U.S. Bike Racing Is Looking Very Different in the COVID-19 Era
Many cycling events in the U.S. continue to be canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic—most recently, the cyclocross World Cup at Trek headquarters in Wisconsin, and several USA Cycling national championships.
But there have been a few sparks of hope, when it comes to a return to racing. At the highest level, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has reduced the number of events that will happen in the fall, but it still believes that major races like the Tour de France will go as planned. The Grote Prijs Vermarc Sport took place in Belgium the first weekend in July.
And at the grassroots level, races are already being held stateside.
The local, small events have been the first to come back in the U.S. The medium and large races, especially those that draw an international field, will be much trickier to hold. The number of riders and spectators will be hard to manage, and riders traveling from out of the country (or even from different states) may not be able to get to the start line, because of current travel recommendations—to name a few reasons.
Despite the obstacles, USA Cycling has worked hard to create a blueprint for a return to racing, since until a vaccine is available, social distancing measures and increased emphasis on hygiene are here to stay. And for anyone who’s attended or competed at a bike race—well, you know that can be tough.
What Are the New Rules?
USA Cycling has put out a number of resources, including a 39-page ‘Return to Riding and Racing’ handbook, to help cyclists and organizers safely navigate racing amid coronavirus. Among these new guidelines are:
Restroom quantity should be increased to reduce use and be placed 6 feet apart.
Create alphabetized pickup times to control the number of riders at registration at one time.
Only use electronic waivers to eliminate multiple people from using the same writing instrument and paper.
Riders should be instructed not to hug, high five, touch each other at any point before, during, or after their event.
Eliminate mass starts and switch to a time trial format to ensure space between riders at the start and on course
All of the new suggestions from the handbook are reasonable, but as any cyclist knows, a lot harder to actually put into practice. Here are some of the funnier and/or weirder ones:
Avoid language that may describe close interaction such as, ‘get in touch.’ [in email and other communications](This feels a little excessive, but I suppose a ‘handshake agreement’ is no longer a thing either.)
Create rules to prohibit riders from spitting or blowing their nose in the start area. (Try that one during a chilly November cyclocross race when everyone’s nose is running like a firehose on the start line.)
Do not provide chairs for riders to sit upon while waiting, they must stand. (When was the last time your Cat 4 field was provided with chairs?)
Have a goal to prevent passing. (Well, glad we all came out to this no-pass bike race.)
And for crying out loud, if organizers say wear a mask, wear the mask.
What Are the Biggest Hurdles for Race Organizers?
First and foremost, be kind to your local promoters. They’re doing the best they can in tough circumstances, and are likely suffering financially.
USA Cycling has noted the potential barriers to running races, citing local resistance to hosting races in town even with safety precautions in place; diminished fields, since many riders will opt out of new formats or don’t want to deal with the social distancing measures; and the loss of some financial support from past sponsors who are currently struggling to make ends meet.
Because of that, many promoters are opting to simply cancel their races this season. Not only would holding a race involve considerable expenses and tons of red tape to cut through from various levels of governments, on top of USA Cycling standards, but it also just won’t be much fun.
After more than a decade of the Louisville MTB Short Track Series, promoter Brian Segal opted to cancel his season preemptively.
“We did not see a safe way to host the race series,” he said. “The heart and soul of our event is the party atmosphere. People hang out, there are food trucks and kids’ races. And because it’s a short track race and everyone is bunched up, there was no safe way to run the race and no way to protect spectators from themselves.”
Other promoters have echoed Segal’s sentiment, noting that while athletes are obviously missing the races, it’s hard to justify hosting a race with the virus cases going up. Additionally, hosting a race often means taking a loss monetarily in addition to the monumental amounts of stress associated with meeting all of the new regulations.
Ultimately, the best part of a cyclocross race isn’t standing in your own (appropriately distanced) start box for your heat of six riders—it’s giving your nemesis a muddy hug after sprinting it out and crossing the finish line sweaty, grimy, and elated. It’s feeling like a total badass for a few seconds as you ride over the most technical feature on the course while a guy in the woods makes his chainless chainsaw shriek and dozens of spectators chug from pink flamingo-shaped beer bongs. The sanitized version just doesn’t hold the same appeal for most amateur racers in the U.S.
What Racing Looks Like When It Happens
Right now, there are some grassroots-style local events happening in certain states, and promoters are finding that the new restrictions haven’t dampened the spirits of the racers who are excited to take part in events that are still happening.
At the Tour of North Georgia, which took place the last weekend of June, racers were given guidelines like wearing masks when not racing, not starting if they felt any symptoms of COVID-19, and no contact on the podium.
“In order to make the event as safe as possible, organizers strongly encouraged the use of masks while we were off of our bikes, which of course, I did. But it sadly wasn’t well-enforced due to the COVID-related rules in Georgia not being very strict,” racer Kira Zazzi admits. “But as for the racing side, I had an absolute blast! I had a smile on my face the entire time and couldn’t believe that I was finally back to racing! Seeing that all of my hard work during quarantine was actually paying off was super motivating.”
There are even bigger races planned for later this month. Telluride 100 MTB race promoter Tobin Behling is set on delivering a fun and safe (USA Cycling-sanctioned) event on July 25 in Colorado, which has involved making some major changes to the event. He has the goal of becoming a UCI-sanctioned XCM event next season, so putting on one of the few big races this summer was important for him.
“We moved from a mass start event to a time trial start,” he said. “Seeding will be in a non-traditional manner from fastest to slowest riders so that distancing can happen from the beginning of the race. All of our volunteers will be using masks and our feed zones will be offering single serve items only as well as very frequent sanitization.”
As one racer told Behling, “It’s not just a race. You are giving all of us something to look forward to, and a way to get all of our lives back to our ‘new normal.’”
But the changes in the race plan itself wasn’t the tough part for Behling—he was most saddened by the changes in the post-race celebration.
“We moved from an awards ceremony to award pickup to avoid a large crowd gathering,” he adds. “We're bummed out that we won’t be able to celebrate the racers accomplishments of the day like we normally do.”
Racers will have to decide for themselves what levels of risk that they’re comfortable with and what kind of racing still feels exciting and fun, while promoters have to decide what margins they can work with and the best practices they can use to ensure that their events balance safety with fun.
But one thing is certain: racing as we know it won’t be back this season.
This is a rapidly developing situation. For the most up-to-date information, check resources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) regularly. This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
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