Sunday, February 21, 2021

SR Series in the Time of COVID

Did you know that Pennsylvania Randonneurs had, until last year, offered a complete SR series since 2007, the first year it was eligible to offer one?  Breaking that streak was heartbreaking.  As we take on the 2021 brevet season still faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a full Super Randonneur series is my top priority. Much uncertainty remains.  Once simple tasks suddenly require hours or days to complete.  Against this backdrop and recognizing that RUSA and ACP are allowing great flexibility in scheduling that I announce a decision to slightly postpone the 2021 SR series.  If you've been watching the website closely you may have already noticed the date changes.  

We have two ACP 200k events planned.  The March 13 event will be run in the format resembling the R-12 events beginning from the Park-N-Ride in Portland, PA.  This route is a Figure 8 design and will utilize the COVID protocols we've used since last fall.  

The "official" kickoff brevet for the SR series will be the April 17 Pagoda 200 starting from Hugh Moore Park in Easton.  The route is a loop, but our plan is to staff some of the controls to allow contact-free riding, if so desired.  We plan to have food available at the start and finish as has been our tradition for the SR events. 

The remaining SR events will be staged from the Holiday Inn East in Easton using the routes we debuted in 2019.  The 300k will be run on May 1; the 400k will be run on May 22; the 600k will be held on June 5.  All of these events have food offerings at the start and finish, at least that's the plan for now.  Our hope is that the extra delay will allow pandemic things to settle a bit before we ride.  COVID protocols are more difficult on the longer events as overlapping loops have their limits.  Additional staffed controls will be added, but all riders should be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 100k.  

Plans may change; that's just the nature of things these days. We are hopeful that we can adjust and offer the SR series brevets that meet our own expectations and yours. If conditions dictate a change, we may alter the dates.  But please realize that we have every intention of offering the complete SR series in 2021.

Andrew Mead
Eastern PA RBA


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