Coping in Covid Lockdown
A month ago I had no idea how much our daily lives were about to change.
Our plans for the year have been torn up and thrown away. The timetable for opening our new Welsh venue has been delayed. Our brilliant team of builders have been doing their best to continue work but supplies of materials have created daily headaches and rethinks around what can and can’t be done. Observing social distancing for the building team is straightforward as we have multiple buildings at differing stages of completion, hence different trades operating around the site. Rather than fret about the delays, we have tried to celebrate every little step forward that the project takes and be relaxed about when it will be finished. Today for example, we managed to get a delivery of timber and so that meant we could felt and batten another of the buildings. We won’t be able to finish the roof as the suppliers of the corrugated sheeting are closed for the foreseeable future but at least these buildings are now dry. Little wins make a difference.
From this a couple of weeks ago
To this today
Our planned tours to Tuscany in May and June have been postponed and so I have been in discussions with our hotel partners in Italy to cancel bookings and try to be as sympathetic towards their own situations as we can. We want to be helping them as much as we can as we know that it will pay dividends in the way in which our riders get treated when we can get out and enjoy their hospitality in the future. We want to do the right things.
The bit I’m finding most difficult about this Covid crisis is the “not knowing how long its going to last”. I’m realising that I must be a bit of a control freak as I like to plan and manage situations. I like to strategise and consider the what if’s. But this virus seems to be the boss and the kind that doesn’t like to share what his thinking is. So, I have decided to be more relaxed about the uncertainty. Our plans for tours from September have been put on ice for now. Lots of legwork has been done around routes, stopover locations, hotels have been shortlisted and so none of this work will be wasted. We will be ready to go as soon as the virus has receded and our cycling community are happy to travel.
As each day goes by and the enormity of the impact of this virus becomes more evident I do count my blessings that we have found ourselves in such a beautiful and naturally isolated spot. Our business might be dramatically impacted in the short term, but the most important thing is that our health is protected and being where we are gifts us the perfect environment to enjoy our daily exercise during this lockdown. Once its all over I can’t wait to share it with others.