Covid Lockdown and us…Over Halfway there..arrgh.
2020 started off as a stellar year with our events at Bike Manawatu. February was huge and March started with a hiss and a roar.
History will show March 2020 as the beginning of the new normal.
Covid 19 was on the radar with it’s spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and then…..the history is still being written.
Now that we have all had a chance to adjust to reality, we look forward to the return of closer to normal life.
I’m sure that we have all been confronted with changes and challenges and we will continue to be in the future.
With the landscape changing around us, we at Bike Manawatu are able to adapt quickly and are ready to start running events as soon as possible once the Ministry of Health, Government and Cycling New Zealand criteria are released. We have Traffic Management plans ready to submit to Councils, our Site Traffic Management and timing is in-house so it won’t take us long to reboot our racing calendar.
With that said it’s obvious to all of us that we will need to be prepared for racing in Winter
All our events 2 weeks before the lockdown, and over this lockdown period were Postponed. We have not cancelled any events. We look forward to Age Group Road Nationals in Waipukurau on July 16-20th. Bike Manawatu will have Road racing and ITT events leading up to this date. West Coast North Island championship events set down for March & April will be organised as soon as guidelines are released. Some of these guidelines will obviously include social distancing requirements and the number of people we can have at an event. With the uncertainty of when the restrictions will be lifted, we have also postponed the Manfeild 6 Hour set for Mid May. The 6 hour is one of our biggest events and also the most costly to run. We envisage this event and the Feilding Festival to not only have a change of date but in regards to the FFoC to have a totally different format.
As always we look forward to working with Manawatu Schools Cycling again this year. With an inevitably cramped calendar, we will work with MSC to give the very best build-up and racing for all members across all abilities and ages.
Spring racing is going to be..excuse the pun…a cluster. Schools Nationals, Dynamo series, Trust house series, Karapiro Flyer, Taupo Challenge all will have new dates this year. Rest assured that Bike Manawatu is committed to Club racing and will be running a full calendar, but it is going to be cramped and we are aware of the pressures this brings.
In the meantime. Our thoughts are with our young riders with careers to chase overseas who have had their contracts on hold. I’m aware of families that have not been able to be together over this period for special occasions and in one case the passing of a Senior Giant of their family. Our combined thoughts and condolences are with you all. I’m sure that there are members whose main source of socialising is cycling…..those days will be back again soon.
To all our valuable sponsors, a massive thank you for your ongoing support. To our members, please support our sponsors, support your family and friends as we look forward to carrying on our upward swing of support and participation in local cycling
Tim