Dear AICL Community,
I like to ride my bike…a lot! I think most of us ride because of the tribe that surrounds us. We love to hang out, camp and be with our friends. Unfortunately 2020 has been a year of cancelled races, festivals and many other events. COVID-19 has hit our country hard, and while we have seen improvement lately, it's still a very challenging time.
Since early March, league leadership has closely followed pandemic trends across the country and specifically here in Arizona. During that time we have developed health and safety guidelines, established team practice protocols, altered our planned racing format and pursued venues all in anticipation of our race season. Our team has attempted to remain clear-eyed about the risks associated with the spread of COVID-19 in connection with competition while aspiring to offer our student-athletes a sporting opportunity to measure their progress during the season. Despite our resolve, event gathering size restrictions, physical distancing requirements and the ongoing threat of transmission persist. It’s become clear that we will not be able to host a race series this season.
We have worked really hard to avoid this moment and are hugely disappointed, but we cannot change circumstances that are beyond our control. We need to be vigilant about reducing the risk of COVID-19 spread. The health and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, families, staff, partners and host communities is our highest priority.
Yes, races are cancelled, but as we've said many times racing is a very small piece to the puzzle. We have three months to practice together responsibly and take part in some cool adventure rides with our teams. Let's take advantage of this time to take a step back, really strengthen our league and build on our local communities throughout Arizona and western New Mexico.
The league will support you wherever possible by providing you with the resources you need to succeed. Teams will remain insured to practice through the end of the season (December 6), we will be offering additional coach training sessions, and teams that have the coaching bandwidth may continue to add new riders throughout the remainder of the year as more and more kids displaced by the cancellation of other sports find joy in mountain biking. The sweepstakes rolls on, too – teams can continue fundraising. All registered riders will receive number plates to commemorate their participation in 2020, and student-athletes and coaches who registered by August 19 will receive personalized plates.
We will begin issuing refunds for the Race Package right away, crediting the original payment method. Please be patient, we have a lot of transactions to process.
Let’s stay positive, move forward and carry on with our mission to get #morekidsonbikes! Thank you for all you do to help make the league great.
Sincerely,
