Alone Together

The current pandemic has eliminated group rides so all my rides are solo rides and I suspect that will be true for some time. There is talk about starting to reopening certain parts of the economy but they are just in the planning phase (except for a few crazy states who think that barbershops and salons can operation safely). You know its bad when even Insane Clown Posse is shutting down all concerts and gatherings because this stuff is too insane for even them.

To fill in the social gap from not riding with the gang I have been scheduling a zoom meeting every Friday to catch up with them. At this point, over a month into the lock down, everybody is getting good at these meetings and if you look at the top left corner of the picture you can see that even my dog knows how to join a zoom meeting.

These zoom meetings are not the same as physically getting together but they are fun and help us get together and check up on each other. And that is the important part. Even though we are riding alone its still important to get together in other ways to help the Insane bike posse be a little less insane.

Today I did a 50 mile ride to Rova farms. Laura was in the hills and was planning on crossing paths with some of the gang. It was too far for me to ride from home so I sent her a picture of me instead and told her to say hi.

I did notice today on my ride that there were a lot more people out in both cars and bikes. Although all parks are suppose to be closed Etra was open and people were out in the park walking around and playing soccer. As the weather gets nicer I'm wondering how many people will stay home and inside.

Over the pass few weeks of solo rides I have noticed that although most people are keeping their distance some are not. I saw a couple of group of bikers who riding as close as we use to and even got passed by a few bikers a little closer than I should of. I'm trying to take a sensible approved to riding out in the real world to minimize my chances of exposure without becoming paranoid about it. So here are my general rules.

• When moving I try to be at least 20 feet from any other rider.
• When I'm stopped I try to be 6-10 feet from anybody.
• If I have to pass another rider I try and wait until there is no traffic and pass as far to the left as possible. 
•  Although it is against my normal way of riding I'm now avoiding or going around road closures if there are workers or police there. I don't want to add any extra problems or anxiety to people already in a tough situation. I also don't think interacting with police is a good idea since there is no doubt that most of them have been in contact with people who have been sick. 
• I bring all I need to eat and drink with me so I don't have to go into any store
• I try to avoid town centers where it could be crowded. 

Basically I am trying to avoid any unneeded contact with anybody. It makes for a bit of a lonely ride but I'm still glad to be able to get out and ride.