Although, I think we have eaten the cake that says “eat me,” drunk the drink that says “drink me” and taken up our seat at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
No matter where you live, by now you’ve no doubt heard that wearing a mask can help prevent the spread of COVID-19. If you’re unable to stay home, and must be around other people, the CDC and similarpublic healthorganizations around the world recommend both the wearing of masks and also maintaining a 6-foot (or 2 meter) social distance from other people.
What about when you’re on a motorcycle, though? Do you need to wear a mask if you’re on your bike?
What!?!
What!?!
You are on a fekkin’ motorcycle. The likelihood of getting this virus out in the open, let alone on a motorcycle is so close to zero it can safely be ignored. Why the flying fuck would anyone think it rational to wear a mask on a bike? I mean, seriously?
What about if you’re wearing a full-face helmet? Even before the pandemic struck, some riders, such as myself, chose to wear balaclavas under our helmets for various reasons. Among other things, they help keep the inside of your helmet from getting gunked up with sweat, hair products, sunscreen, and makeup. In the winter, they can help keep you warm, and moisture-wicking ones are great for summer riding comfort, as well. However, they’re a choice and not a requirement anywhere, as far as I know.
Okay, I can answer this one. Yes, I know a lot of riders wear balaclavas for these reasons and that’s absolutely fine – they have been designed for this purpose unlike a surgical mask. Personally, I don’t. I tried them out many years ago and absolutely hated them. I don’t like anything too close to my face at the best of times and the extra layer affected the helmet’s fit, giving me a headache and the soggy feeling when the moisture from my breath collected on it was uncomfortable. I really don’t understand why people like them – but, you know, personal preference and all that.
However if you buy a quality helmet, the fit will mean that you don’t get draughts in the winter and you can take the liner out to wash it. They also have better sound absorbing qualities and are lighter. Consequently the need for a balaclava has been solved if, like me, you prefer not to wear one.
But, yeah, sure, if a balaclava is your thing, why not? It’s just that they aren’t necessary. And they make no difference with regards to catching diseases because you are out in the open air on a bike.
The surgical and cloth face masks that most medical authorities advise wearing to stop the spread of COVID-19 are a different matter, however.
Well, yeah, of course. They are not designed for this purpose and the need for one isn’t there.
Rules and recommendations vary by health authority, so you should check with your local health department to see what is legally required and also what is advised for your health. Just because a mask is not legally required certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t wear one if you prefer to do so.
Not on a motorcycle – especially if it restricts your breathing. I mean, the reasons are just so obvious, I shouldn’t have to mention them, should I?
However, wearing a mask underneath a full-face motorcycle helmet seems like it might be overkill.
Well, yes, indeed it is overkill. The emphasis being on the kill bit.
It should come as no surprise that a doctor who’s also a rider has publicly considered the question of wearing a mask under a full-face helmet during the current pandemic.
Okay, the dormouse just popped his head out of the teapot.
The writer is a doctor and concludes after a couple of hundred words that it probably isn’t a good idea because a surgical mask can restrict your breathing. Which is all fair enough, but what sort of insane world is it that the question even needs to be raised. Some things are so blindingly obvious that even the hardest of thinking should be able to reach the right conclusion without asking the question or indeed the question even forming in one’s mind.
As an aside, I went out for a ride with my father today. We rode as we normally would. There was no need to keep sanitising our hands, bikes or helmets every time we got on or off the machines or took our helmets off. Indeed, we behaved as if this nonsense had never happened. In a world that has gone collectively insane, clinging onto one’s own sanity is the only thing we have left. It was a minor rebellion, I concede, but a rebellion nonetheless.
That said, when we arrived at our destination, everyone else was behaving normally too. That was refreshing. Maybe the world hasn’t gone completely mad after all.
Read recent posts by Leggy, Underdogsbiteup, on face masks.
And hazards of them.
Have started back at work, and we have to wear a mask at all times. Horrible, just horrible. I’ve ordered a pulse meter and am going to monitor O2 sat levels. Those that are coercing us with our jobs to make us wear them have failed to do the homework. Those that do wear them in their job have to have training, they can’t wear them for a whole shift like we are having to do, and if that pulse meter reads too low the firm are risking a law suit.
Cut a breathing hole in it. PJW has a vid showing NHS staff having done so. There have been deaths due to mandatory face masks and doing physical work.
Tell your boss you want a mask with unfiltered exhale/exhaust valve
I have been wearing glasses since I was about 8 years old. I sometimes wear a mask if I am doing a job which is very dusty. I have always found that regardless of how well fitting the mask is, my glasses always steam up and restrict my vision.This problem becomes worse if the weather is cold and consequently my glasses are cold. most glasses wearers have the same problem.
I’m an engineer and wear specs too, so I get the misting problem. Give your glasses a wipe over with Bob Heath anti-fog visor spray now and again.
The thing for us is, these are surgical masks, not dust masks. Those who wear them in hospitals have to take them off after a couple of hours, but we are wearing them for a straight 5 hour run, then another 3 hours or so after break. The job is also more energetic than a surgeon so I expect CO2 sats to be higher than comfortable.
Did he say if it’s best to wear the balaclava inside or outside of the helmet ?
Was talking to an agency carer on her way home after a weeks gig with shielding client
Her agency recommended wearing a mask during her 2 hour train journey home and supplied her with sufficient masks to do so. Probably over cautious but at least they mean well.
Should read “… wearing a mask during her 2 hour train journey home and changing it every 30 minutes…”
Well if you didn’t read the news or blogs for that matter and just went out and about to family and food shopping only. Your only covid issue would be the queue for food. most people now are getting back to normal.
I’ve seen people driving alone in cars and vans wearing masks too, I have no idea why. I would think that they are probably unhygienic unless you constantly replace them.
Due to my work i’ve been on the road constantly, house arrest of the country really hasn’t made a scrap of difference, apart from being unable to get my statutory Greggs breakfast roll and coffee en route, and having to abide by rules in place at customer’s premises.
I too thought it was a load of cobblers, and from the many i meet at work it’s been noticeable that most east european chaps especially were of much the same opinion, if not actually living through state propaganda themselves they will have learned about it from their elders.
To a man they take no notice of anything the idiot box in the corner tells them, and treat the content of newspapers with the contempt deserved.
Luckily in my industry common sense is, er common, mostly respectful of the fears of others who swallowed this years kool aid ration, otherwise having intention of behaving anything other than normally.
I was at my local car showroom today. The dealer was telling me that they were warned that they would get all sorts from the casual not worried types (me) to the paranoid. He told me that one person held their breath as they walked past him. FFS!
Good grief, is she related to
scared, no common sense Maddy Savage I referenced on previous thread?
Balaclava: for me it’s keep lining clean + warmth
– Bought a Damart one, no use needed a larger helmet
– Bought some thin cotton jersey and mum made me one with eye holes only. Too thin to absorb exhaled vapour, provides some warmth by layer of still air, never too hot
No, my balaclava isn’t an FFP3/N95 mask or even an FFP1 and it’d never enter my head it might be. Like a full face helmet it does stop me inhaling bees, flies, wasps – once with open face was enough
“What sort of insane world is it that the question even needs to be raised” – the same sort as Maddy Savage and QT audience who bleat “I don’t understand” – Stay Alert is too complex for some
Helpfully, BBC has a reality show every year showcasing the know-nothings [WWII, when, who, why – dunno] – The Apprentice
Look how they hold a pen
– https://c2n.me/47QiU52.png
– https://c2n.me/47QiVYM.png
Good grief.
Saw very few other people wearing masks today, does drizzle make them more uncomfortable ? Perhaps it is sinking in that Covid is fast dying down (at least for this season) as viruses do.
BBC radio 2 Jeremiah Vine is still on it though. He was inviting listeners who had been unable to attend a loved ones funeral, because Covid, to relate what they would have liked to have said about the dearly departed, milk those tears Jeremy.
At home mid-afternoon through the open window wafts the happy sound of children on their break at the local junior school; I can’t see but don’t expect there was much social distancing going on in the playground.
o/t one link lead to another, seems Denmarks National Health Regulator was downgraded to an advisory body only so that the politicians could take the decision to lockdown which the former regulator was against doing. (Sorry if this is common knowledge, first I’d heard of it).
I thought that you might like this:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M3IGDB5IF0M/XtUmSNeq5dI/AAAAAAAAkPQ/OB8YLJ09G6s3Mr533r6OolbDCKEbH4gcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/90153945_718109178997792_1522771832933974014_n.jpg
That’s frighteningly accurate.
Slightly OT but as masks are likely to become necessary to keep the jobsworth Karen’s at bay, are there any vendors offering pre printed facemasks?
Obvious logos for the mask being
Mask On – Brain Off ( credit to poster on conservative woman)
Virtue Signaller.
A Mask a Day keeps the Karen’s at Bay.
I’m sure there are countless other suggestions but a bit of ridicule goes a long way if the govt is going to try to enforce this to justify lockdoen panic.
This piece of government bullshit came from my MP. We must wear masks on public transport.
Fine. I won’t use public transport, because I am not wearing a mask. No discussion, no bargaining, no appeasing or enabling. Simply… No.
Agreed – chances of me taking the train now much reduced.
You have specialist knowledge of operating machinery / vehicles.
Is it an offence to operate a vehicle while potentially impaired?
Should it be a criminal offence to operate a vehicle while wearing a mask, given its effect on blood oxygen levels?
After all if it saves one life etc etc
I asked a traffic cop if the Police had a viewpoint on wearing masks while driving, he just said “we don’t wear them” before attending to his communicator.