Some people just need something to complain about. There is not a ban on exercising and he was riding by himself. The chances of him catching/spreading Coronavirus were extremely low.

Can't remember what country, but aparently pro athletes were still able to train after lockdown because it was their job, so even if the UK bans exercise outdoors, he may be exempt.

Totally agree

As long as he is abiding by any of his laws, directives and social distancing then any whiners should be directed to the whine like a little bitch here post... Good on him live life, be safe and give due care to others until we are in full lock down and stuck on the turbo.

Some people are always looking for something to be upset about.

How about the dozens/hundreds of people in my community of 35,000 people who have apparently determined they need to make an "essential" trip to Walmart more than once per week? (Hoping to score another pack of toilet paper to add to their stash?). The (huge) parking lot there has never had so many cars stuffed into it. This has been going of every day for the past two weeks when I go by there on my bike for my 1-2 hour easy ride out in the country. (They're probably upset to see me on a bike.)

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

The grey area is that the UK are saying to minimise time outside, so people are potting him for that.

What couldn't have been 10hrs...

minimize compared to... what though? if they are ambiguous with the rules then the rules are completely left up to interpretation. as you said, its grey area, so if people want to bitch and moan about something it should be that, not that a professional athlete went out and exercised within the government guidelines.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

It's funny, when the UK announced that the country is on lockdown but citizens could go out once per day to exercise, I said to a friend over there, 'sounds like you can go out daily for a solo centurty ride or Ironman as long as you don't come back in". Here in Canada for now it seems there is no limitation on the number of times per day we can exercise outside distanced, but no doubt that will end at some point when people see all the athletes in packs on group rides. Those idiots are going to kill it for everyone. What Joe did sounds perfectly fine.

On top of that those moaning that he should not go out and compromising his immune system with a 300km bike ride have not business commenting on his immune system. A 300km bike ride is not even that crazy a ride for a cyclotourist doing 100-300km per day every day (like the guys bike trekking trans continental). Its fully within the immune system capabilities of a well honed cyclists even though it is unfathomable to the general population.

But in the Triathlete magazine Canada article there was a good angle as weather gets better in Canada....if you work out long and hard, just shut up and don't post it online, or leave out the details. Probably better to be under the radar a bit in terms of public commentary.

His partner is a dr, and she approves of what he is doing. If something happens his partner would make sure he's looked after.

Agree 100%. I have been reading on FB of friends at home saying about bunch rides still going ahead. I believe the directive in Victoria Australia now is 2 riders maximum. My brother in Queensland this morning went riding with two of his kids 11 & 13 and was abused be people out walking... Government controlled distancing is coming due to the few...

Another argument put forward was..."what if you crash (for whatever reason), and emergency services are drawn away to look after you instead of people who got sick through no fault of their own?".

Yeah, this is a fair discussion but getting in an accident on a bike, or while out walking have nothing to do with duration you are out. Some person can ride 30,000km per year and another can do 10km per year and they both have the exact same odds for every kilometer they ride. Just because you did more kilometers before it does not increase your odds. The odds per km is the same when you are out there. Its not cumulative. And of course people can end up at the hospital due to a car accident on the way to groceries, or heart attacks, or lightening bolts. So which activities get cut?

And if he crashes, then it's just as well the doctors don't have anything else to do right now.

If he needs food or drink he can just nip into a shop for it, or use toilets in a petrol station? No risk of catching the virus there and passing it on to others when he gets home.....

People still don't realise the seriousness of the situation - why not just listen to the health experts and do what they say, rather than try and be smart and bend the rules.

The advice is to stay at home and save lives - a 9 hour bike ride does not fit into this.

This situation is bringing out the best of people and the worst of people.

You didn't read the article did you?

If you think that someone going for a long, self supported ride this week is "the worst of people" then you have lived a very sheltered and charmed life.

What if I burn myself making a cup of tea I don't really need to drink as I could easily have tap water and emergency services are required to take me to hospital and take up resources there treating my burns...

No - the worst of people is not social distancing, stripping supermarket shelves of food they don't need etc.

I don't see how this is a discussion - just stay home and don't spread the virus.

Instead of what he did which was going out and not spreading the virus. Duuurrgh.

Except... FFS turn off the Strava.
Anyone who engages their brain would see it's just asking for criticism. Its bleedin' obvious that it's going to draw attention. Just do it and keep yer gob (and social meeja feeds) shut.
Because I for one will be very fecked off when this sort of piss taking of the rules so publically results in a total ban for the rest of us.

I agree. If he needs to do a 9.5hr ride to maintain his fitness and protect his professional earning, and he takes all the necessary precautions then so be it. The question is why he felt the need to post it on Strava. He must be aware that he has a lot of followers and this could result in giving a lot of them the idea to copy him and do epic rides. Then all these people will be stopping to get water, food, or pushing themselves further than they should. I mean, his ride has now made it into the national press, with god knows how many people reading it. Also, what if he has a mechanical far away from home? Is he going to call his GF away from her work to pick him up? or call a friend to come to collect him thus making another person leave their house for an unnecessary trip? In times of national crisis, surely everybody has a responsibility to be using their professional influence to encourage people in the right way. Other Pro riders are posting epic Swift rides etc. Maybe he could have done a 9.5hr ride consisting of a 1 mile loop around his house? That would have been more impressive! or better still, a ride to deliver some essential items to a vulnerable person, or something slightly more inventive than what comes across as a sort of brag of how far to bend the rules.

And BobAJob is right: stunts like this could also result in tighter restrictions on exercise for everybody.

Tubs

Encouraging people to go against the advice and guidelines, but just to try and be sneaky about it?

All while people are dieing from this virus - which they caught from people being outside and mixing with others.

I live in the UK and police are now on the streets questioning people who are out - and sending them home if they don't have a good reason. They are trying to save lives.

Going for a walk on the crowded paths and streets that all these whiners are probably perfectly OK with is more dangerous than someone riding 300km alone and not touching anything. Maybe go set up a chair outside the grocery store and complain to anyone who leaves with less than a week’s worth of supplies.

You are missing the point. He is well known and what he does has visibility. We went into lock down last Monday after a weekend where the media made a point of trying to show people being irresponsible. If they decide to do the same with Joe then it isn't impossible he, or someone doing something similar, could be part of the excuse for tighter restrictions.

He wouldn't deserve it. He has clearly thought through the details. That is all irrelevant. If you are going to do something public then make it demonstrably supportive of the stay at home message or just don't do it.

Just a general reply to the thread. In Canada we do not have a restriction on outdoor cycling. The Canadian publication it appears did not write this to slam Joe but to warn us to maybe turn off our social media when we exercise so as not to draw criticism to our community.

I am concerned about the loss of civil liberty and govt over reach and citizens calling out fellow citizens for doing things completely inside laws that are allowed such as on this thread and making moral judgements on what is acceptable or not. I think air travel and those that still do it is more risky than kids in a playground and I think Joe's wife if she chooses to leave her job taking care of a corona virus victim is perfectly acceptable if she needs to go take care of joe because he slipped in the bathtub and had a concussion or slipped on some slick pavement and had a concussion as both are discretionary activities.

But while fear and shaming of people doing totally legal stuff is free sport since people have nothing else to do, it would have been better had Joe quietly done his ride. It seems that he did it as a form of protest that the rule is silly because the odds of an accident are the same in a 1km ride or 300km ride and a 1km ride has no social downside in terms of shaming but a 300km one does. He was operating inside the rules.