment, which necessitated very up close and personal exams, wearing full PPE), endocrinology, ENT and immunology (long term auto immune disorder). Hospitals and clinics are high risk so I always self-quarantine after those appointments. But the symptom of my auto immune disorder mimic most of the COVID symptoms, so it's impossible to tell the difference. I just have to wait a few days and see if I feel better. If I feel better in a day or so, it ain't COVID. It's just the usual crap I've been dealing with for more than 20 years.

So I've done 3-5 solo rides a week, usually the same limited routes of 20-40 miles, avoiding traffic as much as possible. No urban rides other than the occasional monthly group ride.

By September I was feeling stale and losing fitness and speed rather than getting stronger. So I switched up my workouts, cutting back from about 500-600 miles a month on the bike to around 300 miles. I started walking more, then jogging, usually 5-8 miles, two or three times a week. Same total monthly workout time, just fewer miles.

Even with walking/jogging I avoid traffic as much as possible. The few times I need to cross intersections reminds me that most drivers are terrible. Some are hostile, but most are just negligent and indifferent. The most dangerous part of every workout -- bike rides, walks or jogging -- is any intersection. There's a good reason why so many pedestrians "jaywalk." It's the least dangerous way to cross some streets. Intersections with pedestrian lights are government sanctioned kill zones, with a combination of pedestrian walk signals, right on red and left on flashing yellow all competing for the same 10 second window of opportunity. Pedestrians always lose.

And I'm trying to avoid the irony of being hit by a car while crossing legally at a crosswalk during a walk, while I was avoiding fast group bike rides to protect myself and others from the Super Cooties Apocalypse.

rsbob 

I was mountain biking which involves a high degree of risk (broken bones, concussion, etc) so I stopped that for road riding this year and found this forum.

Spent a week in the Sacramento area riding my road bike when the LA County ICUs hit 100% and the Sac area ICUs were running from 82-93% and quickly rising, so I retreated back to Wa where things are temporarily more sane but that will change with the Xmas and NY party crowd starts to succumb. Due to my over the top road biking, I am now injured and will be going to PT seeing a chiropractor and am taking anti-inflammatories so will be Staying off the bike anyway. Bah humbug. That reminds me, time to do PT rather than squandering my time here.

Hondo Gravel

Took a week off the bike. Crummy weather anyways but back on a regular riding schedule tomorrow (Monday) but I’m extra cautious not to wreck by not hammering downhill, instead I just coast and enjoy the ride. Last place I want to go is the hospital.

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​Jealous!

Hondo Gravel

If that happen here snow around a foot it would be a disaster area

jon c. 

No snow here, but we had 4" of rain officially and I clocked 6" in my yard. Got a year end ride in on the 30" but haven't seen a dry road since.

Covid doesn't change my riding as I don't think the risk of hospitalization is sufficient to enter into the equation. And I ride solo so there no group risk concern.

mstateglfr 

The snow is great, but I would take your mountains in a heartbeat.

Seattle Forrest

We got two feet of snow at Snoqualmie Pass, but it's 32F.

If I thought riding a bike was likely enough to land me in the ER for this to be a consideration I wouldn't ride ever.

raceboy

I wound up riding my usual 100 plus change last week while being cautious. But the numbers keep going up and I can’t control other cars or MUP users. Taking it day by day this week and VO may take a break.

plowmanjoe

I've never made biking decisions based on available hospital beds. Maybe if I was doing david blaine type magic stunts, but I don't think my biking is on that level yet.

stevel610 

When's the last time you had a bike crash that required icu level of care?

CliffordK

Interesting concept on reducing "risky activities" that can land a person in the hospital.

Fortunately, around here our hospitals aren't full, and I think they've been generally good at preventing spread of COVID within the facilities.

However, I really don't want a lengthy stay in a COVID ward. It would be both a physical hardship and a financial hardship.

work4bike

Reducing your bike riding because of covid concerns is just people making excuses to drive in their cars. Just admit it, you're too lazy and want to drive.