Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men go often askew, as the renowned Scottish poet said. With COVID-19 today’s BFF all those cycling events this spring are thrown into doubt. You’ve probably heard the astonishing news today that the Giro D’Italia has been postponed because of the pandemic. Is nothing sacred anymore? If the Giro can be tossed aside you can bet your sweet patootie that little ol’ cycling festivals are not guaranteed either. A couple of the high profile events, the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey and the Eroica California down in Cambria, which were supposed to take place in April, have been cancelled and postponed to fall respectively.
What of local centuries? Perhaps you’re wondering whether to register or you’ve registered and paid the fee already. Events before May are a mix of cancelations and postponements. Events afterwards are generally still scheduled to take place. But that may change depending on what happens with the epidemic. I suspect that people are going to hold off on registering for events and that’s going to force each organizer’s hand to cancel/postpone if not directly because of COVID-19 then because they’ll have so few people sign up that the event will be underfunded. All events prior to May have been cancelled or postponed; early May events are in question. All early May events have been cancelled and even some in early June. Here’s the rundown of upcoming century rides.
March 14 Solvang Century. That’s tomorrow! This is a very big event—never less than several thousand riders. The Santa Barbara County Health Dept cancelled it ‘over the organizer’s objections’. Are you serious? You wanted to run a gigantic event during a pandemic? Even the Giro organizers were wise enough to call off an international race.
March 28. Cinderella Classic. Valley Spokesmen, after some consideration, decided to cancel this year’s event. There isn’t a convenient date to reschedule this year, so you’ll have to wait until 2021. No word on the fate of registration fees but likely those who’ve paid will get their registration moved to next year.
April 4-5. Eroica. Cancelled by organizers possibly to be rescheduled later this year. Rescheduled for September 25-27.
April 18. Sea Otter Classic. Postponed to October 1-4.
April 18. Bike Around the Buttes. Postponed to September 26. No word on refunds.
April 19. Primavera Century. Cancelled. Reg fee can either be used for 2021 or a refund minus $5 processing charge can be requested.
April 25. Tierra Bella. Cancelled. Your registration will be used for 2021 or you can request a refund before 4/23 for a $3 fee.
April 25. Mt. Hamilton Challenge. The organizers never confirmed that the 2020 edition would take place and I would doubt it can happen how.
April 25. SLO Wildflower. Cancelled and registrants will be notified of their “options”.
April 26. Chico Wildflower. Wisely postponed until later this year.
May 2. Wine Country Century. Cancelled. Partial refunds for entry fees will be offered (minus unrecoverable expenses) or you can donate your fee to the club. If you ordered kit, it will be sent to you except for t-shirts since that order was cancelled in time and you’ll get a refund for it.
May 2. Siskiyou Scenic Bicycle Tour. Now postponed to Oct. 3.
May 3. Grizzly Peak Century. Cancelled. Refunds will be made for the entry fee.
May 16. Davis Double. 2020 event cancelled. Refunds will be provided.
May 16. Tour delle Vigne. Cancelled. Contact organizer for refund or to donate your fee.
May 17. Strawberry Fields Forever. Postponed to Sunday Oct. 11.
May 30. Devil’s Slide Ride. Still on, astonishingly. Postponed to October 17.
June 7. Sequoia Century. Cancelled.
June 13. Gold Country Challenge. Postponed to September.
June 20. Mile High 100. Still on. If cancelled your reg fee minus processing will be refunded.
June 20. RBC Silicon Valley Gran Fondo. Still on. Finally it’s cancelled.
The Chain Letter 