A ride out to Culross - Fife

[SteveW]

I'm a bit confused.
I can go out for a ride on my push bike, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go out for a walk, with family members, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go to work on a bus or a train to my non-essential job and mix with other people.
Why can't I go out for a ride on my motorcycle, provided I don't mix with other people?
I've got a tank range of 220miles I wouldn't need to visit a fuel station.
It's the mixing with people bit that's important, or the touching of handrails, door handles etc...that other people have touched or will touch, isn't it?
Am I missing something here?

It's not really about contact, Steve. It's about not crashing. We all know that when we go out on our bikes we risk screwing it up, or someone screwing it up for us. Doesn't matter what a careful, skillful, accomplished rider you are. We know that motorcycling is dangerous, and we know that we might crash. It's what makes it exciting and fun during normal times. But for a while this year we are not in normal times.

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

But this year, with Covid, it's different. If you crash now, you will divert a whole ambulance crew (maybe even a helicopter if the crash is bad enough), from attending a covid case, and you will take up a critical care bed that is needed for someone in desperate respiratory need. You will divert staff, many of them, from their priority task right now. Our jobs, all of us, during this crisis, is to REMOVE the pressure on our health service, NOT to add to it.

All this requires that we do is be dull for a while. Just this year. Be boring. Leave the bike in its garage, just this Summer. There will be other Summers to have fun.

What a well constructed response to my post.
I though I may be missing something!
What a coincidence it would be for me to have a crash that required hospitalisation in these times, after 40 years of safe incident free motorcycling......but coincidences do happen.
I have however hurt myself a few times on a pushbike.....C'est la vie!

[daveuprite]

I'm a bit confused.
I can go out for a ride on my push bike, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go out for a walk, with family members, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go to work on a bus or a train to my non-essential job and mix with other people.
Why can't I go out for a ride on my motorcycle, provided I don't mix with other people?
I've got a tank range of 220miles I wouldn't need to visit a fuel station.
It's the mixing with people bit that's important, or the touching of handrails, door handles etc...that other people have touched or will touch, isn't it?
Am I missing something here?

It's not really about contact, Steve. It's about not crashing. We all know that when we go out on our bikes we risk screwing it up, or someone screwing it up for us. Doesn't matter what a careful, skillful, accomplished rider you are. We know that motorcycling is dangerous, and we know that we might crash. It's what makes it exciting and fun during normal times. But for a while this year we are not in normal times.

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

But this year, with Covid, it's different. If you crash now, you will divert a whole ambulance crew (maybe even a helicopter if the crash is bad enough), from attending a covid case, and you will take up a critical care bed that is needed for someone in desperate respiratory need. You will divert staff, many of them, from their priority task right now. Our jobs, all of us, during this crisis, is to REMOVE the pressure on our health service, NOT to add to it.

All this requires that we do is be dull for a while. Just this year. Be boring. Leave the bike in its garage, just this Summer. There will be other Summers to have fun.

What a well constructed response to my post.
I though I may be missing something!
What a coincidence it would be for me to have a crash that required hospitalisation in these times, after 40 years of safe incident free motorcycling......but coincidences do happen.
I have however hurt myself a few times on a pushbike.....C'est la vie!

Just an idea, Steve. There's a general call for volunteers right now, to help the NHS. Of course, that ideally mean qualified or semi-qualified nursing volunteers - but perhaps they need bikers to ferry blood around, samples, equipment ? Maybe give them a call and see if you could be useful to the cause while still being allowed to do some riding?

[SteveW]

I've just registered with GoodSam as a volunteer/responder.

[daveuprite]

I've just registered with GoodSam as a volunteer/responder.

Great. Hopefully you'll be allocated some work and get out and about.

I spent a few hours yesterday in my van delivering prescriptions around our commune. The pharmacies have set up a rota system for volunteers.
Didn't touch or really meet a soul. Just left the packages on the doorsteps.

Not that I really wanted them, but the rewards for me were to get out in our lovely countryside on a beautifully sunny day, with totally empty roads, to prevent lots of individual journeys and chances of contact amongst the clients, and to provide a community service. I also collected and delivered half a tonne of horse feed to a small network of local horse owners - which will keep them alive and well for a fair while. It's small fry in the scheme of things, and I'm absolutely not saying all this to make out I'm some kind of hero, but it just shows that there are often small things you can do to help out...

[DavidS]

I am on our Parish Council and we have an emergency meeting via Zoom tonight to set up a volunteer scheme etc for the village.
However, we are a small place with a high number of older people so those needing ‘help’ might potentially outnumber the potential helpers.
At 65, I have found out today that I am at almost the same high risk than the over 70’s or younger people with underlying health problems. I wouldn’t have linked the two but it curbs my ability to offer assistance elsewhere.

One stupid part of the Data Protection Act was that, when we were compiling our Emergency Plan a few years ago, we weren’t allowed to keep a record of ‘vulnerable’ residents as it invaded their privacy.,

[Sanqhar]

I'm a bit confused.
I can go out for a ride on my push bike, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go out for a walk, with family members, provided I don't mix with other people.
I can go to work on a bus or a train to my non-essential job and mix with other people.
Why can't I go out for a ride on my motorcycle, provided I don't mix with other people?
I've got a tank range of 220miles I wouldn't need to visit a fuel station.
It's the mixing with people bit that's important, or the touching of handrails, door handles etc...that other people have touched or will touch, isn't it?
Am I missing something here?

It's not really about contact, Steve. It's about not crashing. We all know that when we go out on our bikes we risk screwing it up, or someone screwing it up for us. Doesn't matter what a careful, skillful, accomplished rider you are. We know that motorcycling is dangerous, and we know that we might crash. It's what makes it exciting and fun during normal times. But for a while this year we are not in normal times.

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

But this year, with Covid, it's different. If you crash now, you will divert a whole ambulance crew (maybe even a helicopter if the crash is bad enough), from attending a covid case, and you will take up a critical care bed that is needed for someone in desperate respiratory need. You will divert staff, many of them, from their priority task right now. Our jobs, all of us, during this crisis, is to REMOVE the pressure on our health service, NOT to add to it.

All this requires that we do is be dull for a while. Just this year. Be boring. Leave the bike in its garage, just this Summer. There will be other Summers to have fun.

What a well constructed response to my post.
I though I may be missing something!
What a coincidence it would be for me to have a crash that required hospitalisation in these times, after 40 years of safe incident free motorcycling......but coincidences do happen.
I have however hurt myself a few times on a pushbike.....C'est la vie!

...and then you're at risk from catching the virus in the hospital.

tom

[chunky butt]

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

Hey Dave, hope you don't talk that up (breaking bones bit) stay safe buddy.

[daveuprite]

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

Hey Dave, hope you don't talk that up (breaking bones bit) stay safe buddy.

Yeah, too true Stevey. Given some of the daft crap we get up to on dirt days, it's a miracle none of us have had a bad injury yet. Partly thanks to all our ninja turtle body protectors and knee pads etc. I guess.

When we come out safe and healthy the other side of this virus, we'll probably have an epic dirt day and all kill ourselves over some bloody cliff...

[macvisual]

I never thought my basic ride report would turn into two pages of discussion.

mac

[chunky butt]

In a normal year, the consequences of crashing your bike are the deployment of an ambulance, hospital staff and a recovery bed etc - but it is broadly within the capacity of the health service to carry this out and it's what we pay our taxes for blah blah blah. I love riding too, and I am prepared in normal times for that to mean breaking a leg, collar bone or perhaps much worse. And in normal times I wouldn't feel guilty taking up health service time/facilities as an unfortunate occasional by-product of my hobby.

Hey Dave, hope you don't talk that up (breaking bones bit) stay safe buddy.

Yeah, too true Stevey. Given some of the daft crap we get up to on dirt days, it's a miracle none of us have had a bad injury yet. Partly thanks to all our ninja turtle body protectors and knee pads etc. I guess.

When we come out safe and healthy the other side of this virus, we'll probably have an epic dirt day and all kill ourselves over some bloody cliff...

I'm in, well up for that