How do you say that in French?

You think you’ve had it bad? Since March 17 if you were a cyclist in France you were SOL: no outdoor riding of any sort due to pandemic quarantine. Yesterday it was announced that starting May 11 in France you will finally be able to ride your bike outdoors (let alone go outdoors). That will have been almost two months where you either didn’t cycle or Zwift became your BFF. At least here in the US we’ve been able to ride outside.

But what is most interesting about the announcement is the new rules for outdoor cycling in France because we may see something similar here regarding group riding. The new rules will allow cycling only in “authorized open spaces” and only if cyclists use social distancing. You also must ride within 100 km of your home and with no more than 10 people. Social distancing while riding is going to be no less than 10 meters. Also, professional cyclists must train alone—no group rides. (Does that mean that amateur or recreational cyclists don’t have to train alone??) The point is not only to prevent new infections but to reduce any injuries that would impact stressed medical services.

Perhaps when Gov Newsom announces Stage 2 (or 3?) we may officially have group rides again. But if we follow the French lead it’s probably going to be with (a) continued social distancing and probably more than 6 ft, and (b) a size limit on groups. It’s rare these days that we get a club ride of more than 10 people. But if we did we could split the group into two groups of less than 10. (Or is that an example of hair-splitting that I pointed out in the previous blog post?). Or we could limit registration through the website to no more than 10. Speaking of which, this might push us to using the club e-waiver fulltime not only to avoid having to give out a paper waiver and pen at the start but also to control registration.

You can read a summary in English here.

Speaking of having it bad, have you thought about what the quarantine must be like for swimmers? If you’re in the 1% perhaps you have a swimming pool [oh wait, we have a swimming pool…] but more likely you’re not, you don’t, you can’t go to the Y yet, and you’re going to get chased off that beach by the police. Let’s say you’re in Spain too where people are not allowed to go outside. This is how you deal with it.