Covid 19 worries !

billwarwick

E*POWAH Elite
Oct 1, 2018
664
1,496
warwick
Bugger. We're booked to go in May for the LHG's 50th.
You could always suggest a weekend in the Forest of Dean instead. Very nice at that time of year ?. Things might have changed by May, you never know. I have cancelled hotel but obvs can’t cancel flights so will wait and see what happens but not hopeful.
 

StuE

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Jun 4, 2018
282
298
Leeds
.....and that does not even take account of the far greater global interconnectivity that now exists. Even so advocates of globalisation and certainly open borders may now be thinking twice.
You are forgetting the huge movement of troops across the globe just after WW1 and the conditions the troops travelled in aboard troop ships, spread of the disease wouldn't have been anything like as widespread if it wasn't for these factors
 

GrahamPaul

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Nov 6, 2019
1,127
1,088
Andalucía
I've only been dipping into the thread on odd occasions, but have just read something on a Spanish site which is very pertinent:

We take part in a dangerous sport which has a very high risk of ending up in hospital. The hospitals are now very stretched and will soon be at breaking point.

Is practicing your latest high risk jump or massive drop a really sensible thing to do? You may well find yourself searching for a hospital that can treat your broken bones.

And, more to the point, you'll be taking a bed and professional care away from someone who hasn't got a self-inflicted injury.

Worth a thought?
 

b45her

Member
Dec 1, 2019
94
87
wales
f you read the information about it on the WHO website, it does appear that most sources are sensationalising things just a bit.
They state its not as contagious as influenza and also it is only transmittable from people who have the symptoms, unlike flu which can be passed on from someone who has no idea they even have it.
the concern is that because it is new no one has an immunity to it unlike flu which lots of people do.
If your very old or have a serious underlying respiratory problem be concerned, otherwise don't worry about it, your more likley to be killed in a hand sanitiser related brawl.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
Correct and even with the flu immunity totally depends on whether any outbreak is in the same form as your vaccination or whether the virus has mutated and by how much.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
I've only been dipping into the thread on odd occasions, but have just read something on a Spanish site which is very pertinent:

We take part in a dangerous sport which has a very high risk of ending up in hospital. The hospitals are now very stretched and will soon be at breaking point.

Is practicing your latest high risk jump or massive drop a really sensible thing to do? You may well find yourself searching for a hospital that can treat your broken bones.

And, more to the point, you'll be taking a bed and professional care away from someone who hasn't got a self-inflicted injury.

Worth a thought?
Certainly......and not only in the current circumstances.
 

miPbiP

E*POWAH Master
Jul 8, 2019
756
805
Surrey Hills.
f you read the information about it on the WHO website, it does appear that most sources are sensationalising things just a bit.
They state its not as contagious as influenza and also it is only transmittable from people who have the symptoms, unlike flu which can be passed on from someone who has no idea they even have it.
the concern is that because it is new no one has an immunity to it unlike flu which lots of people do.
If your very old or have a serious underlying respiratory problem be concerned, otherwise don't worry about it, your more likley to be killed in a hand sanitiser related brawl.

most of us are going to get this at some point I think.

a significant number (20%) of people who contract it need hospitalisation due to breathing difficulties. that's a huge strain on medical services. (and some people die - not many as a %ge but that's no consolation if it's you or someone you hold dear, could still well be a 6 figure number in the UK).

by being prudent and doing you best to delay or avoid contracting it and hence perhaps passing it on you're helping relieve burden on medical services others may desperately need. and you're increasing the odds someone vulnerable may not catch it from you, avoiding suffering and maybe an unpleasant death for them.

which is a long way of saying, again in this thread,

IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU
 

miPbiP

E*POWAH Master
Jul 8, 2019
756
805
Surrey Hills.
FWIW I'm asthmatic, this thing could seriously fuck me up. Efforts by non-vulnerable people to control it could make a difference.
 

SquireRides

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Sep 4, 2018
540
557
UK
We take part in a dangerous sport which has a very high risk of ending up in hospital.

Not the way I ride! If there's a shut down, I'm going to be out on the trail bumbling along in the fresh air. No harm done. Just have to skip the cafe break, probably.

It's that or stay home and get some DIY done. Now that would be dangerous...
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
I’m on Keto, do you think they could chuck bacon instead?
Be careful when saying that mtb is dangerous in this forum, people may start throwing bananas at you.
Accidents happen and every weekend a and e sees the usual rash of football players and horse riders! There is a difference between the risk involved in any sport and the injuries incurred through not wearing appropriate protective equipment or mitigating risk beforehand. I windsurf and witness those that end up needing rescue often through not checking wind and tide forecasts or not keeping their kit in good condition....or venturing out in conditions they cannot handle. If you wear protective gear maintain your bike well and ride within your skill level .....or at least only push the limits where the consequence of getting it wrong are low.....fair enough. Like windsurfing there can be a macho/ peer pressure element and that often leads to tears!
 

Fivetones

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Feb 11, 2019
898
905
Cheshire
f you read the information about it on the WHO website, it does appear that most sources are sensationalising things just a bit.
They state its not as contagious as influenza and also it is only transmittable from people who have the symptoms, unlike flu which can be passed on from someone who has no idea they even have it.
the concern is that because it is new no one has an immunity to it unlike flu which lots of people do.
If your very old or have a serious underlying respiratory problem be concerned, otherwise don't worry about it, your more likley to be killed in a hand sanitiser related brawl.

Facts:

Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19)

If you’re going to make assertions about what WHO are saying (based on current knowledge) provide explicit links please.
 

DrKrown

New Member
Dec 11, 2018
34
62
Italy
Hi guys, my apologies for my bad english... I will try to be clear as much as I can.
I'm an emtbiker like you, living in Lombardy, Italy, one of the places in the world where the virus is hitting harder.
Yesterday I've read all your posts, and I decided to join the discussion, just to let you know what is happening there, and to give you a friendly suggestion.
I would let you avoid the big mistakes we made there.

Straight to the point: don't underestimate this emergency. Don't wait for your Government decisions, don't wait till the virus will be in your neighborhood. Please learn from our experience, you are now in a better position than us, you can move quickly and early.

We italians were talking as many of you.
We underestimated the problem.
Take a look at this picture:
27329-e166cc0ce9525c88544220a1ec6b446b.jpg

This was taken from home balcony this morning. Deep center of my town, usually full of people and traffic jam. Full of shops, bar and so on.
Nobody outside, we are forced to stay at home: if you go out, police will stop you asking where you going and why. Schools closed, shops closed, everything closed. Only ambulances coming and going all day.
This happens when you underestimate this emergency.

At the moment, you have just one effective way to fight this pandemic: YOU HAVE TO STAY AT HOME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Avoid places with lot of people. Avoid moving around if not necessary.

Don't think that the virus is as dangerous as flu, and someway not so dangerous for young and healthy people.
This could be true, but this is not the point.
The point is that a very high percentage of infected people, to fight the virus, will need soon machines for forced lung ventilation (hope my translation could fit!). So in a few days you could find 100 people with the need for those machines in front of an hospital with just 80 available. Here the nightmare begins. And the number of infected people grows up every hour.
This is the real emergency: in Italy we have more infected people than ventilation machines.
And if you can't breath... you don't want to wait for the next available device.
We have seen a document for hospitals with instructions about how to choose between people in the need for ventilation machines: younger first. Think about it.

As bikers, we are asked not to bike anywhere. Not for the danger of infection.
WE DON'T HAVE TO BIKE BECAUSE IN CASE OF A CRASH NO DOCTORS ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO PICK YOU UP. You can't risk to go to the hospital for a broken leg.
In Italy, to take care of all the infected people, the Government is calling back retired doctors, students... No coffee breaks for healthcare professionals, no weekends, nothing: just imagine their face if they have to take care of you biker because you crashed on a drop.

So please... to protect weak people, your family, your friends, your community... STAY AT HOME. DON'T MOVE.
Be quick, you are in time. Learn from our mistakes.
 
Last edited:

R120

Moderator
Subscriber
Apr 13, 2018
7,819
9,190
Surrey
Hi guys, my apologies for my bad english... I will try to be clear as much as I can.
I'm an emtbiker like you, living in Lombardy, Italy, one of the places in the world where the virus is hitting harder.
Yesterday I've read all your posts, and I decided to join the discussion, just to let you know what is happening there, and to give you a friendly suggestion.
I would let you avoid the big mistakes we made there.

Straight to the point: don't underestimate this emergency. Don't wait for your Government decisions, don't wait till the virus will be in your neighborhood. Please learn from our experience, you are now in a better position than us, you can move quick and early.

We italians were talking as many of you.
We underestimate the problem.
Take a look at this picture:
27329-e166cc0ce9525c88544220a1ec6b446b.jpg

This was taken from home balcony this morning. Deep center of my town, usually full of people and traffic jam. Full of shops, bar and so on.
Nobody outside, we are forced to stay at home: if you go out, police will stop you asking where you going and why. Schools closed, shops closed, everything closed. Only ambulances coming and going all day.
This happens when you underestimate this emergency.

At the moment, you have just one effective way to fight that pandemic: YOU HAVE TO STAY AT HOME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Avoid places with lot of people. Avoid moving around if not necessary.

Don't think that the virus is as dangerous as flu, and someway not so dangerous for young and healthy people.
This could be true, but this is not the point.
The point is that a very high percentage of infected people, to fight the virus, will need machines for lung ventilation (hope the translation could fit!). So in a few days you could find 100 people with the need for those machines in front of an hospital with just 80 available. Here the nightmare begins.
This is the real emergency: in Italy we have more infected people than ventilation machines.
And if you can't breath... you don't want to wait for the next available one.
We have seen a document for hospitals with instructions about how to choose between people in the need for ventilation machines: younger first. Think about it.

As bikers, we are asked not to bike anywhere. Not for the danger of infection.
WE DON'T HAVE TO BIKE BECAUSE IN CASE OF A CRASH NO DOCTORS ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO PICK YOU UP. You can't risk to go to the hospital for a broken leg.
In Italy, to take care of all the infected people, the Government is calling back retired doctors, students... No break for healthcare professionals, no weekends, nothing: just imagine their face if they have to take care of you biker after a crash on a trail.

So please... to protect weak people, your family, your friends, your community... STAY AT HOME. DON'T MOVE.
Be quick, you are in time. Learn from our mistakes.
Many thanks for this, stay safe and take care of yourself
 

ImSundee

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2020
328
315
Oxford
Hi guys, my apologies for my bad english... I will try to be clear as much as I can.
I'm an emtbiker like you, living in Lombardy, Italy, one of the places in the world where the virus is hitting harder.
**snip**

Cheers for your view from inside, really interesting to see it from someone thats on the inside!

Stay safe and hope you get to rip again soon!
 

Pdoz

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Feb 16, 2019
1,112
1,206
Maffra Victoria Australia
Drjtown - thankyou.

For the Aussies on here - as of today you have a window of opportunity to get your basic health care needs prepared. With the telehealth items being approved for people over 50 with chronic disease /everyone over 70 , chances are your gp clinic is rapidly trying to put in place mechanisms for you to get your scripts etc. Please consider doing this in the next couple of weeks, because once our gp's catch this it's going to get harder to provide basic non covid health care. Stay away from clinics if you can, use the phone and PLEASE be patient with that poor receptionist - imagine going to work knowing your job has a significant risk of killing you today.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
My sympathies to those in Italy. I think you were unfortunate to be exposed to the virus before even knowing it existed. Here in the UK the Govt clearly sees the pressures on medical resources you describe as the main problem to try to alleviate so its aim is to try to avoid the large peak in demand in favour of a more manageable demand level spread over a longer period. I am in the higher risk age group and pretty sure many like me are taking sensible precautions to avoid large gatherings etc and washing our hands. Older riders tend to be more risk adverse than young guns and I am also concerned to maintain my level of fitness, so I will keep riding. After all a strong healthy immune system is the only defence any of us have against this and many other viruses including Flu.
I hope things improve soon for you people in Italy.
 

B1rdie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
Feb 14, 2019
898
1,101
Brazil
My suggestion of a good reading for these times of self immersion:
Mastering mountain bike skills by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack.
And for the ones who would rather not even think mtb:
Light on Yoga by Iyengar
?
 

Wernher

Active member
May 30, 2019
180
181
Cape St Francis
So here in South Africa the annual Cape Epic is going on as usual but two teams have withdrawn. Team Trek Selle San Marco and Specialized. In sure some others will follow.
 

Wernher

Active member
May 30, 2019
180
181
Cape St Francis
personally i think its going to hit us (western countries ) extremely hard , the chinese are an authoritative state and people were forced to stay in like a curfew , with apparently violators getting punished or even beaten . that would never happen here , i mean they built 2 hospitals in 10 days , we couldn't do that in years , in the coming weeks the safest place in the world will probably be Wuhan , ironically !
I agree with what you say. There is another angle also though and that is that it got it of control in Wuhan by the time they implemented the quarantine. A lot of the people that became sick later we probably already infected and then some who thought they were still well continued to infect others. Once they implemented the quarantine you can see initially a continued ride in people infected obviously die to previous exposure and then they slowly started getting it under control.

Europe is going to be difficult to manage with open borders and lots of tourists. In the end there is no way to completely do the virus from spreading. Third world countries are going to be really hard hit.

I'm not scared of the virus but I certainly don't go looking for it because if it affects your lungs like pneumonia it is very bad on any case. Even normal pneumonia affects one's health for a long time after recovery so best to adhere to the safety suggestions and keep a date distance.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,568
5,060
Weymouth
Yes, it has been suggested that the virus started in China in Nov 2019 but it was not notified to the WHO until mid Jan 2020 by which time the wealthy Chinese had their peak holiday time with Italy being a favoured destination.
On the subject of self quarantine or at least isolation I was interested to read how pro roadies self isolate and take anti bacterial measures as a matter of course in the lead up to major competitions to avoid any illness prior to the event. Those measures often part of their sponsorship contracts. That said I think it is generally accepted now that being too liberal with anti bacterial sprays and wipes can deny the body's ability to develop its own immunity from everyday bugs. As someone who is always messing with gardening or bike/ van maintenance my hands have never been so clean! In fact I am in danger of getting soft hands which is not good for a windsurfer!
 

GrahamPaul

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Nov 6, 2019
1,127
1,088
Andalucía
Y
On the subject of self quarantine or at least isolation I was interested to read how pro roadies self isolate and take anti bacterial measures as a matter of course in the lead up to major competitions to avoid any illness prior to the event. Those measures often part of their sponsorship contracts.

But what I still can't understand with the roadies is that their bidons are still the "old fashioned" type with an exposed mouthpiece. You only need to see the shit washed up on their legs (and bidons) from damp roads to realise that this is a source of innumerable tummy bugs (as regularly reported in the TDF commentary).

It's all cattle farming around here. I wouldn't dream of having an "open" mouthpiece strapped to my bike. I'd never be off the bog!

(Oh look: here comes another :poop: in my likes profile :ROFLMAO:)
 

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