So, Boris has spoken and the whole of Nottinghamshire has been placed into Tier 2, which means the Rule of 6 applies outdoors but no mixing of households indoors. This means we can still ride together in groups of 6, but an indoor cafe stop causes problems. So we are left with a number of options.
Non-stop club rides
Stopping at Cafes but sitting outside. There are a number of cafes where this is possible, but it’s going to become increasingly unpleasant due to the cold.
Stopping at cafes and sitting inside but not together - this will be difficult as not many cafes are set up to accommodate this.
what I am proposing is that we have a pre-planned route of up to 40 miles, which many will be able to do non-stop if they wish. We will still plan to pass a cafe on each route and those that wish can stop at the cafe and sit outside. It will be up to each individual if they wish to stop or not.
I will publish the route the day before the ride, so that people can download it and follow it back to Lowdham if they wish.
that sounds a good idea trev
Did our first ride under the new regime yesterday. We went to Claypole and sat outside. 9 out in 2 groups and all but one stopped, but it did get very cold sitting around. This wasn't helped by slow service at the cafe, it took them 15 minutes to bring our drinks out, so it was quite a long stop - about 40 mins. The temp was about 9 degrees C, its not going to be possible to sit outside if it gets much colder.
The cafe themselves, being just over the border in Lincs, were unaware of the Tier 2 rules and would have been happy for us to sit inside.