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news
Strava Bristol and Wales ride.PNGBristol cyclist flagged on Strava and reported to British Cycling … for crossing into Wales for bike ride during lockdown
A cyclist from Bristol who crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales today to cycle on quiet roads has had his ride flagged on Strava because it is claimed to contravene lockdown guidance from the Welsh Government not to ride more than walking distance from home.
Each of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom has its own regulations regarding the lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 23 May.
While the guidance is broadly similar and permits exercising, including cycling, being a reason to leave the home, only Wales has sought to put a limit on the distance from home you can ride.
> Welsh Government says you can only cycle within walking distance of home
The reason given was to ensure that if a mechanical problem or some other issue happened to the rider, he or she would be able to get home on foot without involving the emergency services or get someone to come out and pick them up.
While a distance of 10 miles form home has been widely reported, that stipulation is not contained in the Welsh Government's guidance, nor the emergency regulations themselves.
The cyclist, who told road.cc that currently 90 per cent of his cycling happens indoors, crossed the Severn Bridge into Monmouthshire today.
From leaving his home in Bristol to returning there, he was on his bike for a little under four hours, covering a little more than 100 kilometres.
After posting the ride to Strava, it appears to have been flagged by an account called ‘Strava Police’ which is based in Chepstow.
The account has no followers, nor has it logged any activities, and it may be that it has been set up on the social network to enable the user to see what others are doing, in particular people crossing the Severn from England into Wales.
The rider was reported to British Cycling in an email which read, in part: “This is in contravention of the Welsh Assembly laws concerning COVID19 that state that no one should cycle further than their local area in Wales.
“Also they should cycle no further than the distance that they could walk home in the event of mechanical issues.
“This is a potential strain on local resources and he could be bringing COVID 19 to a rural area heavily populated with working farms and an older population.
“Please have a word with him as the next time it is spotted the matter will be referred to the police. I have a screen shot of his ride today as proof should I need to take that step.”
The rider, who said that he had been unaware of the different regulations between England and Wales, told road.cc that “most of the purpose of me riding out that way was to actively seek solitude from the busy city I live in.”
He added: “I do 90 per cent of my rides inside."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 1 sec ago
Argh! Now there's some kind of rat problem there too! Definitely no windows!
- GMBasix 20 min 16 sec ago
There are several cycle awareness courses around the country. They may not address psychology in detail, but they take drivers out on bikes. They...
- chrisonabike 38 min 41 sec ago
Yup - although as a more "distributed" / low cost kind of "good" (which the public purse pays towards) cycling will likely always be susceptible to...
- quiff 1 hour 45 min ago
I'm sure they'd ask Lime to do that too. Come and collect your bikes and my neighbour - they're in pieces.
- brooksby 1 hour 51 min ago
Ireland seems to have a lot of problems with their cycle lanes… Almost as many as England
- quiff 2 hours 11 min ago
Fair point - I was restricting myself to pedal bikes. As I've never spent that kind of money on anything though (mortgage doesn't count), it's kind...
- brooksby 3 hours 13 min ago
And finally: I wonder how many of the "more than 3,000" signatures on that petition are actually locals, who live or work there (and are not just...
- Doug_D 4 hours 49 min ago
Another book suggestion - I can highly recommend "Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons: A Mint Sauce collection" - a beautifully presented...
- mdavidford 6 hours 40 min ago
I think you're missing an opportunity to pack even more tech into it - add accelerometers that can detect whether they're pedalling or stepping....
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43 comments
My God there are some truly sad little people out there aren't there?
Reported to British cycling - does this mean he won't make the Olympic team?
No laws were broken by making this trip.
Two can play that game, I've reported Strava Police as a fake profile on Strava. IIRC you're supposed to use your own name in their Ts & Cs.
Oooh, me too.
We better get started now. so many strava police to report to the real police for impersonating officers of the law...
Strava's TOS include:
"You agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself (“Member Data”)"
Sign up requires first and last name which probably aren't Strava and Police. Not sure how strongly they enforce that when it comes to nicknames, assuming other details (email address) are correct.
The other main one is under "Conduct:"
"You may not use the Services, or assist or encourage any other party, to engage in any of the following Prohibited Activities:"
"(l) Collecting or harvesting any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, including account names and information about users of the Services, from the Services;"
TLDR: fake profile maybe, signing up and collecting identifiable information to go after other users defiantly violates TOS
What can British Cycling do?
This situation is like contacting the FA because you saw kids playing footy in the park.
“This is in contravention of the Welsh Assembly laws concerning COVID19 that state that no one should cycle further than their local area in Wales."
No, it is not - since the law does not state that. The law in Wales says that you may leave home to;
"take exercise, no more than once a day (or more frequently if this is needed because of a particular health condition or disability), either
(i) alone;
(ii) with other members of the person’s household; or
(iii) with the person’s carer;"
No mention in law of "local area" or any other distance or time criteria.
That is the law but the guidance at https://gov.wales/leaving-home-exercise-guidance, updated on 24 April, adds:
Discussed at https://road.cc/content/news/wales-cyclists-may-only-ride-within-walking...
One solution for Strava users is to tighten your privacy settings:
https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216919377-Activity-Privacy-...
Since the restricted activity is leaving home, and they did that in England, strictly speaking it would appear that the Welsh regulations/guidance aren't even applicable in this case, and the English regulations/guidance make no mention of limits on distance.
Guidance is no more than that - guidance. It does not carry the force of law. It's the Court's view on whether it amounts to a reasonable excuse or not which is important. Guidance is issued to give us all a clue as to what the Government was thinking when they used the term "reasonable" in the legislation, but guidance does not define the term (unless its statutory guidance backed by Regulation - which this is not) and the Court can and will depart from the Govenment's view very often.
Plus what is reasonable for a trained endurance athlete is going to be very different to what is reasonable for a fat 60+ Welsh Assembly Member.
And I confess that I haven't got the first idea whether the "offence" (if any) is being committed in England, where the cyclist lives and where the guidance is different, or in Wales, where he cycled to.
All that really matters is that there is a sad little person impersonating the police who is tired of being cooped up in his house all day and has decided to grief people fitter and freer than themselves.
Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
Police act 1996
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/16/section/90
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