Q: Is cycling a safe outdoor activity for Vancouverites during the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: Under the current conditions*, cycling is considered a safe solo activity. *The COVID-19 pandemic is a dynamic health issue in British Columbia that continues to evolve.

Bicycling, when done properly, is an excellent social distancing activity. Getting outside and exercising is important for maintaining a healthy immune system. Here are ten points to consider when cycling around our beautiful city during the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. Keep Your Distance (Mind the Slipstream)

The Provincial Government strongly recommends that citizens keep two metres apart when interacting outside of their homes. When cycling through the city, it is important to remember this rule as you approach other riders at stop signs, street lights and in motion.

During regular conditions, travelling in the slipstream of a lead rider can provide a windbreak for energy conservation. To receive this benefit, riders need to ride within the two metre distance. For this reason, drafting or riding in the slipstream of another rider is strongly discouraged. Space out and pull your own weight.

– Photo by Daily Hive

2. Ride During Off Hours

The early morning is an excellent time to get in a ride – weekdays are optimal. Many of us are currently working from home on a regular workweek schedule. The bike paths tend to be congested in the evening between 5:00 and 7:00PM, as citizens finish their work day and seek out physical activity. Try to avoid these times if your schedule permits it.

3. Choose the Road Less Pedalled

Plan your route before you start your ride. Choose safe bike lanes that may not receive the high volumes of traffic seen on the Vancouver seawall. This may mean riding further from the waterfront.

4. Avoid Touching the Traffic Buttons with Your Hands

Vancouver is full of streets that require riders to press’ beg buttons’ to change the traffic signal for safe passage through an intersection. Try to use your elbow instead of your finger to press the button. Please do not use your foot! – this is extremely unhygienic.

– Photo by EnviroPaul

5. Try your hardest not to spit

Non-cyclists love to complain about the amount of spitting that occurs along a cycling path. Yes, spitting is a natural occurrence among athletes looking to free their mouths of MUC5B, a protein that builds up in saliva during physical activity, but really, I think we can all try to limit our spit takes. At the very least, take a little more precaution when you loogie. This might mean a quick shoulder check and aiming to the right and down.

For those who believe you can’t spread COVID-19 through spit, Amy Treakle, an infectious disease specialist has these words:

COVID-19 is spread by respiratory droplets when a person coughs or sneezes, and transmission may occur when these droplets enter the mouths, noses or eyes of people who are nearby. Spit contains saliva but could also contain sputum from the lungs or drainage from the posterior nasopharynx.

So yes, you can pass the virus through saliva (spit).

6. Bring Your Own Tools

This should be standard for anyone doing a distance ride, but now, more than ever, cyclists should bring a small kit for quick roadside repairs. I recommend a hex key set, tire levers, pump and a spare tube (two, if you have space). Other riders will be far less likely to stop and lend a tool during the pandemic. Not sure how to change a flat? There are a plethora of YouTube videos to help you out. Practise a few times before you leave the house – it is important to become familiar with your pump.

Try Before You Ride – Photo by Wirecutter

7. Keep Your Bike Properly Maintained

Again, other riders may not be willing to assist you with repairs. Be proactive and maintain your own bicycle. If you don’t feel confident in doing minor repairs or adjusting your brakes, there are still a handful of bicycle repair shops open in Vancouver.

8. Plan Your Overtakes

When approaching a slower cyclist, take time to evaluate their riding style. Are they a casual rider that might get easily startled? Is their speed fluctuating? Are they drifting horizontally? Take these observations into consideration when preparing to pass. Next, visualize your overtake, check your shoulder, signal your intent (bell or voice) and then pass on the left, remembering to give extra space for social distance when possible.

9. Carry Sanitizer

Chances are, at some point in your ride, you will touch a foreign object (lamppost, pole, flower stem…). Give your hands a spray and stop the spread of COVID-19.

10. Be Respectful

We have been blessed with a beautiful spring and more than half the population is out of work. As a result, there are a tonof amateur cyclists riding the streets. Not all of them are familiar with cycling etiquette. Give them space and allow for mistakes. Most of all, remember the words of our Public Health Officer:

Dr. Bonnie Henry – Art by Ed Chee

Author’s Note: The actions on this list are meant as suggestions. Most are common sense and others are just basic cycling procedure. But some will take time to get used to. Things are messed up, but it will get better. We are all in this together. Ride safe.