I've ridden with a couple close friends.

Wouldn't feel comfortable riding with a bunch of people, or people I don't know.

Lots of heavy breathing and snot rockets and stuff probably isn't a good mix in close proximity, even at 20mph.

I have a choice of 4-5 group rides.

Everyone's doing it.

Not everyone.

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Amateur recreational hobbyist cyclist
https://www.strava.com/athletes/337152
https://vimeo.com/user11846099

Haha....just quoted for the record.....all those things that the mass hysteria was being generated about and for which Joe Skipper was being hammered and shamed on his 300km ride, indeed proven to have no basis with proven data then (and now).

Now in phase 2 reopening in Ontario, groups of 10 people can get together spaced. At this point it looks like we can have an Ironman corporation Kona style 10 person peloton with Kona approved spacing :-). I think where I live there will be social acceptance by drivers of 10 person groups of cyclists now. I would have not ventured into such a large group because of the driver reaction a week ago, but it might be OK.

I swam open water with my swim club at the local beach this week. There were around 15 of us, trickling in over a 5 minute window and entering the water in singles (ultimate rolling start), but the crowds at the beach was pretty insane. All the people shaming Florida, its all happening here now that the weather is better up North.

Should be socially acceptable to bike in moderate size training groups now.

(Just replying to last)

One thing that a statewide biking group posted early on here in WA state, was what cycling would look like in each of our 4 phases. Guidelines for groups, events, etc.

Safety aside, one reason for this was also public perception.
As a percentage of the general population already views cyclists with disdain, dislike (pick your favorite pejorative), this could add fuel to their fire if it seems like riders are abusing the rules when others are following them (and therefore missing THEIR favorite things, like golf, bowling whatever)

That said, the advice seems to have been largely ignored in my area, but you know, they were trying

In my area, I have seen very few groups and I live close to some good riding in the west of Ottawa Canada where there would normally be a lot. With the outdoor group limits extended to 10 while distanced, it changes the picture. Literally we can have soccer teams practice as two separate groups of 10, walking groups can get together, and families can get together indoor and outdoor in groups of no more than 10. So with the social interaction between all other groups other than cycling enhanced, it should be viable for riders to get together in spaced groups while arousing only the "regular" public outrage towards cyclists (vs the extra outrage you refer to). So let's see. I have not done a ride with anyone yet, but itching to do one finally.

Dev

I met a group at a local high school this week and they had full-on football practice going on.

No one seems to care anymore in my locale. Social distancing is basically over where I live.

I’m curious if people are riding in groups in your area now or most people still going solo?

For us in the UK, any club ride has to be groups no bigger than 6.

I'm riding often with 2 or 3 friends. Think the max I've been out with was 5 (inc me) to recce the route for a half IM that's taking place today

It’s safe. Group rides are going strong in central Arkansas. Certainly wouldn’t fault anyone for sticking with solo rides though.

Well based on all the Covid19 laden French fans on the side of the Tour de France and zero riders getting sick from those aerosols (from a relative motion it does not matter if riders are flowing throw the aerosol, or you're coming into the aerosol of a leading rider) I think we can pretty much put to bed that we'll get sick from riding with others outdoors. But we already knew that from following cyclists who had other coronaviruses previously but i guess we needed to find out if this one would be different outdoors in the huge air turbulence of moving at 25-60 kph (it does not take much for 60 kph to happen.....45 kph on a slight downhill into 15 kph headwind). Looks like the Tour de France going through all those crazy fans should make us more calm about outdoor exposure.

....and as it turns out, I only ended up doing one ride with 2 other people and 9 rides with one other person all summer. Back to solo training now!

I ride consistently ride with one other person and occasionally two others. However, this weekend my Masters group is doing a Half or Olympic starting at a lake behind a team members house. Looks like seven are going to race plus a few volunteers.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

Same. We had a big discussion in email space about what we should do and decided to go ahead and keep riding. We meet in a park in a big parking lot so we keep our distance from each other at that point, and we no longer congregate in the bagel shop mid-ride, but the actual ride itself is no different.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

I'm 100% personally with group riding.

COVID infections rates are severely attenuated by being outdoors - add to that a stiff wind when you're in a fast-moving group, and I strongly suspect you're as safe as you'll be short of isolating yourself completely from humanity.

I'll take a fast group ride even with randos in terms of safety from COVID any day compared to grocery shopping with a non-N95 respirator mask even in an appropriately socially-distanced grocery store.

Do you grocery shop for two hours at a time, standing directly downwind from a bunch of people who are breathing heavily, while you yourself are breathing heavily?

If you've ever ridden on a group ride you've probably been hit by snot from someone blowing their nose. Now think about how the particles that contain the virus are far smaller, disperse far wider, and are coming out with every exhale that rider (or group of riders) takes. The outdoors and wind doesn't matter much when you are in a draft for long periods of time.

I haven't ridden with more than one person, side by side, since March. I have no plans to do otherwise until someone can prove that being in a group is safe, a vaccine is out and widely used, or new infection rates have dropped to negligible levels. My health and the health of those around me is too important to gamble.

It's extraordinarily difficult to to run a study specifically for cycling in groups. There was one early one from the Netherlands I think but it was extremely flawed.
However, the general consensus from the scientific community is that outdoor sports in groups that don't have close physical contact (like say.. rugby) is perfectly fine.
Go out and ride with your friends. You're not gambling anyone's health.

The fact we draft in groups makes this a LOT different than most other outdoor sports. Running in groups could be somewhat similar depending on how you do it, but I don't think many people typically run in tight drafting groups for long periods.
Team sports like soccer or basketball for example may have everyone in close proximity but not drafting so there's plenty time for particulate to settle or disperse before encountering others. Bear in mind that the scientific community is dealing in general rules and not considering the specific characteristics of specific activities, because they have no other choice at this point. Those of us familiar with both the sports and some of the scientific realities are in a better position to determine if our particular cases are typical or might be significantly more risky. There's very little doubt that group cycling is far more likely to permit transmission than most other outdoor sports.

I cycle, I studied aerodynamics, and I'm a specialist in in clean room airflow and particulate testing, including viable particulate sampling under operational conditions. I've also done some work with bio-safety cabinets and fume hoods including airflow measurements, visualisation studies, and containment studies. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about viral infection, but given the typical mode of transmission is known to be airborne particulate, I consider myself in a pretty good position to take make my own assessment. I think group rides are reasonable providing infection rates in the community are very low, otherwise I consider it too risky and I won't be doing it.

The beauty of freedom is that you can choose whether or not to ride in groups for yourself! Others may choose differently 🤷🏻‍♂️

Oh stop being idiotic!

1. What's this got to do with my post?
2. This is not simply about personal safety, it's about being a responsible member of society.

I don't think you're going to convince most here, it seems we're just shy of chanting: If It Saves Even One Life...

Your 2nd point has run its course by now I believe. Responsible according to....you?

I am not getting your point. Are you saying that people should not do group riding which is far less risky than many things already legally permitted in most of the world coming out of lockdown (indoor shopping, indoor bars and restaurants to name a few), or are you saying its OK to do given how insanely low the risk is. Most of the protour peloton should be dead after 2 months of racing on Covid19 laden fan packed roads and getting it from each other, but it looks like no one has picked it up from another rider yet.

The riders were tested before being allowed to race, thus they weren't drafting people spewing aerosolized covid. They may have ridden by people with covid, sure, but that's why most outdoor sports are considered safe - you are coming into very brief possible contact. It's an entirely different story when you are drafting someone, or multiple people, who are contagious.

The infectious disease specialist and professor at the local university that I chat with skiing sometimes told me straight out that sports like Nordic skiing and cycling, where you can exercise in a paceline, are extraordinarily low risk. He said if you think they are dangerous you probably shouldn't leave your house ever. He went on about dispersion rates and viral load, etc... but the basic message was go exercise with your buddies, just don't hang out in a closed space for food and drinks after.

The Protour peloton is primarily over 70 years of age with underlying health issues? Wow, that makes completing the TDF even more impressive.