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I wonder if it's better to take the subway, or use a citibike. With the shared bikes, you're farther away from other people, but you're physically touching the
by zck 7y ago
I wonder if it's better to take the subway, or use a citibike. With the shared bikes, you're farther away from other people, but you're physically touching the shared bike all the time.
- mhb 7y agoWipe it down with bleach solution.
- jvm___ 7y agoYou can sanitize a bike pretty easy, or just wear gloves, you only really touch the handlebars. More control over whose air you breathe. I can understand the choice.
- quantdev 7y agoThe primary transmission route in inhalation in close proximity to an infected person. Yes, it can persist on surfaces, but this hand-washing meme is mostly a result of (1) it costs nothing and may help, so we should try and (2) masks are supply limited and the healthcare industry doesn't have enough. In reality, if we had an abundance of masks, masks would be more important than hand washing. As it stands, we reserve them for HC workers and infected persons. The point being, subways are worse.
- CydeWeys 7y agoIf you take the hand washing and not touching your face, then you're at almost zero risk from using shared bicycles. Even if someone gets some rona on the handlebars, if you don't transfer it to an orifice in your face you won't catch it. It's not gonna re-aerosolize off the handlebars.
- generationP 7y ago"Not touching your face" is not a viable solution for most people. It's subconscious. If anyone could master this kind of self-control within a week, everyone would be an arahat.
- dmix 7y agoIf you aren’t aware of this those ML apps that beep when you touch your face are pretty surprising. Also there’s the whole psychological thing about telling someone not to do something when it was previously largely automatic, making people do it more. Like having an itch or imagining insect bites.
- wool_gather 7y agoIt's not expected to be perfect and immediate. It's about lowering risk as much as feasible and defense in depth.
- usaar333 7y agoIt's pretty easy to not touch your face when your hands are physically on the handlebars. As long as you are able to wash your hands immediately after getting off the bike, I think you are reasonably safe.
- CydeWeys 7y agoI don't think that's true. People can get a lot better at it in a relatively short period of time. I have.
- magicroot75 7y agoFace touching is literally unconscious in many cases. It's entirely possible you've been touching your face and not noticing it, but have just become more conscious of the times you attempt to stop yourself from touching your face.
- CydeWeys 7y agoMoving your arms isn't like breathing. It's not some autonomic nervous function.
- btgeekboy 7y agoThe handlebars are also out in the sun. I'd think that subjects them to the UV light needed to kill any of the nasty stuff; but I could be wrong.
- dmix 7y agoI read N95 masks were basically useless when walking outside, they only mattered indoors and in confined spaces (like public transit). I’d imagine biking is even less transmission and wearing a mask with that is pretty unrealistic. It’s hard to find what is right on the internet though.
- koolba 7y agoUseless or pointless?
- Scoundreller 7y agoPointless waste of a perfectly good mask.
- jbay808 7y agoI biked in an N95 in Vancouver during forest fire season in 2018. Not fun, but doable and it definitely helped -- without the mask I felt absolutely awful.
- CydeWeys 7y agoThat's for a different situation, though. The smoke particulates are very small and are omnipresent, so a mask definitely helps. Coronavirus, by contrast, is only airborne for a short while, so unless you're close to someone who's infected you're not going to be breathing it in anyway. That's why they're saying the masks have limited effectiveness outside.
- jbay808 7y agoOh, when the GP said it's unrealistic to bike in a mask, I thought they meant it would be too difficult. Maybe they just meant unnecessary, in which case I agree.
- CydeWeys 7y agoYeah, I'm thinking that's what they must mean. An N95 mask doesn't cut down your breathing that much, and you can simply down-moderate your effort a little bit so that you never hit a pant. It's no gas mask.
- echelon 7y agoDo you have a citation for this? I don't want to blindly trust that fomites aren't a major risk. If true, that changes how I want to get food to my elders. (I've already gotten them several months worth, but I don't see an end to this and would feel safer if they had more runway.)
- wool_gather 7y agoThe CDC does state in one place that inhalation appears to be the primary route: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmissi... It says surface -> hands -> mucous membrane "is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads". But then again, the TTL of the virus on surfaces is still not certain, so, as also noted there "we are still learning how it spreads".
- erikbye 7y agoThe TTL might be days. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v...
- Alex3917 7y agoBecause the bike industry is currently switching over from rim brakes to disc brakes, you can get some pretty good deals on older (but still brand new) road bikes if you look around. A few months ago I bought a carbon road bike for less than $1,500 including tax. Granted expect to spend at least as much on accessories, but if you live somewhere where you can use it for both commuting and exercise then it still pays for itself pretty quick.
- thedance 7y agoThis is the whole problem with American bicycle culture summarized in a single post. There’s way too many carbon-fiber sports bikes and not anywhere near enough step-through town bikes with panniers, fenders and lights.
- Alex3917 7y agoThe basic issue is that in Amsterdam most trips are only a mile or two, whereas in NYC it's often a 10 or 15 mile commute between home and work. But yeah if you're only going a couple miles on mostly flat terrain then no question a commuter bike is a better choice.
- aqme28 7y agoI don't think that's right. Most of my bike rides are about 1-3 miles. When I commute to work it's about 6 miles and that's farther than most people bike here.
- agumonkey 7y agohonestly enclosed space feel bad right now make alcohol solution and wipe stuff you're about to touch
- cranekam 7y agoJust wash your hands and try not to touch your face. Any virus that is on the bike isn't going to walk up your arms and down your throat. Personally I find it pretty easy to not touch my face. I doubt I am perfect at it but I catch myself a lot. Being outside has to be better than in an enclosed space (a subway car) holding onto handles that dozens of people touched in the last hour.
- zck 7y agoI mean, by the time I'm gone from a citibike to a place where I can wash my hands, I've had to touch a lot of other things. It's not like there are sinks directly next to the citibike stands.
- adrianN 7y agoCarry some disinfectant with you. Covid19 is easily killed by alcohols.
- cranekam 7y agoThen you should wash them at the first chance and avoid touching your face. The only way to be safe here is to seal yourself into a room and avoid all exposure. Since that’s probably not possible the next best thing is to just do the best you can.
- swiley 7y agoI'm not saying it's a good idea but it's totally possible for a lot of us. The company I work for has sent everyone home until next month and you can have groceries delivered over the internet here.
- saklani 7y agoMaybe use hand sanitizer
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- magicroot75 7y agoI thought they've found the virus to be much more transmittable by air than by touching public surfaces. Is that not the case?