In the 1970s, a helmeted rider was a rare sight. Only racers wore helmets. This persisted into the 1980s, fading gradually in the decade after that. Now they have become a normal sight in our culture.
After telling us for months that masks do little or nothing to prevent the spread of disease in the general population, the official position seems to be shifting in favor of masks. At the same time, masks are in short supply for the people who need them most, caring for the sick or for first responders attending to people who might be sick. We're told to improvise. This does open the field to fashion statements and home hobby projects.
One guy in Italy posted a video using a feminine sanitary pad. I don't know if there are any of those hiding in a cabinet around the house, but there may be some leftover tampons I can shove in my nostrils.
I did notice in the grocery store that the empty toilet paper shelves were right next to fully stocked displays of adult diapers. They could be used for really heavy breathing.
A breath helmet would seem to be a minor concern for a cyclist flying free in the open air, six feet or more from anyone else. When traffic thickens up, however, we end up close to the occupants of motor vehicles, who might have the window down, and fellow riders on crowded paths. Air movement should make any contagion highly unlikely in the moving environment of a road, street, or bike path. The slower the speed and the more calm the air, the greater the chance that a cloud may hang. Stopped adjacent to each other, people could exchange sneezes.
Judge the odds for yourself. With incidents of door handle licking and targeted coughing, cyclists might want to take extra precautions because we already suffer the bad jokes and outright malice of motorists who don't think we belong out there. In this area, business traffic has diminished, but with many people released from their workday schedules some of them have nothing better to do than drive around. I haven't launched my commute yet, but I'm hoping to do it soon. Training rides are part of that preparation, so even though I'm not in the workday riding groove I'm still putting myself out there. My favorite training loops go in a fairly serene direction compared to Elm Street and the Route 28 corridor. Drivers are always more aggressive on that trade route to the outside world. I don't look forward to that. But driving sucks.
Back to the subject of PPE, I did not see many mask users in the grocery store yesterday. I had wadded up a couple of bandannas in my pocket, but I wussed out and didn't tie them on. I did bring in my own bottle of alcohol to douse the cart handle and periodically rub on my hands. Reusable gear is only as good as your cleaning procedures. Disposable equipment needs to be replaced regularly. And people being people, they're chucking used gloves wherever they feel like it: leaving them in a cart for the next person to deal with, or overworked and under-protected grocery store personnel to throw away, or just ditching them in the parking lot. Roadside litter and the contents of any trash can are now biohazards.
Stay classy!
4 comments:
You could probably monetize the video of you shoving tampons up your nostrils... (Stay classy!)
-G
My wife spent 2 hours trying to fashion a face mask out of leftover fabric and elastic bands today. The 40+ year old sewing machine could not produce reliable stitching, and the result was unserviceable. I have a respirator that I use for abrasive removal and application of toxic paints, and I suppose I could wear it in my visits to grocery stores as I continue a futile month-long quest for nonexistent toilet paper. Though I anticipate no more success finding face masks than toilet paper locally, if and when our hideously inept government drops a box of them off at my doorstep, I will certainly abide by their recommendation that everyone wear one whenever venturing outside their cell (house).
Our situation can be assessed concisely:
Far less than 1% of the US population has been tested for covid-19. The cases currently "confirmed" probably represent less than 2% of what we'd find if all were tested.
Currently the US is testing approximately 100k per day. Anyone who finds this figure impressive should do the math: 330 million people / 100k tests per day = 3300 days. That's 9 years, people. You'll develop immunity or die from covid-19 years before you'll be tested.
There is currently no testing for antibodies. There is currently no vaccine, and no one with any credibility expects one to be available before mid 2021.
Tomorrow I hope to go for a 30-some mile ride on a very rural highway. Such daily solo rides are a last ditch attempt to retain a shred of sanity in a world that we will regard 2 weeks from now as 'the good old days'.
I thought of simply wearing a bandanna, Wild West style. Then it occurred to me that in Virginia, an open-carry state, it is now permitted to carry a gun and wear a mask in public. What a boon to people who are running low on funds. And we say our government isn't taking care of us!
A doctor posted a video asking people NOT to wear gloves on their shopping trips since they were perfect carriers of virus and encouraged too much confidence in bad habits. Washed hands were much better!
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