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.
Now that we are going into Tier 3 from Thursday, things are getting more difficult.
I think the situation is :
"As Nottingham, Gedling, Rushcliffe and Broxtowe are now in Tier 3 café stops on Club Runs (even sitting outside) are not viable for those living in these areas. You can meet with up to 6 people outdoors, but only in open country – not in a private garden or venue. Advice (not law) is that you should avoid travelling into or out of a Tier 3 area with exceptions for certain things like work, education and caring responsibilities."
I get confused by the rules and welcome any clarification from anyone with better knowledge! What if some live in Tier 2 and some in Tier 3?
Travelling out of the area makes things difficult. I can understand not allowing people to exploit the system by crossing into another area, but say someone lives in Burton Joyce (Gedling BC) and wants to go for a walk through Bulcote (Newark & Sherwood) ?
Rules have now been changed. It seems that the whole of Notts will become Tier 3, but from Friday instead of Thursday.
It does remove the difficulty of travel into Newark & Sherwood, so groups of 6 can meet at Lowdham. We should stay in Notts though.
National lockdown from Thursday 5th November means there will be no club runs for the next month at least. We are still allowed out to exercise, solo or in pairs and some cafes will be open for takeaways, so we can still ride our bikes, just no group rides for the time being.
There is a group going out on Wednesday if anyone wants to get a last group ride in.