Keep riding. That’s the thing to do if you’re a cyclist during this coronavirus pandemic. Keep riding. If you can. If you have a bike and a place to ride and you’ve been riding, you should keep on doing it. For your health. For your fitness. For your sanity.
These are difficult times for us all, but if you’ve been a cyclist prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, you can still be one now. There’s no reason to stop. You need a bike and a safe place to ride. You also need the permission of your local or state government. Check with them or their website. In most places, riding along the streets or dedicated bike paths or in parks or in your neighborhood is still allowed.
Be smart. Don’t ride in groups. Keep doing social distancing and use good sense. If you ride with a friend and neither of you have been tested for the virus, again, to be safe, you should maintain the same social distancing.
If you are a racer, then you’ve got to figure out how to fit in some type of training if you can. If you’re having trouble finding safe, good routes to ride outside, if you have a stationary trainer, that can help you fulfill your training needs. Nobody knows if and when races will be held, but if you can train now you’ll more ready if and when racing resumes.
None of this is necessarily going to be easy or even fun. But everyone’s making sacrifices, so some of these things we do to ride will be different, but they won’t be that difficult. Maybe you won’t be able to do the same amount of trainng, or your usual speed and power work. No matter, keep riding. Stay in some kind of shape. There will be racing again one day.
The main thing is to stay safe. Whether you’re indoors with your family if you shelter in place, or whether you work outside your home, the times when you ride, you want it to be as stress free as it can. be. Even if you’re only able to ride less than you usually ride, keep riding. You’ll feel better mentally, emotionally and physically.
We’re fortunate as cyclists to be able to ride. It’s also one of the few safe activities in the face of the virus still available in most places. So ride. Keep riding. Enjoy the ride.
