Stupid cyclists & corona

zest28

I was riding today and a cyclist caught up to me at the stop lights. And to my surprise, this fool decided to hang onto my draft amid a corona virus outbreak.

There was a strong headwind and I was on a long ride, so dropping him was not an option. At some point he decided to be a hero and tried to overtake me, which he was really struggling with. His own pace sucked as I was clearly faster. I dropped back as I do not want to catch corona, but it didn’t take much time for me to close the gap again. So I forced myself a rest break for health safety reasons.

What he should have done after the stop lights is stay out of my draft and continue our rides seperately. He is slower so we would have stayed away from eachother and thus being safe from corona.

I really don’t understand what goes on in the mind of some cyclists. This is not the first time this week were I had a cyclists on my wheel during a corona virus outbreak.

pblakeney

It is not hitting most personally yet so it is not being taken as seriously as it should. Once people realise the full impact and decide to change it will be too late.
95% of my lifetime cycling has been solo so today's reality is my happy place. Until they restrict outdoor cycling. Which is coming.

zest28

I think I will stop outdoor cycling and return to Zwift. Quite a shame as the weather is good enough for outdoor cycling.

But being healthy is more important.

carbonclem

Cool story

ugo.santalucia

They don't realise that if you do the maths, taking into account the delay between contagion and test result and that only 10% of cases get tested, right now there are half a million people with the virus, half of which in London. In two weeks they will be 4 million, just like in Italy. At that point they will know about it, directly or indirectly.

StillGoing

OFFS! They're behind you, what are you worried about. Their choice if they want to take the risk that you're not infected. You're quicker so MTFU and go past them.

Charlie_Croker

There are stupid people everywhere, some of them just happen to be cyclists.
Infact watching the news of late, I feel ashamed to say I’m British

navrig2

StillGoing said:

OFFS! They're behind you, what are you worried about. Their choice if they want to take the risk that you're not infected. You're quicker so MTFU and go past them.

One of the reasons the Italian pro teams were stopped from training wasn't the direct transmission of the virus but the risk associated of an accident calling on the already stretched emergency services. Probably a very low risk of happening but the impact could more of an issue.

A solo cyclist will have less risk of such an accident that two with one drafting.

The OP should have told him to feck off. We all need to be more robust when we see people who are flouting the requirement to reduce social contact.

fenix

StillGoing said:

OFFS! They're behind you, what are you worried about. Their choice if they want to take the risk that you're not infected. You're quicker so MTFU and go past them.

You aren't getting this are you ? That rider will be doing the same all along his ride. He's not flattening the curve.

In Italy - if you're over 60 - then no access to a ventilator. Demand exceeds supply massively. Even if you are young and healthy - there's still a risk.

Don't be like the rider. Don't risk it.

StillGoing

Yes I am getting it. He's behindhand slower so what does it matter. If he wants to be an entrant for the Darwin Awards, then he's a prat. The whole scenario could have been dealt with by simply dropping him if the OP was so much faster than him and is so adamantly concerned for everyone else's health. But no, instead, go on a forum and whine about him. Sounds more like the OP was angry because someone wheel sucked them.

neeb

StillGoing said:

Yes I am getting it. He's behindhand slower so what does it matter. If he wants to be an entrant for the Darwin Awards, then he's a prat.

No, you are NOT getting it. It matters because if the person drafting the OP catches the virus off of him (no one knows who has it), then both are involved in a transmission event that will, quite probably, result in people dying further down the line. At this stage in the process each transmission has the potential to be the ultimate source of hundreds of transmissions. Some of these people will die. It's not about the Darwin awards (the OP and the person drafting will probably be fine), it's about the OP not wanting to be an unwilling partner in in an action that could quite possibly kill many people.

StillGoing said:

The whole scenario could have been dealt with by simply dropping him if the OP was so much faster than him and is so adamantly concerned for everyone else's health. But no, instead, go on a forum and whine about him. Sounds more like the OP was angry because someone wheel sucked them.

You don't seem to understand how drafting works. To drop him (assuming the drafter was trying not to be dropped), the OP would need to be stronger by an amount equal to the the drafting effect. That's quite a lot.

thecycleclinic

ugo.santalucia said:

They don't realise that if you do the maths, taking into account the delay between contagion and test result and that only 10% of cases get tested, right now there are half a million people with the virus, half of which in London. In two weeks they will be 4 million, just like in Italy. At that point they will know about it, directly or indirectly.

Exactly. It's already to late. Part of the reason why the infection rate is slowing in italy is there so many ready infected. Of course the government there will.claim it's the strict isolation measures but in reality the infection will slow as more of the population become immune.

Drafting is a bit daft though. Then again people.havjng been calling 999 to ask if they can go out.

kingstongraham

It's not too late. It's going to get bad, but it could always be worse.

StillGoing

neeb said:

StillGoing said:

Yes I am getting it. He's behindhand slower so what does it matter. If he wants to be an entrant for the Darwin Awards, then he's a prat.

No, you are NOT getting it. It matters because if the person drafting the OP catches the virus off of him (no one knows who has it), then both are involved in a transmission event that will, quite probably, result in people dying further down the line. At this stage in the process each transmission has the potential to be the ultimate source of hundreds of transmissions. Some of these people will die. It's not about the Darwin awards (the OP and the person drafting will probably be fine), it's about the OP not wanting to be an unwilling partner in in an action that could quite possibly kill many people.

StillGoing said:

The whole scenario could have been dealt with by simply dropping him if the OP was so much faster than him and is so adamantly concerned for everyone else's health. But no, instead, go on a forum and whine about him. Sounds more like the OP was angry because someone wheel sucked them.

You don't seem to understand how drafting works. To drop him (assuming the drafter was trying not to be dropped), the OP would need to be stronger by an amount equal to the the drafting effect. That's quite a lot.

Utter bollox. This is whining because someone drafted them. The OP claimed to be so much faster, so drop them. It isn't just put the power down and go, it's stop starting and upset the rhythm of them. P1ss them off in other words or just simply tell them to p1ss off of your back wheel.

Charlie_Croker

StillGoing said:

Utter bollox. This is whining because someone drafted them. The OP claimed to be so much faster, so drop them. It isn't just put the power down and go, it's stop starting and upset the rhythm of them. P1ss them off in other words or just simply tell them to p1ss off of your back wheel.

OP said 'There was a strong headwind and I was on a long ride, so dropping him was not an option'
Yes he is whining because somebody drafted him, as he said 'amid a corona virus outbreak'

kingstongraham

StillGoing said:

neeb said:

StillGoing said:

Yes I am getting it. He's behindhand slower so what does it matter. If he wants to be an entrant for the Darwin Awards, then he's a prat.

No, you are NOT getting it. It matters because if the person drafting the OP catches the virus off of him (no one knows who has it), then both are involved in a transmission event that will, quite probably, result in people dying further down the line. At this stage in the process each transmission has the potential to be the ultimate source of hundreds of transmissions. Some of these people will die. It's not about the Darwin awards (the OP and the person drafting will probably be fine), it's about the OP not wanting to be an unwilling partner in in an action that could quite possibly kill many people.

StillGoing said:

The whole scenario could have been dealt with by simply dropping him if the OP was so much faster than him and is so adamantly concerned for everyone else's health. But no, instead, go on a forum and whine about him. Sounds more like the OP was angry because someone wheel sucked them.

You don't seem to understand how drafting works. To drop him (assuming the drafter was trying not to be dropped), the OP would need to be stronger by an amount equal to the the drafting effect. That's quite a lot.

Utter bollox. This is whining because someone drafted them. The OP claimed to be so much faster, so drop them. It isn't just put the power down and go, it's stop starting and upset the rhythm of them. P1ss them off in other words or just simply tell them to p1ss off of your back wheel.

This is like the end of summer on here, people picking fights because they're bored.

fenix

Gonna be a long summer....

ugo.santalucia

I think it's about time mods lock this thread....

neeb

I'm done with it!