Bike race schedule ramping up as COVID fades

Mar. 1—As the coronavirus pandemic begins to fade, Bike City is getting back on track.

The Melee at McClellan, a race that brought 600 teen mountain bikers and their parents to Anniston last March, is scheduled to return again on March 20, unless the pandemic takes a turn for the worse, a McClellan official said Monday.

"As of right now, we're still scheduled to have it," said Julie Moss, director of the McClellan Development Authority. "It's time to work on the details."

In a normal year, Anniston sees waves of bicyclists whizzing through on weekends throughout spring and summer in a series of high-profile cycling events. COVID-19 disrupted that cycling season last year, shutting down major events such as the Cheaha Challenge and the Sunny King Criterium. As late as December, race organizers were still putting asterisks by their 2021 race plans, aware that a surge in the virus could change everything.

Things look different now. The daily number of new coronavirus cases has been falling steadily for weeks, and there were just 17 people hospitalized with COVID at Regional Medical Center on Monday, compared to more than 80 at the peak in January.

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association, which organizes mountain bike races for high-school-age teams, is still advertising March 20 as the planned date for its Melee at McClellan race.

Adam Crews, an organizer of the NICA race, said people will be required to wear masks, except when they're racing on the course. He said the group has held races earlier this year and has seen participation grow about as much as it did in prior years.

"People appreciate the opportunity to do something that lets them feel normal again," he said.

Last year's race was the first major event held on McClellan's then-new bike trails. It was also the last major event in town that wasn't affected in some way by COVID-19. The state announced its first cases of the illness a week after the race, beginning the shutdown that would affect the state for part of the spring.

Organizers of the Sunny King Criterium, a yearly race on the streets of Anniston, have moved the date of their race from April to the July 4 weekend.

"We decided about a month ago that that April date related to COVID was not going to set us up for success," said Marilyn Cullinane, an organizer of the race.

The Sunny King race draws both professional riders and amateurs, who ride in front of crowds in downtown Anniston. The Noble Street festival, a downtown event, occurs on the same weekend.

Cullinane said the Sunny King race presents challenges that may not be a problem for mountain-bikers — most notably the need for riders to crowd together at the starting line. Organizers are hoping vaccination will be widespread by July, she said, but are planning various precautions against the virus. The welcome tent for riders, for instance, won't include a buffet, and the host program that allows riders to stay with local residents has been canceled.

Cullinane said organizers are expecting participation to drop by 20 to 25 percent this year, though she said that could change considerably as the virus situation improves.

The Cheaha Challenge, an annual ride that takes cyclists on a 100-mile trip from Jacksonville to the top of Cheaha Mountain and back, is set for May 15. Organizer Brooke Nelson said interest in the race seems strong and her inbox is filling up with questions from riders.

"We've got our fingers and our toes crossed, but we're optimistic," Nelson said.

If the race were held today, she said, riders would have to wear their masks until they started pedaling. Volunteers at the various rest stops along the way would have to wear masks and gloves, and the food they offer would have to be pre-packaged.

There's even a rule for the pickle juice riders often drink along the way to try to keep cramps at bay. In past rides, cyclists have been able to snatch up cups of the stuff, but under pandemic rules they'd have to get it out of a keg with a spigot.

It's unclear whether the same social-distancing rules will still be in place by May, and it matters to race organizers. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a rider favorite, but Nelson said pre-packaged "uncrustables" cost about five times as much as the homemade fare volunteers usually serve. Prepackaging also creates more garbage, which means organizers might need to find a truck to run the race route to do garbage pickup.

Nelson said it's not yet time to decide on those food options, though the decision does require some lead time.

"If you're ordering bananas for 1,200 people, they just don't appear," she said.

More than 300,000 people in Alabama have received both shots of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday morning, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The state's emergency order requiring masks in public is set to expire Friday.

Capitol & statewide reporter Tim Lockette: 256-294-4193. On Twitter @TLockette_Star.