I commute home along the riverside bike path sometimes, most people seem to have their masks on but of course there are always a few (mostly oldies) that walk/bike/jog without masks 
1 Like
This is all I had seen as well. I wasnât sure if it was because Taipei/New Taipei are the focus of the outbreaks or if they were actually the only ones at level 3. Thank you!
âCommuteâ, no mention of me specifically on a bike 
Youâre in the cycling forum, posting in a cycling thread! 
Guy
3 Likes
Could be about the cyclists that are riding without masks!
A lot of other countries seemed to have very strict restrictions against outdoor recreation, but then slowly reduced them as it appears the risk of outdoor transmission is very low (and I suppose to keep people sane).
Hopefully Taiwan can leverage being so late to the game and see what has worked well for other countries?
3 Likes
I hope so, but Iâm skeptical. Thereâs just such a sense that âOh, things are bad, so anything that may be good must be avoided.â We all need to be more èŸèŠ to get through this, or something like that.
It is leaving me somewhat aghast to see Taiwan repeating other countryâs errors from last year. A year ago, OK, limit people going outside - we didnât know. Now, we know. The risk is very, very minimal.
Caveat: there are indeed many places in Taiwan where itâs near-impossible to go outside without being in a big crowd. Plus I suppose authorities feel that if they let people go outside, youâll have big crowds of old people doing karaoke in a plastic tent or something.
2 Likes
Hopefully regulations will change, but best to just keep it as is for now.
If you relax any rules, people will abuse it.
1 Like
Do I like to wear a mask? Hell no.
But just think about the medical world for a second, the nurses and doctors who wear that bloody thing almost 24/7.
Wear it as a tribute to those who donât have the privilege nor the time to ride a bike for pleasure right now.
8 Likes
1 Like
No complaints on the mask rule here - itâs definitely best to keep things super simple and itâs great to see most people following the rule.
However if we go to level 4 it does sound like we will not go be able to go outside at all other then maybe for groceries or other essential tasks.
We can ride our bike to the store.
Better than nothing!
3 Likes
âYes, officer, I need to get THIS kind of Snickers bar from THIS 7-11. Whatâs that you say? Jinshan is really far from Danshui? Yes, it is, but do you know how amazing the Snickers bars are here in Jinshan?!â
2 Likes
Yes and no. I see two things as crucial: 1) making the rule simple, as you say (âAlways wear masks when away from homeâ); but also 2) making the rule logical (âWear a mask anytime youâre near anyone elseâ). And those are often in conflict - the rule-makers have my sympathy, because finding that balance is hard. If you neglect #2, youâre going to have people thinking the rules are sometimes dumb (which is the stage Iâm currently at), and therefore ignoring them when they are important (which is a stage I absolutely do not want to be at).
Benign non-cycling example: I broke the rules and took my mask off when away from home yesterday. I was sitting in my office at work, all by myself for several hours, closed door, air conditioning unit in the window. Technically I could have been fined for that. But that would have been idiotic.
Hazardous non-cycling example: local supermarket has a limit for people allowed in at one time. OK, fine. Clear. But illogical: it resulted in a dense crowd of people waiting in the entryway to get in - which made things far, far more hazardous than just letting the people in the really wide-open store would have been. I chose not to wait, but I had the luxury of that choice; some people may not.
Iâm happy that I got a cycling ⊠um ⊠Buff? Is that word seriously safe for work, or is the cycling community having the world on? âUV Protection Multifunctional Headwearâ. I look forward to covering my mouth and nose with it for most of a ride tomorrow, with a surgical mask to put on if I ever go anywhere busier, but otherwise in the jersey pocket. Letâs all hope that, when Level 3 ends, the level goes down rather than up.
That looks more aero. Good for time trials I bet. 
I have one from Velocio, that I wore when commuting before we went into level 3, but they clearly state itâs not for medical use. So I usually bring a medical grade one and swapped it on when entering buildings.
https://velocio.cc/collections/accessories/products/face-mask
Make sure the UA one is medical grade! Otherwise itâs relatively useless.
2 Likes
I heard a story of someone choking to death on a flying cockroach that flew into the personâs mouth while riding a scooter. So I would think wearing a mask while riding is a good ideaâŠ
Ok, this is just taking the piss right? Overdoing the âI heard a storyâ shtick because I keep replying to posts with âSource?â Thatâs got to be what youâre doing. Right? Itâs just a long con?
2 Likes