#Ride5000miles key workers are doing their bit to fight virus pandemic

Countless people are using their motorcycles to travel to jobs in the emergency services and as key workers during the Coronavirus crisis.

With two wheels cutting journey times for some and providing a break from a high-stress environment, many #ride5000miles members have been bolstering their totals, while making a genuine difference to people’s lives.

This includes James Crichton, 36, who uses his Yamaha XJ6 Diversion between his home in Leicester and Stamford ambulance station, where he is based as an emergency medical technician.

“If you’re sitting in a car going backwards and forwards, you’ve got that time just to sit there and think,” James explained. “You can mull things over more but being out on the bike in the fresh air, you’re concentrating more on what you’re doing.”

Facing regular 12-hour shifts, which can end up being 15-hour stints, he continued: “It’s more liberating, relaxing and you tend to forget about the other issues or problems going on. It’s quite therapeutic.”

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And 19-year-old pharmacy support worker, James Read, says his ride through the New Forest between his home in Poole and work in Southampton provides a welcome stress release.

The Kawasaki Ninja 650 rider told MCN: “I don’t have any other transport, so I use a bike all the time. My ride home is nearly always as the sun is setting, so there’s always a nice view, and I get to see some wildlife. It seems like more of an escape than ever.”

Wakefield-based Andy Welbourn is also using his Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro to travel to his job providing training for West Yorkshire Police.

“I’m in the fortunate position where I can get half-an-hour or 40 minutes of riding a day and it’s the de-stress before you lock yourself back up inside,” Andy said. “You’re concentrating on riding, so you haven’t got time for the niggling things in the back of your mind.”