Your objection is to people likely visiting shops during the ride rather than the ride itself?
That's at least a reasonable position and arguably supported by the rules. But the solution to that is to encourage/require GPS validation and self-sufficiency rather than suspending validation altogether.
Agreed, and now we are into November and the cost weather, less water is required on a ride. Its quite easy to carry enough calories for 200km, caring water is more difficult.
Of course while we are talking about non essential visits to a shop for water/a Twix/receipt off licenses are still keen selling only non essentials.
Stopping in multiple different shops in a day is clearly unreasonable, stopping in one shop is questionable (particularly if it is far from home, or on an area with a different risk level)
But it is possible to ride 200km without any human contact at all. I trialed this in April or May, with 2 750ml bidons and a 3l camelbak. It is definitely within the abilities if most audax riders to ride 100km carrying what they need, and so complete 200km as a figure of eight ride.
It seems that there are two arguments against
1) unnecessary shop visits, self sufficiency is possible, and other measures against transmission exist.
2) virtue signalling, no actual risk is identified, but we people want validation to stop as if it will somehow earn brownie points from anyone outside of the sport.
Of course anyone is entitled not to ride, or not to validate their own events but applying their own additional rules to everyone is a different question.
