TOAD TALKS: Why self-isolation is the motorcyclist’s best friend

FIRST off, sorry to be ramming another article onto your newsfeed relating to the COVID-19 (that’s Coronavirus to his mates), but I promise – this is a good news story! Well, some of it is…

With most of Europe on lockdown and the UK government, rightly or wrongly, urging the public to stay indoors, the UK looks to be slipping into self-imposed incarceration. But with this large-scale confinement of the general public, bikers might be about to get some great conditions for heading out for a ride.

Self-isolation? Completed it mate…

With one of the pieces of advice being to self-isolate if you show symptoms and keep a social distance from others if you don’t, where better to do that than on your bike! It doesn’t stop at just keeping a distance from others that might be carrying the virus, riding a motorcycle is good for mind, body, and soul, getting away for a couple of hours from the media-hype can’t be a bad thing.

I’m also fairly sure that I’m not alone in being the only person to touch my motorcycle while I’m out for a ride, greatly reducing the chance of picking up COVID-19. Add to that a set of leathers, gloves and a motorcycle helmet covering my nose and mouth and I’m about as isolated from the outside world as you can get!

Empty roads

I’ve even noticed in the last couple of days that the roads are already starting to get quieter. Popping to the shops last night and I had to check my phone to see what time it was, the roads were that quiet, you could have been forgiven for thinking it was 11pm not 7:30pm! And it’s not just traffic in the evening that is on the decline. As more and more people heed the government advice – and some of the media scaremongering that follows it – the amount of daytime and weekend traffic I’ve seen also seems to be dropping. Get out there and make the most of it!

Could the government spoil our fun though?

In the quest to halt the global spread of the Coronavirus the government could step in and issue travel restrictions for all but the most vital journeys – work, hospital, chemist trips or helping elderly or infirm. They already have the power to restrict the movements of people they believe are infected with the virus, although policing that is extremely difficult.

It’s also true that while our time on the bike might be about to get a boost – until the next load of advice is announced – our beloved motorcycle sport seems to have taken a kicking. MotoGP, all French motorcycle races, Le Mans and now the holy grail of them all, the Isle of Man TT seem to be fighting hard against this global epidemic. While I feel bad for the riders and the fans that want to watch their heroes, I feel even worse for the low-level staff in the teams, the tracks and the factories that might have a summer looking for work as their bike-sport-shaped paychecks disappear.