A Racing Rethink
More people are riding bikes amid the pandemic. But when will rides and races return?
By Stephen Koch
Like every aspect of life during a pandemic, the world of cycling has been in a tumult this year. With the large numbers of participants in close proximity that bike racing brings together, competitive races understandably ground to a halt across the state this spring. No one is really sure what the future of bike racing holds, but summer and fall dates for postponed spring events remain on schedules in Arkansas.
Tiffany Hoover with Fayetteville Parks and Recreation oversees the Square 2 Square Bike Ride, along with a co-organizer from Bentonville. “Our spring ride would have been May 2,” Hoover said. “Thankfully, we offer the ride twice a year, and are hopeful that the Sept. 19 version can go off without a hitch,” she said, noting this year is the five-year anniversary of both the Razorback Greenway and the Square 2 Square Bike Ride.
While competitive racing is in limbo, Hoover says the parks and recreation department is encouraging riders to get out for solo rides. To that end, and for those who thrive on competition, the department has launched the virtually documented Square 2 Square Bike Ride Challenge. This gives riders the chance to ride the spring course (Fayetteville Square to Bentonville Square) between May 22 and July 5 “as a way to receive what would have been the spring finisher medal. The ride challenge is free and limited to the first 2,000 registrants,” she said.
Participants will be encouraged to use the official ride hashtag on social media, utilize the route maps in either the Ride Spot or Strava apps and join the Square 2 Square Bike Club on Strava as a way to safely interact and engage with other riders. “Offering the ride challenge also allows us to provide recognition to our sponsors through social media as if the spring ride [had] taken place,” Hoover said.
Bruce Dunn is owner and race director of All Sports Productions in Fayetteville, which puts on several of the state’s biggest races. Like Hoover, he’s challenged himself “to think outside the box [to reimagine racing]. You’ve got to be creative.”
He said adapting to the new reality means “you can’t just look at the same model today. Look at restaurants, and how they’ve adapted. So, for us, we’ve been going through these imagining scenarios: ‘What if it were half capacity, and do the crowd with social distancing?’ We’ve been looking at some virtual options for running. That kind of thing.”
As for bike events in the present, “We’ve been making those decisions based on a Phase 3 mentality,” Dunn said, referring to the tiered reopening plan states are to follow on public gatherings. “And are people ready to gather at the end of Phase 3?” he asked. “We’re waiting until the public is ready to come out.”
Beyond spectators, Dunn said, “We also need to see if a significant number of our athletes will show up to events. If you normally have 800 people competing, and only have 200, you can’t do that.” He said surveys his company has done show that 86 percent of respondents are willing to participate in events by July: “We’re hoping that July comes and we’re ready to go.”
Little Rock’s Big Dam Bridge 100, one of the biggest cycling events in the state and produced by Dunn’s All Sports, is set for Sept. 26. “We opened registration on March 15,” when the extent of COVID-19 in the U.S. was becoming well-known, he noted. “Judging by the number of applications, people feel that by September they’ll be ready,” he said.
Dunn said the next big cycling event for All Sports Productions is the Ozark Valley Triathlon, scheduled for Aug. 2 at Lake Wedington in the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, parts of which remained closed at the time Bike went to press. “We have a decision tree based on local and city and state governments,” he said.
“Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. In disorder comes an anti-fragile organization. The greater stresses make you innovative,” Dunn said.
The quarantine seems to have raised the profile of cycling as a whole. The New York Times reported in mid-May on a national bicycle shortage. More locally, according to Traci Berry, Northwoods trails coordinator at Visit Hot Springs, “the trails have been busy; the bike shops are crazy busy.” She said she’s hearing about “a lot of [bike] gear being bought, and a lot of beginners now out there riding.”
That’s the good news for COVID-19-era cycling in Arkansas. The activity is all solo riders and small groups, she noted: “Any events we had planned for spring have been canceled. The group rides, they have been curtailed. Our monthly Full Moon Rides and trail maintenance events are canceled. We’re adhering to all the social distancing guidelines. We’ve cut down half our parking at our four different trailheads,” Berry said.
Canceling rides and group events isn’t something anyone wants to do, Berry said, but it was an easy choice: “When you’re having races, how do you distance? You’re trying to pass someone. Group rides are a little easier, ’cause it’s not a competitive event. But it is still about the social side of biking, and when you have to worry about the distances, or serving food, it changes things.”
Still on the schedule in the Spa City: The Gudrun, Northwoods MTB Festival, set for Nov. 13-15 and launching, she hopes, with a running/cycling expo that Friday. “It’s all kind of play-it-by ear,” she said.
“Right now, it’s about staying connected with the community through social media, being active and enjoying the trails we have here,” Berry said. “We’re trying to do a lot of stuff virtually to encourage riding in a safe way. From what I’m hearing, cycling shops aren’t hurting, so, except for racing, biking will be doing OK. It’s almost the only thing you can do right now.”