Zero group rides here in MN. Not even 3-4 people in groups on the road. On the mtb trails it's a little different; groups of 4-5 meeting at the trailhead and riding together but that may be different than road when you're drafting the whole ride. I met two other guys not in my household for a mtb ride on Monday and rode with them but probably was more than 6 feet away most if not all the time. Other people were doing the same. The trails are very busy.

Just remember, if you're sitting on someone's wheel, you're breathing in what they're breathing out. Riding in a group is an astonishingly silly thing to do at the moment.

Here in NorCal it’s mostly solo cyclists, and some families. I’ve seen a couple of pairs of roadies riding together, but they may be related or roommates. No packs or group rides.

The only significant offenders I’ve seen have been junior high kids on bikes hanging out with a half dozen of their friends.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I had two guys latch onto me for 7 miles last week. I was kind of surprised.

If one person in the group has the virus, by the end of the ride everyone will probably have it. I'm running and riding alone for the foreseeable future.

Interestingly, first week of our stay at home order there was a group of 6 all in a kit that was sponsored by a local car dealership chain...

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Next time, cough a few times. If that doesn't work then blow a snot rocket.

FWIW, I don't mind if they take the easy road during their workout because I'll be the one making better gains. What I don't like is the safety concerns because if they are lazy enough sit back and let someone else do most of the work then they probably lack in other areas as well, particularly paying attention.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

no group rides in my city. groups of 2 or 3 show up for rides that used to have 10-20.

They were nice people, I was surprised they trusted me not to do any of those.

Here in West Houston, some never stopped riding in groups and some that did appear to be starting back up.

My local club rides were officially cancelled during the shelter in place period, but lots of guys still rode together (I disagree with their decision). But now with the state opening back up, and anticipating more sports to be allowed at our next step (mid may), the official club rides for the 2nd half of May have been rescheduled. Although I miss the hammerfests tremendously, I doubt I will rejoin group rides for sometime.

Based on my strava and instagram feed which has people from all over the country on it, it appears that many that were on the "no group rides" side have started to ride in groups again, though mainly just small groups of 2-5.

This is sad, and pisses me off a little... the folks that haven't stopped group riding while the spread of the virus hasn't been halted are effectively providing vectors to continue pushing out restrictions and race cancellations... In my area, the packs I see are mainly packs in the 60+ demographic (which is one of the more vulnerable demographics to COVID...)...

Some of the hotspot routes around here they are ticketing folks, once you exceed 5, you're technically a mass gathering, so the fines can be quite pricey... But they are not everywhere to catch folks...

While it appears that most riders in my area are going solo, I have seen groups of a dozen or so from to time. I'd like to hear from someone who's a member of these groups. How do you rationalize your behavior?

In the county where we ride/run we have had exactly 1 Covid-19 case in the 50 days since this has started. This one size fits all approach is getting old.

FWIW, there is almost zero scientific evidence of wide-scale outdoor transmission, and that scary Belgian study saying that cyclists should maintain 65ft was not actually a "study"

https://www.vice.com/...not-actually-a-study

https://twitter.com/.../1258019643459018752

That said, to be on the safe side, I would probably hold off on group rides until the research is clearer. But continuing to propagate misinformation such as "OMG, you're going to inhale droplets downstream of the person riding in front of you and catch the COVID" isn't really supported by any peer-reviewed evidence and isn't really helping advance the discussion about whether it is safe to ride/run/race outdoors (not directed at OP, just general comment).

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Strava

This is fundamentally untrue... The article has not been peer-reviewed and published, so saying that would be correct, but it was a study, it is was conducted, written and then posted in a pre-publication archive, and will be submitted for peer review and publication... I haven't read the whole paper, just merely some of the media stories on it, so I can't speculate on whether it will pass the bar for publication in a reasonable journal. But saying that it is not a study is not true. Whether you believe in the distances cited or not, I can't see how 2m is enough at anything faster than a walk to protect you from droplets... Is it 20m, is it 10m? I don't know? But for the time being, I will avoid riding or running in groups, and if I am running or riding with someone else, I'll be careful about tucking into slip streams, and try to maintain good space. Injecting household cleaners to protect from COVID, this is not supported by any study (and I doubt it ever would, since I can't see any ethics board approving someone to conduct a trial...)...

These guys are civil engineers that wrote a white paper based on a computer simulation. They admitted they are not epidemiologists and the paper hasn't undergone peer review. Sorry, that doesn't constitute a "study" despite whatever vernacular you choose to use.

https://www.dw.com/...ays-study/a-53118589

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Strava

Utter nonsense. This is a preprint of a paper that has been submitted for review. It's an engineering aerodynamics paper by some of the world experts in the field who work at two of the top technical universities in Europe. It uses techniques that have been validated and published. All the results are entirely reasonable and present very useful data.

The paper could be rejected or, most likely, published with minor corrections from peer reviewers.

To say that it is not a study is uninformed and wrong.

Fine. It's an "aerodynamics study" (from the paper itself). It's not peer-reviewed and the authors are not infectious disease specialists. Thus, it still offers no credible evidence that there is elevated transmission risk outdoors while biking/running.

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Strava

you're banging your head against a wall, you won't change their mind about that "study."

to the OP - running through Camelback Country Club this morning and saw tons of cyclist and one group of maybe 9 or 10 guys that were all 50+ in a definite "group." i've also seen that people are doing the tues/thurs gainey rides and maybe even some version of the bos ride at this point. as much as i love group rides i will not be doing them for a while, but i don't know at what point i'll feel "comfortable" using them again. maybe late june/july? who knows really.

It offers credible evidence that the virus plume when exercising extends far larger than the 6 foot social distancing guidelines. That's all it was intended to do.

x2. Haven't ridden with anyone since early March. I could see starting to ride with one other person, side by side, in next couple weeks but not much more than that for a while.

I’m totally with you, but at what point do “you” reach your tipping point and just say “screw it” take the risk. I mean, it won’t be truly “safe” until what 2022 or later??? People are breaking down about lockdown after less than 60 days, I don’t see us putting our hobbies on hold for another several years. I’m not ready to group ride yet, but I have little doubt I will be engaging in potentially risky activities (gym, group ride, restaurant, movie theatre, social gathering g whatever it may be) at some point in the future before it is objectively “safe” to do so.

There's no way to say this without sounding like one of the people who think this is all a hoax. Please read what I'm about to say with an open mind, and an understanding that I support stay-at home, I'm not group riding, and actually know someone who recently tested positive. I'm taking this seriously.

Per my understanding, the whole point of 'flatten the curve' is to reduce the strain on the system that occurs when we all get it at the same time. That said, flattening the curve necessarily includes extending the curve. Put another way, I don't think that the stay at home measures were ever about reducing the amount of people who get it, correct? Put another way, until/unless a vaccine is ever created, herd immunity basically necessitates us all getting infected in the first place, right? Put another way, at some point, most of us are going to get infected, right?

(I could definitely be wrong on the above, and am trying to understand, not plant a flag in the sand.)

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JustinDoesTriathlon

Owner, FuelRodz Endurance.

Per my understanding, Yes to pretty much everything you said. Except far more than “most” of us will get it if not vaccinated.