How are you doing?

Were I single with a job still waiting for me on the other side, this would be a dream.

In my reality, a few hours alone in the hills is an eternity of total isolation for my companion. We need each other now more than ever to share in the laughs and the tears at much closer range than opposite ends of a phone.

Not riding. Not going outside. Catching up on as much as possible so when it is truly over, there will be mucho more riding possible. Want this to be truly over, not fake over.

I’ve been working from home, and believe me I don’t for a moment take for granted that I’m able to do so, but I find I’m really missing my typical M-W-F bike commute, which adds up to > 6 hours/week. You’d think it’d be simple enough to still get those hours – I mean the math is easy – but somehow the day has a way of getting away from me. Plus, it’s just plain weird out there and feels sort of eerie and discomfiting to me, which can tend to suck some of the motivational wind from my sails. Think I will be able to sneak out for a decent ride today, though. Hopefully the weather will be just temperamental enough to discourage throngs, but not outright miserable.

Last night I rode up to Pittock Mansion through the neighborhood.

My way home was interesting. I rode Burnside to Grand to MLK to Rosa Parks. I was only passed by 7 cars (And two of them were police officers.) I NEVER ride on those streets (Other than Rosa Parks) and it was delightful.

Also, it feels lawless outside. I’ve ridden my bike almost everyday, and driven my car twice in the past 15 days. I’ve seen folks in cars who must have gotten the message that cops won’t come unless someone is getting murdered. As there are very few people driving, a good percentage of them are moving about as if they can do anything with no consequences.

Working from home, not biking as much, gained 3 pounds. The traffic out there reminds me of this area during the 1990s, which makes me realize we’ve been frogs in the slowly-heating water ever since.

last week did not ride and drank beer. this week wake up and start riding at 6:30am. this week has been much better. new exploration every day. very few people out between 6:30 and 7:30. found your rocky butte photo opp this morning, powell butte, trolley trail, east bank, springwater trail – got some others in the works for next week. riding alone and early seems to be low risk in our current environment.

This is the official Spring Break for me, and I have been riding about 2 hours per day. I’ve mostly been sticking to bike paths to natural destinations where I can chill a bit and decompress, and it has been good riding. Trying to also quickly learn how to do online teaching/learning as next week we move to this model for who knows how long. Getting out has really helped with some anxiety around this change. You have been doing a great job (thank you!) and I don’t really have any suggestions for improvement.

Rocky Butte !

I’ve been riding outside for 1-2 hours per day. I miss being able to ride with friends. I’ll continue to ride outside unless we are given explicit orders to stay inside. Everything I have read indicates that exercising outside solo is extremely safe.

After closing my taekwon-do school two weeks ago, I mostly am working from home and going into my studio two to three times a week to work out or make instructional videos for my students. Bicycling, then, has been my major means of exercise and stress relief. I’ve been biking 10 – 20 miles almost every day. Last weekend, the multi-use paths like the Esplanade, Waterfront Park and the Springwater were too crowded by bikers, skateboarders, skaters and pedestrians to allow social distancing, so I am sticking to the nearly empty city streets. It also gives me an opportunity to observe people and businesses in various neighborhoods and puzzle why some are open and some closed. And bicycling is one thing you can do with a friend and always maintain at least a six-foot gap.

I haven’t ridden my bike in weeks. The storage room in my apartment building is very awkward with several doors around a corner. This is a hassle to go through normally, but now imagining covid on every doorknob or surface, I’d just rather not. I know I’ll get over that feeling eventually or into a good sanitizing routine while getting my bike but for now I’ve been just sticking to walking. I have nowhere to go anyways.

I’ve noticed something while walking my dog. We live next to a park, but after last weekend when it was packed with groups of people, including many who looked like they haven’t come to a park in years (based on their 1980s walking outfits among other things) we avoid the park and walk through the neighborhood.

The neighborhood streets are almost deserted of cars and people. People there are extremely courteous as far as keeping their distance—crossing the street to avoid walking past others, etc. There are never groups.

In contrast, there are far more people walking and biking in the park, and many are just clueless. They still come in groups, they don’t move over at all when they pass, they come across others and HUG, and they still congregate in the tennis courts, picnic shelter and children’s play structure. There’s no signage telling people those places are closed, but Parks still sends a staffer driving through regularly to ticket people who haven’t paid for parking.

Since my wife and both work from home – and thankfully are still employed – not too much has changed for us. Except now the kids are home when we’re working. Being home all the time means more housework, plus juggling childcare on top of the actual job. So I’m absolutely marveling at all the stories I hear of people who suddenly have all this extra time to do spring cleaning, lots of baking, catching up on their streaming media, etc. Sure isn’t the world for those of us who have school-aged kids and are still fully employed.

That said, I can’t complain, precisely because I’m still fully employed at this point. Also my Spring Break starts tonight, so looking forward to enjoying lots of more relaxed time with the family for a week.

Re: the above comment that “telecommuting works so well”. Having done this for five years (with an employer where very few other people telecommute, FWIW) I’d say yes and no. It works, but there are challenges. Besides the obvious stuff about avoiding distractions, everyone has to make an extra effort at communication, social interaction and team cohesion. Hallway conversations and quick stops by an coworker’s desk to quickly solve a problem together no longer happen. I think a lot of employers are going to notice an incremental drop in teamwork and productivity, and will need to fine-tune their approach to get fully back up to speed through all this. And for many, there’s less work to be done right now so that may be okay.

Anyway, it’s doable, but will require a period of adjustment for many as this extends out for many weeks – as seems likely. I do share the hope that it will become more widespread and we’ll see a lasting reduction in car use out of all this.

Still riding, but being very watchful. I feel like I’m seeing more doofuses driving poorly than I usually do. Seems like the new freedom of the road is too much for some people to handle.

I last worked in 2008, laid off in the last Great Recession, and I’ve been volunteering ever since. The Covid-19 restrictions match my current lifestyle to a T, so I’m probably one of the very few people out there virtually unaffected by the changes, except I no longer attend large in-person meetings and TP is still amazingly hard to find.

I did help organize a 15-person Zoom conference related to an upcoming downtown trolley on Wednesday, the kitschy type of bus you would expect in such as low-status community like mine. The meeting involved participants from our two public universities, city staff from three departments, and various community advocates. It went very well and was so productive that we may try to keep doing such meetings even after we’ve all recovered on April 10th. (My city wanted feedback on an upcoming RFP in April, for an expected September roll-out. The two unrelated universities have effective veto power with our 9-member city council.)

It broke 80 today for the first time this year, so everyone was out and about – I’ve never seen so many bicyclists here except during the annual ride of silence, and lots of people were chatting in groups on lawnchairs in their yard, but sitting more than 6 feet apart.

Ride safe y’all!

Missing my daily commutes for sure, and not putting in any big efforts on my weekend rides. These adjustments I can deal with, but missing early morning streaming of the spring classics and Giro D’Italia, now that’s a big change….

Your bikeportland coverage is great as usual, so just keep up the good work and stay positive.

I’m not dead yet!!!

My wife works in the health care field. I am very worried about things like if she will be asked to do something unsafe because there isn’t enough protective gear. I am lucky to be able to work from home and therefore am rarely leaving the property except for daily walks. Please stay 6 feet from anyone not in your household and stay home if you can to help protect healthcare workers.

Doing caviar delivery. Watching the slow closures while working, weekly. Just two Sundays ago, dining rooms were still serving. Half as many restaurants still offering delivery as this time last week. Get it while it lasts. I’m sure some owners ate deciding whether it’s business smart to order more inventory…or if so, how much. I saw today about a school being converted into a truck stop for the incoming freight. There are bound to be supply chain economic disruptions at some point. Stock up if you’re not prepared to leave the city if things get bad. We may be “here” for a while.