Welcome to the first edition of Forums Friday, a new thing we’re doing to highlight notable posts from the BikePortland Forums (you should grab a log-in and join us!).
We know. It’s a bummer. Wearing a mask while riding a bike isn’t great — especially when it’s above 50-degrees. They cause glasses to fog up, they make you breathe your own warm breathe, they fill with sweat and snot, they make it impossible to eat and drink on-the-fly.
But they also might save your life or the life another person. And you should be wearing one.
As we adjust to this new normal, I felt the post from Forum member “amandaSEPDX” deserved more attention. Here’s (a slightly edited version of) what she posted:
Please cover your faces. Please
Dear Fellow Bike Portland People,
Can we talk about all the cyclists out and about not wearing face-coverings?
Look, I don’t want to breathe my own hot breath on a bike ride anymore than the rest of you all do… but my husband and I have been pretty appalled by what we’re seeing on the daily.
Maybe 2 in 100 cyclists are covering their mouths/noses.
Can we please agree to do better?
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I get it… I really do… it’s gonna mess up your Strava time or whatever.
It’s not fun.
I do not like it either.
But cover your faces up please.
You feel fine. I know you do. I do too. But that doesn’t mean we’re not capable of putting other people in danger. In fact, when you’re still feeling ok is when you’re most likely to spread the COVID funk about. So grab a bandanna. I know you have like four laying around at least because they all come out for the naked ride!
…Not giving a shit about keeping our germs contained during a global pandemic is hypocritical, especially when cyclists are quick to cite the importance of environment, community, and health values around biking.
People are quick to think of cyclist as self-important jerks. I know we’re not. So let’s do better.
Stay safe out there,
–Amanda
SE Portland
Read and reply to Amanda’s full post in the Forums. If you want to read more about wearing masks while you ride, this NY Times article has clear and concise information.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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