UPDATES
Covid
19 Contingency Plans
Hi
everyone, with our event registration open and information
updated for all 2021 events we wanted to let you
know our contingency plans in case Covid 19 concerns
impact our events again next season.
We know how hard you train and prepare to participate
in our events and your commitment is not something
we take lightly. We sincerely appreciate your patience
and understanding, and thank you so much for your
understanding, flexibility, and standing with us
through these challenging times.
Looking ahead, we are hopeful and are preparing
to run all of this year’s events as planned,
however during these times of uncertainty, we don't
know what the situation may be like and it is possible
that we may need to modify our plans as the situation
continues to evolve.
First and foremost, our top priority is and always
will be protecting the safety of our participants,
staff, and the communities we pass through. If we
must modify our plans due to Covid 19 concerns, we
will adhere to all public government health official
and CDC recommendations, advisories, and mandates
as necessary.
On Road Riding and Rest Stops
At this time, we do not foresee any issues while
physically riding on the road as long as we adhere
to the use of masks, social distancing, and group
size limitations as appropriate, particularly at
the rest stop locations. We may utilize staggered
starting times from our starting locations to help
implement group size limitations on the road. We may
also need to have participants stage up at rest
stop locations so the entire group doesn't get
too spread out over the route in order to minimize
the number
of staff members we need on the road.
Lodging
At this time, we also do not see any issue with running
our one day and weekend-based events (Illini Weekend
Getaway, RAIL North, RAIL South, and Tri-State
Tour Chicago Century #1 and #2). These events do
not utilize main lodging sites, only hotels, which
have proven to be OK over the past few months.
Our biggest area of concern right now is the main
lodging sites of our week-long events. Due to indoor
mask and social distancing mandates, it is possible
that we may only be able to offer limited indoor
sleeping accommodations at some locations, or possibly
none at all. In this case only outdoor tent camping
may be available at those locations. We may also
need to implement staggered shower times as well.
It is also possible that that we may
not be able to use a main lodging site at all, depending
on facility
limitations. In this case, all lodging in that stopping
town must be at our supported hotel. If we must do
this, all participants must make reservations at
and pay for their rooms themselves, and we
will help
coordinate
hotel
room
sharing to decrease the cost. We may also designate
another hotel as an additional supported hotel if
rooms in our original hotel become unavailable. If
there are a very limited number of hotel rooms, we
may need to change the stopping town to another one
nearby. For example, if we are not able to use our
planned main
lodging
site in Muscoda at all for the GRABAAWR tour, we
will stay at a hotel in Richland Center instead.
If we must enact any lodging restrictions for our
week-long vents, we will let you cancel your participation
in that event and transfer your existing registration
to a credit toward any future Bicycle Illinois and
Bike Wisconsin event, service, or merchandise item
that will never expire. Unfortunately, we cannot
issue any refunds if we must enact any lodging changes.
Event Postponement
If we are unable to run an event, it will be postponed
until the following year. We will not reschedule
any event for later in the season or attempt to
hold it in a virtual manner.
Decisions
We will remain vigilant about monitoring updates
from the CDC and the local government authorities
as the situation continues to evolve. If we must
modify an event, we will promptly let you know.
All decisions will be made with great consideration
in the best interest of our participants, staff
members, volunteers and the overall community.
At this time, we cannot give a time frame as to
when any decisions will be made. On one hand, we
want to wait as long as we can to offer as many options
as possible, but on the other hand, the earlier a
decision is made the easier it is for you to make
plans as appropriate. Regardless, we will keep you
informed as plans progress and explain the reasoning
behind any decisions we must make and outline the
situation and options that time.
