A Bristol cyclist was reported for a potential lockdown breach after recording his 100km bike ride on the tracking app Strava.
An account user named 'Strava Police' apparently flagged the man's ride via the app yesterday (May 3) and emailed British Cycling to make them aware, Road.cc reports.
Unlike in England, the Welsh government's lockdown guidance says people should only ride bikes within walking distance of where they live.
The person who flagged the route was concerned the cyclist, who has not been named, had contravened the Welsh rule to stay local.
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Their email reportedly instructed British Cycling to "please have a word with him as the next time it is spotted the matter will be referred to the police".
The cyclist had travelled just over 100km from Bristol into Monmouthshire, via the Severn Bridge, and back to Bristol.
He told road.cc he was not aware of the differences in exercise rules in England and Wales, and he had only crossed the border to "seek solitude from the busy city I live in".
The ride had taken him four hours but he said he completed the majority of his bike rides indoors.
What are the rules?
Strava's flagging function is usually used to notify the app's administrators of someone who has potentially violated the leaderboard guidelines, for example if they recorded a fast run but were really on a bike and had tried to cheat the system.
Any activities that are flagged will not appear on the app's leaderboards.
Exercise is one of the exceptions for which people are allowed to leave their homes for during lockdown.
There has been some confusion about how long people can be outside for, with one hour being the figure referenced by Michael Gove during interview.
However, there is no time limit or location radius from home written into the rules in England.
Even in Wales, the instruction to stay local is only a 'rule of thumb', according to the written guidance on gov.wales.
Hostility towards cyclists
Today, May 4, British Cycling and Cycling UK have published an open letter to "end to hostility towards cyclists".
This aggression has been seen locally, with pins apparently sprinkled on roads in North Somerset and the words 'Covidiot cyclists stay at home' written along a popular cycling route.
In the letter, the organisations' chief executives Julie Harrington and Pete Fitzboydon said it was "deeply upsetting" to hear of hostility towards cyclists during the lockdown.
They wrote: "The Government’s guidance since the beginning of the lockdown has continued to encourage cycling for daily exercise, in recognition of the substantial physical and mental health benefits it provides to the many millions of people taking part.
"Far from being the villains in this story, we have been inundated with examples of clubs and groups who have gone above and beyond to support their communities during the crisis."
Avon and Somerset Police appeared to back their calls in a tweet today, shared on their road safety account.
The tweet read: "This represents a worrying picture & unfortunately we are seeing a number reports in the area too.
"In addition to those using cycling as a form of exercise NHS staff & other key workers are choosing to cycle to and from work."
