Ha! Oh I love things like this. So we’ve got a rule - wearing masks - which in many circumstances is absolutely the right thing to do. But then we sell things that completely negate the benefits of masks.
Don’t get me wrong: this kind of thing is a good idea for outdoor exercise, since in most circumstances as best I can tell that’s a minimal risk for catching the virus. But … it’s all so dumb, isn’t it? “Here’s something to negate the mask so you can still wear a mask without getting either the negatives or positives from it.” I dunno, almost like wearing a motorcycle helmet constructed from artfully designed plastic bags. Yes, you’re wearing a helmet. But …
It’s not that different from the cheap thin plastic motorbike helmets you see in Thailand and the Philippines etc. (maybe also here?), which offer no head protection whatsoever and the only function is to prevent the police fining you for not wearing a helmet.
Everyone so quick to come to conclusions. Have you tried that device? Do you know for sure that it will affect the perimeter of the mask touching the face, in any way?
I go up a mountain all by myself very early. A few walkers/hikers are out there, but I keep a big distance when passing them. There’s no danger. I would forgo the mask if I could, but we can’t, so I’m looking for any way to allow me to breathe better.
Well, it’s deliberately pushing the mask away from the face, so yeah, I do think it’d affect how well the mask itself works. In the photo at least it’d seem to push the mask away from the skin at the top and sides.
(I’d probably wear a proper mask on the riverside anyway - I haven’t been on them in a few weeks - and continue use the buff in the countryside, but I’m idly curious.)
The MRT has allowed buffs to be worn in place of masks for more than a year now. I took my bike on it with a buff pulled over my nose just last week without incident. But that’s the MRT. I have a feeling the city government, which the riverside patrols belong to, may not be so lenient.
I would give 1922 a call or even message the distributor (FreeTimeGear) for more info . If it is medical grade and a viable option to protect you, the distributor should have some kind of statement.
Within the CDC’s current overview, folding a single-layer gaiter to make two layers is an approved mask.
This is a US BUFF website pertaining to US CDC guidelines, regulations may vary with Taiwan CDC, but after checking Taiwan distributor, no statement released about BUFF tubes as an option to replace medical masks.
Huh. I’m shocked that would count as an approved mask!
Eh, I’ll just stick with my morally and medically sound approach of buff in the countryside, surgical mask if I’m near anyone. Legally, I suspect I’d get several different answers, none of which may be shared by random police officers in need of meeting a quota. Hell, if they really want to give me a ticket, they could trail me and then ticket me for pulling down the buff for a few seconds for a drink.
At least we’re still allowed to leave home for non-shopping trips. I’m currently in a cynical enough mood to suspect that’s not going to be allowed much longer - unless of course you’re heading to a crowded office. That’ll be fine.
To anyone with half a brain, it should be a viable option, but not everyone has half a brain.
I would still consider buying a trainer and staying in. The chance of someone exercising outdoors is still a higher probability of contracting the virus than staying in.
I’ll look into that as a last resort, but I’m desperate to avoid it. A giant part of what I get from cycling is simply the psychological benefit of being outside and in the countryside.
As for safety of staying in … I dunno, if someone a few floors up or down has the virus and is breathing in their apartment, I figure my chance of catching it from them (whether through bathroom pipes or air outside our windows) is going to be in the same ballpark as cycling by someone in the countryside - i.e. vanishingly low, and more “act of God” than anything I could protect myself against. But I’m definitely not going to cycle with anyone, or stay close behind anyone.
I don’t know if I am unfit, if it’s the heat or the mask. It could be a combination of all of them.
But riding from the entrance of 101 to balaka is kicking my ass with a mask on. And now they closed the pit stop with the tank so you can’t rest before tackling balaka road…
Covid is seriously the worst thing to happen to my “cycling career”
Ah crap. Is that entirely closed, or are the bathrooms still open?
For what it’s worth, 2020 was my first year with much mountain cycling, and I was initially alarmed, and then amused, by how much slower my times became when summer hit.
