Lockdown - was I in the wrong?

[JigsawGirl11]

So today me and DH went out for a bike ride (I will admit straight away that we didn't ride at all before lockdown and bought bikes so we can take advantage of the daily exercise a little better)

We took a bottle of water and a little packet of 6 mini sausage rolls we had in the fridge. After around 45 mins we sat down at a bench had a drink and ate the sausage rolls, police drove past once, went about 200 yards to the next roundabout and came back and told us off.

The policeman was pretty polite and apologetic, he said that we need to move on as if his Sargent saw he would fine us on the spot.

Obviously we moved on, there's no point trying to push the boundaries and I know health and the general stay at home advice is important. Personally I am a bit put out by such an infringement of what's usually a basic human right and the common sense that it we didn't have sausage rolls we prob would have been able to have a break/drink of water whilst on the bike ride.

I hope no-one is going to jump on about scold me like a child, obviously I thought what we did was okay or we wouldn't have done it but I'm interested to hear other people's opinions.

I'm afraid that I need to eat at least every 30 mins at the minute due to morning (haha) sickness

Nice drip feed. Don't tell me... it's twins, isn't it?

(Little sausage roll twins on miniature bicycles)

Just sitting on the bench could be spreading the virus. You should only go out to exercise not to ride the bike somewhere to have a picnic.

Yes sit and have a snack for medical reasons, and increase your chance of catching the virus. Good job

If your medical needs are so severe then don’t go out for so long, or just stay at home

what about elderly people? Who desperately need to exercise to maintain muscle strength and bone density and prevent falls, but who need to stop frequently to sit and rest while out walking

Rollators with a seat are made for this scenario, so anyone who has one can stop and sit and rest whenever they need to.

If anyone's thinking of buying one to use outdoors, may I suggest one that has thick rubbery wheels? I bought one with hard plastic wheels and the vibration of pushing it on a road or uneven pavements is very jarring on the wrists and forearms.

@JigsawGirl11 I'm not going to join in the general pile on but just wanted to say that I really feel for you going through morning sickness right now. I'm 24 weeks and the first 20 were bloody horrible. Must be even worse if you can't just pop to the corner shop to buy haribo/salt and vinegar discos/ice lollies or whatever it is that seems like it's the only thing that will cure the nausea right now!

You were in the wrong as I’m sure you now know. Sitting eating a sausage roll isn’t exercise, (in fact some might argue it defeats the object of the exercise because it’s not what you would call a low fat healthy snack).

Cycling is a good idea, but in future restrict it to a distance where you can ride there and back without needing a rest and have your sausage roll when you get home as a reward.

You can do maybe 100 yards and need to stop and rest, repeat etc.

Good luck finding a bench every 100 yards then.

Maybe those who can't walk far without s sit down should do tai chi in their home or garden? Recommended by the hospital to build up muscle and prevent falls.

And I'm sure this will enrage some people but when I go for a walk if I get tired I have a little sit down (on the grass). Shocking I know.

@HeresToTheCrazyOnes My Body Pump teacher is also a dietician - maybe I should ask her what we all need to eat as we down the weights at the half way point. But wait a minute, as NHS staff she'll probably be looking after the nutritional needs of those with CV19 in ICU - not worrying about those that start a new exercise regime as we go into lockdown and see it as an infringement of their human right to be disallowed a park bench sausage roll after 30 mins.

TBH I think sitting on benches for a bit is fine (even better if you antibac wipe them down a bit).

When we talk about exercise we always assume continuous movement. Lots of people are mobility limited, but still need/want to take exercise. This might mean them walking a bit, sitting a bit, walking a bit etc.

I think those of us who don't need to use benches shouldn't do so at the moment. There should be no judgement about people sitting on benches who need to do so.

Think of your own safety in the scenario. It has been widely publicised not to touch your face when out and about as the main entry points for the virus are your mouth nose and eyes. It has also been widely publicised that the virus can live on surfaces for several hours.

So you have sat on a bench and eaten something.

You have no idea who has sat on the bench before you. Please just think about it from this side of things

Op in the kindish possible way you are a fool. Do you actually know how this virus is transmitted?

Your short sit down during legitimate exercise isn’t the end of the world.
Being told to move on also isn’t the end of the world 💐

The policeman has to ask you to move on. He isn’t still thinking about it tonight, he isn’t thinking what an idiot or criminal you are ❤️

You aren’t a terrible person, try to let it go x

You’re suffering horrible MS which doesn’t stick to the morning...yet you feel energetic enough to take up new exercise.....

You know the rules yet decided to go out for longer and stop for a bite to eat....

You’re in early pregnancy which is a time to take a bit extra care of yourself...

And yet you think going out and bending the rules is ok.

Btw Police are working to ‘Engage (start a conversation) Educate (go over the rules) Encourage (ask people nicely to do what they’re fucking meant to be doing) Enforcement (the fines, as a last resort, because so many are trumpeting about basic human rights whilst not giving a fuck for others’ basic human rights, like, oh, I don’t know - not catching the virus and ending up needing a ventilator which could have been avoided, or passing it to someone vulnerable, or having an accident and pulling NHS resources to something which could have been avoided)

Genuine question here - do the public REALLY think that they get to pick and choose which laws are ok to break? Does the OP think she knows more than the NHS, or WHO, or even a government who must be worried as Profit is their Prophet, so to jeopardise that there must be something bad.

Start setting an example to your unborn child OP.

I’d have fined you 😉

Kindest.

Yanbu. It's good the police officer seemed sympathetic and I agree that if it wasn't for the sausage rolls and you just appeared to be having a drink and sit down you'd have been fine.

I did similar today. Went for a walk over the common. 15 min walk there followed by another 20min walk to the stream and the 20min back. I then sat on a bench in the sunshine for 10mins before walking home. While doing that I read some of my book on Google books. Had I had an actual book and police had been passing guarantee they'd have spoken to me too.

You couldn’t go an hour with a sausage roll snack?

We went out to the fields the other day. Police was around but didn't say anything except "Lovely day,how are you" . I was sitting on a bench and they didn't question us at all. Must've been the lack of sausage rolls.

Just out of interest, how many of you who take food out would think it fine to take their sausage rolls or sandwiches and eat them in the middle of a gym, or swimming Pool?
We go out on our bikes early morning to avoid other people, ride away from our house for half an hour then return home. We take water and sit in our bikes for a quick drink. We have our breakfast when we get home. It's easy!

@Soontobe60 Indeed.

I am more bother that in early pregnancy you have taken up something new. You know you cant go for more than 30 mins without eating.

So decided to go for a 1 hour-1.5hrs bike ride (surely you would not have stopped close to home), on a hot day, in early pregnancy, when you dont normally do it, in the middle of pandemic, knowing you it's not a good idea/not allow to stop and eat.

Wtf were you thinking? Its not really the covid thing that makes it a bad idea. It's the rest of it.

Op please take care of yourself.

Yes. You were absolutely in the wrong.

HTH

Yep, another person who never went out to exercise before this killer virus yet now does (and throws a picnic into the mix).

It's a bit silly quoting examples of the elderly and infirm saying they need to stop and rest.

My Mum is in her 90s. She is trying to walk frequently, but she knows her limits. She won't go any distance where she needs to sit down.

She does a circuit of her road which is about 10-15 minutes or so. Obviously she's not so daft that she goes beyond her capability and needs a seat ( cos there are none anyway.)

Reading these posts suggests no one actually knows an old person or how they behave. It's all made up!

You were unreasonable and silly!