Cycling South Australia’s position regarding COVID-19 has been updated today to reflect the new landscape we find ourselves in. As per the government advice recommending avoiding all non-essential gatherings, CSA no longer recommends recreational group riding. Riding your bike should be done in the same manner as all things right now: namely, physically isolated from all others as much as possible.
If you do decide to continue riding your bike outside, some points of consideration:
It is more likely every day that with schools, many workplaces and retail stores continuing to trade, that community transmission will become much more prevalent, as we’ve seen in other countries. In this case, we may be mandated by law to “shelter in place” and not be able to ride recreationally anyway. If you can, you should take a moment to prepare for this. Thinking of using the time to service your bikes? Head down to your local bike shop and buy some tools, or order them in. Want to learn to ride rollers? Find some in a friend’s shed they don’t use, or purchase some from your local bike shop. Want to learn to track stand? Clear some space in your yard and go ahead. Going to be spending a million hours on the trainer? Head down to your local bike shop and grab some lube for the weeks ahead so you’re not reduced to using olive oil or shampoo or something ridiculous. Many of our beloved shops have had to close their doors in the last few years, and we’ll only lose more of them if we don’t support them now. Call ahead, pay with contactless and ask them to meet you at the door, or see if they can deliver.
A final point - there are video chat options on Messenger, most phones, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and others. Now is the time to learn to use them, to teach your family to use them. Almost all of us are constantly in front of screens connected to the internet, and there’s such a difference between texting someone and being able to see their face, use your voice to speak to them out loud, to laugh and smile with them. It might just make your (and their) day!