Redlands cancelled.
With the Governor banning gatherings over 250 people in TX I would plan for the Rattler to go away pretty soon…I sincerely hope they don’t but hard to see how it happens.
No such luck yet out of TdB…
Kudos to the race Directors heeding the warnings and direction of health officials.
Not really cycle related but Vail Resorts closed all their ski resorts in north america from March 15 to 22 which put a stone over my trip to whistler and my plans to ski this year. But, of course, not complaining, we need to be responsible at this time. There’s snow every year.
Where did you see the Texas ban? I know AUSTIN and Travis county have a ban, but have not seen the Texas one. Rattler is not in Travis county or austin. I’m also not sure they will pull 250 people. That said, I’m thinking it will get cancelled ban or not.
USA Cycling officially suspending permits on all events through April 5th.
This is obviously a huge bummer, but it absolutely needed to happen.
I’m not signed up for TX hincapie but am the other two this year, I expect the jury is still out on whether things will be calmed down by the beginning of May for Chattanooga. I get that club fondos and things will suffer for refunds but it feels like a big corporate backed event like this should be more forgiving for an event cancellation versus individual “can’t make it after all” situation the refunds page describes. Curious how they resolve the TX/Eventbrite bit as I’m not feeling too interested in mail-ordering event kit and a medal from a ride that didn’t happen…
The Leadville folks announced last night that the Austin rattler race is still on. It’s still 2 weeks away, so things could change, but it’s on for now.
I see no way it happens…we are only at the beginning of this. Go look at how it has expanded in all the other countries and where they are now.
It will only be worse in 2 weeks, not better.
With the consensus threshold being 250 people, could any smaller races continue? Or is it more of a responsible cancellation of public gatherings? Up here in Winterville (aka Canada), we don’t have the cycling population to swell the ranks like in the US, so a peloton of 25 could still get a green light (?).
It definitely sucks (I already went through a forced “cancellation” last year, so I’m well acclimatized) but probably best to forget racing this year and turn it into a monster training block!
Re: it only getting worse in the coming weeks, go look at all the pictures of packed bars around the country yesterday as people insisted on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day…
The worst is yet to come.
Of course it’s going to get worse. It’s a virus and it will spread. However, a bit of common sense goes a long way with this stuff. Wash hands, don’t touch your face, don’t go out when sick, etc. Canceling an outdoor bike race or a group ride while people are still flying on planes, eating out in large numbers, going to movies, fighting for toilet paper at Costco ,etc. is just not going to do anything to significantly “flatten the curve”. I know we can do both, but it’s just crazy some to see all the dumb stuff going on that can actually significantly spread the virus.
So I see 2 groups of people. First group is taking it seriously and going bat shit crazy following the recommendations you listed. The second group is going bat shit crazy with ignoring them.
“So if we don’t do the big stuff, I see no reason to bother with the small stuff” is pretty poor reasoning. It ALL matters and taking decisive steps now will limit the transmission.
Given the lack of leadership, it is incumbent on everyone, individually, to limit their exposure. Going to a bike race with hundreds of racers, plus any support crew, where people are spitting and blowing snot rockets, is just a bad idea.
No. See Forum thread on cancellation of club rides
Yes! See USAC video on coronavirus, especially athlete recommendations that start at 11 minute mark.
Now ALL races cancelled?
I have a cobble-sized hole in my soul.
Croatan Buck Fifty cancelled
Not so much small and big, but level of effectiveness. We all need to do our part to limit spread, but I go back to common sense. I’m actually a bit of a germophobe, especially when in large groups. I hate getting sick. I just assume that all the people around me might have a virus and I might have a virus, so I try not to spread it in either direction. That means frequent hand washing and absolutely not touching my face when in contact with others or public places. At an outdoor bike race, contact with others and risk of spread can be almost zero, particularly at a MTB race. I am much more nervous going to the grocery store when there are so many touch points and thousands of people a day spreading their germs. Everyone has to draw the line somewhere. I’m not concerned about a bike race. If I played golf, I’d be comfortable with that. Basketball is a constant exchange of bodily fluids, I find it a little gross even when a bad virus isn’t floating around.
For people that have to fly to an event, that does increase the risk of spread. It’s hard to avoid all contact when flying. I’ve been on airplanes the last 4 weeks and the flights have been packed (yes, even last week). You have to be really disciplined on a long flight to keep your hands off your face and wash/sanitize frequently. I did this before COVID and I’ll keep doing it after. If you have the sick guy coughing/sneezing next to you, all the hand washing in the world might not help, that’s life.