Siskiyou Velo Board Discusses Conditions, Timing for Resumption of Group Rides
At the February 22 Siskiyou Velo Board meeting, members discussed ideas and timing for resuming group rides. The number of new Covid cases has dropped significantly over the last month nationwide as well as locally in Oregon and Jackson County. Also, the number of people getting vaccinated continues to increase. These factors hold promise for returning to some degree of normalcy in our lives, though officials caution that the spread of variant strains of coronavirus indicate that people should continue to practice social distancing and use masks.
Our Ride Committee chair, Dennis Cramer, recently surveyed most of our ride leaders and found that they are looking forward to resuming group rides, but the conditions under which they are willing to do so, at least in the near future, vary. Some of those conditions include: requiring masks during rides (all leaders would require masking while riders gather and during stops); maintaining social distancing; limiting the number of riders; and requiring riders to pre-register.
The board also reviewed the parameters currently mandated for group rides by two California bike clubs—Grizzly Peak Cyclists (https://www.grizz.org/rides/covid.php) and Almaden Cycle Touring Club (https://www.actc.org/clubinfo/covid-19-guidelines.pdf). Many of the conditions imposed by these clubs mirror the conditions suggested by our ride leaders.
Though Covid conditions have been improving, the board decided to maintain our hiatus on group rides for a while longer to ensure the improvement continues. Furthermore, since our ride leaders currently call for different ride parameters for resuming group rides, the board decided that now is not the time to re-introduce group rides. However, as long as Covid conditions continue to improve, we are aiming for resumption of group rides in late spring.