Y’all–
You can probably tell from our silence that we remain in the midst of a global pandemic. Here’s where our region stands:
1. The 2021 calendar is available on the RUSA website and it’s also below:
200 — Jan. 16, 2021 (Tavares/Eustis)
300 — Jan. 17, 2021 (Tavares/Eustis)
400 — Mar. 6, 2021 (TBD)
600 — Apr. 17, 2021 (TBD)
100 — June 5, 2021 (San An 100K)
200 — July 23, 2021 (San An Night Ride)
200 — Sept. 11, 2021 (RM Anniversary Ride; St. Petersburg)
1200 — Nov. 4, 2021 (Cracker Swamp)
2. You’ll notice a couple of things about the calendar. There’s no flèche. There are also no audax brevets. These are my favorite events and they’re also incompatible with a pandemic. I await their riotous, gluttonous return in 2022!
3. Where’s the registration pages / How firm are these events? These are related questions. Do not expect registration information for the January brevets to be posted until mid-December at the earliest and possibly as late as the end of the year. It’s possible these rides will not be held. They could be rescheduled to the Fall. We simply don’t know now. We could have national/state/local stay-home orders or other circumstances that require cancellation or make it the responsible thing to do. RUSA could require cancellation. I could be sick. Trust that we’ll have the rides if we can and trust that I’ll communicate more information as soon as it’s reasonably responsible to do so. What I don’t want to do is to announce that everything is on!!!11!1! now only to have to pull the plug later and leave folks disappointed, out money, and with their time wasted.
4. What changes can we expect for the brevets? Specifics will be announced when registrations open and expect that they may change from one ride to the next as circumstances necessitate. I can say with certainty that in January there will be no support or SAG of any kind before/on/after the ride, you will be required to wear a mask at the start/finish and while inside any building, and brevet cards will be replaced with another method of validating your passage through controls.
5. As for the Cracker Swamp, we’re certainly hoping that we can have it. It’s 11.5 months away, which is like 3 eons in Covid Time. What is certain at this point is that registration will NOT open in February as I’d hoped. I think it’ll be impossible to say what the ride can look like — or, as is most germane to an organizer, cost — in November as soon as February. So if you’re interested in the ride, save the dates but stay flexible otherwise. And don’t sweat it: everyone who wants to ride the Cracker Swamp will be able to.
6. Stay safe.
Paul
RBA, Central Florida