Honestly, up until a few days ago, I hadn’t paid much attention to how much the coronavirus would impact life. I should have caught on to the severity weeks ago, when Gerow started to feel the measures of the outbreak in Italy. For those who don’t know, Singletracks’ other staff writer is located in the Northern region of Italy, where citizens are now quarantined to their homes for a month.
Most of us have largely ignored the warning signs and waited until the day before a seemingly impending doom to rush to the store and get everything we need. Pressure in the US started to culminate toward the middle of last week. For myself, I’ve worked from home for about two years now, so I’m pretty isolated from society most of the time anyway.
When there’s a snowstorm in Denver and cars are sliding all over the freeways on Monday morning, I’m carrying my mug of coffee from my kitchen, upstairs to my office. When I need something from the store, I’m confident enough in my driving ability and my Subaru that I plow through the powdered streets regardless, and the grocery stores might be low on certain things, but they’re usually not wiped clean.
To get to the store last week, on a sunny day, and realize that there were things I actually needed that the store didn’t have, was a harsh realization. And, so was the little thumbnail image of the person wearing a gas mask on the suggested documentary for the Spanish Flu when I was flipping through YouTube on Saturday night to watch Nate Hills’ latest videos from Sedona. These not-so-subtle signals suggest that life is changing rapidly, and although mountain biking has been a major part of our lives in one way or another, it’s going to have to take a backseat for a little while. And that’s a tough pill to swallow.
A week and a half ago when I was at the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival for Singletracks, the attitude amongst festival goers was to carry on and ride, with few precautions. I was still shaking hands and hugging friends that I hadn’t seen in a little while, high-fiving after rides, sharing beers, and squeezing in shuttle vans. Throughout the weekend, that started to change. Hand shakes turned into fist bumps, and those turned into elbow bumps.
The day before the festival started, Sea Otter officially announced that they would reschedule until six months later in October. I wondered aloud with other industry reps what that meant for product launches. It’s no secret that a lot of mountain bike products come from China, and at least one brand I spoke with said that their new bike for the year will be delayed because of slowed production, and because they planned to launch the bike around Sea Otter.
Then a press camp that I was supposed to attend for a bike launch was cancelled. I had one other trip planned as of the morning I wrote this, and I decided to cancel it, even though it wasn’t for a formal event or gathering. It just seemed like the most responsible thing to do. World Cup races are postponed, as are races for the Enduro World Series, and what seemed like hasty decisions and overreactions are solidifying into this international public health phenomena that is pulling our lives to a standstill.
Here in Colorado, Governor Polis has suspended dining inside restaurants and bars for the next month. My partner and someday-wife works at a brewery, and is now unemployed. Suddenly, instead of planning out my next bike build, or camping trip, I’m considering withdrawing my retirement just in case we face a financial hardship and need to pay the mortgage on the house we just bought less than two months ago.
Suddenly the economy is screeching to a halt, and we’re all realizing that it would have been wise to have more of the basic necessities like toilet paper and canned goods, rather than sealant or color-matching decals.
Suddenly, it seems like a good time to stop browsing bike photos on Instagram and call my grandma instead.
Suddenly, mountain biking seems much less important than it was a week ago. And the strange thing is, that in another way, I’m clutching on to it with whitened knuckles.
As more countries, cities, and states are following Italy’s actions, and quarantining in one form or another, most of us in America still have the chance to enjoy our bikes, responsibly. Over the weekend, I noticed crowded trailheads and a spike in friends sharing their outdoor adventures online, either embracing or mocking social distancing.
For myself, I’m going to deal with the stress of a halted income and even more social isolation the same way that I’ve dealt with emotional breakups, or bad days at work. I’m going to pull up my chamois, nice and high, ratchet down the Boa dials on my shoes, and let the serotonin flow. I just may not invite anyone else. For all of us, it’s the least and most we can do at this time. Skip the group rides, don’t get on anyone else’s bike, and definitely do not share a beer after the ride.
If we do get quarantined at home, there are still plenty of mountain bike videos on YouTube, and the trails will be in great shape when we can ride them again. For now, we all need to be mindful of how even a ride by ourselves can impact greater society, even if that means skipping the gnarly lines on the trail, because the lines at the hospital will be even worse. I’ve always hated this sentiment, because to myself and my closest friends, bikes are a way of life. But for now, it’s just mountain biking.
Yes life has sure changed for me too. I still ride when I can, alone and with additional safety gear. I live in a rural area and have always had a good supply of necessities. Everyone should be isolating themselves as best they can. I expect this is going to last awhile.
Thank you for this article. I am a retired physician. When I was in medical school there were still hospitals devoted only to the care of TB patients. We were told, “You won’t get TB from the patient you know has TB because you’ll take precautions. You’ll get it from the person who has TB but doesn’t know it yet.” As the experts have made clear, hospital are not equipped to deal with a hugh influx of new patients – they are running at near capacity under normal conditions. We ALL need to get on board with the program to help out in this crisis.
Younger people can get asymptomatic disease and spread it widely unwittingly. The efforts at social distancing by most of us can be sabotaged by the actions of the noncompliant – either through ignorance or selfishness. Today on the news I saw that beaches in Florida were packed with people ignoring the advice of the experts.
We can act responsibly. Thanks for this article.
great article, I’m on my second day of quarantine here in Quito Ecuador, its not as strict as in Italy but really close to it, I’m great-full that I can still tele-work but I have friends that cannot. at least here the supermarkets are still ok and no fear-shopping has happened, and I guess once this whole virus threat goes away, would finally be able to ride my new Enduro bike that got 4 days ago,, cheers and keep safe all of you.
To be honest I had not thought of me getting hurt on the trail and then needing to see a doctor. Not that I have not gotten hurt riding but never required me a doctor’s visit. The realization brings a bit of levity on the situation. I am healthy and wouldn’t expect to get hurt but I don’t want to go to the doc right now. Gives me pause and now considering maybe I still ride but make sure I am dialing in back. Maybe is not the time to ride on the edge or practice skills I am not already comfortable with. It is time to get out and enjoy the trail well within in my limits.
Naw I say ride or die bros/bitches/non-binary folks. But for real don’t go full sendero anytime soon.
It’s just a Coronavirus too. More people will die of hepatitis today and tomorrow than all Corona deaths. More people will die from influenza. It’s been apparent for some time it’s not nearly as dangerous as first thought. The numbers just don’t add up. This has all been a massive overreaction that’s crushed the economy and will put millions out of work. Unfortunately, reasonable voices are drowned out by the doomsday prepping ignorami. It appears there’s a end-of-days Christian legacy thing going on as this is our 10th (10th!) and worse apocalyptic scare these last 20 years. Hopefully next time people will be twice shy.
I understand the sentiment, but none of us know if more people will die of X than Coronavirus yet. There’s a lot of uncertainty which has people erring on the side of caution for now. Obviously we’re all hoping it’s not as bad as X, and many are doing what they can to nudge the outcome toward a rosier scenario.
I see the message has still not gotten through to some. The issue facing us is that hospitals CANNOT handle a massive new influx of patients as they are already running near capacity in normal times. If we see in the US what has happened in other countries there will also be a shortage of protective gear for the health care workers. I’m a retired doctor. It is infuriating that my friends, doctors and nurses who will be placing their health and the lives of their families at risk to care for those with coronavirus, may find themselves trying to deal with a situation like that in Italy because some ignorant selfish Americans will refuse to practice social distancing.
We have no vaccine. One drug trial with two anti-viral agents did not show any benefit. The ONLY weapon we have in our arsenal to prevent our health care workers from getting swamped is social distancing, which obviously will not work unless we do it.
In World War 2 our parents were asked to sacrifice. My mother joined the WAVES and stood – since there were no seats – the entire way on a troop train from Cincinnati Ohio to Washington DC to be stationed and my father enlisted in the third army, was strafed and shot at. We are being asked to do the enormous (sarcasm here) sacrifice of staying at home or distancing socially if we go out for hopefully a limited time to help avoid a possible crisis for our health care system, and we gripe about that.
From a purely selfish standpoint the virus will not stop the normal run of illness. People with life-threatening conditions of any sort may have trouble getting proper care if the hospitals are full of coronavirus cases.
As Americans we are focused on our rights. We also have responsibilities as citizens to try to help out in times of crisis – or is that an outdated concept in this day and age?
Let’s also be aware of trail conditions and its impact on trail deterioration. I enjoy MTB and doing trail build and maintenance. I’ve been planning on being more active doing trail work this year and each of my scheduled days this year (initially weather and now coronavirus) has been cancelled on the front range of Colorado (Jefferson County). So now that many of us have more time to ride due to changes in work status, our first inclination is to go out on the trails – even during iffy conditions. Normally, our hard working trail crews would be busy doing post-winter maintenance, helping get trails ready for summer. Well, it looks like all of these efforts are now on-hold for the foreseeable future, which will lead to wear and tear, and deterioration. So I encourage everyone to be mindful of trail deterioration, stay off when appropriate and when it’s safe, pitch in a day or two doing trail maintenance.
I’m 60 years old and coming to grips with my pending mortality. I live in rural Iowa. I can turn left at the end of the driveway and in two blocks I am in the back of beyond.
Started writing, not sure what happened but the comment got posted before finished. Try to get out and ride every day…trails, gravel, whatever. I’m old. Coming to grips with my mortality. I take precautions, but I’m not giving it up. Fortunately, I live in the back of beyond and am not likely to be confined. I wouldn’t know what to do if that happened…
I’m 65, retired and plan on riding as often as possible. I’ll ride solo, or with a buddy, and we will keep our distance from each other, but i will ride. No damage can be done on your bike, on a trail. Get out and ride, just be smart about it.
So, here we go with the sky is falling diatribe! People should be vigilant as opposed to being careless as with any pathogen outbreak. Will I get CV from riding in my rural trails? From what, that bird, that wolf or perhaps the chipmunk in the tree along the trail?
Thankfully, the spread can be reduced with some changes such as have been instituted in many areas. It can be reduced by the use of common sense and hygiene.
Now, I bought every plunger in the freakin region cause some bought all the toilet paper, Check Mate!!
What was under martial law during H1N1, SARS, MERS Ebola and any of the other pathogen outbreaks over the last few decades? Seriously!
Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety
Negocio, ask yourself if you would be willing to volunteer to feed and transport coronavirus patients without protective gear and then return to you family. Those who are asking irresponsible are asking medical workers to do exactly that. With rights come responsibilities, and your rights do not allow for you to endanger others.
Soon we will be in the forest…breathing the fresh air and enjoying the outdoors. In the meantime……isolate and take care.