A Complete Timeline of Coronavirus' Effects on Mountain Biking Part 2 [Update: Rescheduled Cycle Show Moves to London]

Jul 20, 2020
by James Smurthwaite  
photo

Rather than spam your newsfeed with a constant stream of coronavirus news, we're going to take a leaf out of our sister site's book and instead create a single page that we'll update as news comes in. Here's everything we've had drop into the inbox so far:

July 21
- The UK's largest trade show, The Cycle Show, is moving from the NEC in Birmingham to Alexandra Palace in London when it returns in 2021. The show last took place in London nine years ago and will now run alongside the London e-bike festival on a new date of 16th-18th April 2021. Si Paton and Kye Forte will be building a mountain bike test track that will apparently feature, "woodland single track and steep descents."

Nicola Meadows, Director, said: “The launch of London eBike Festival and the 2020 edition of the Cycle Show were both cancelled due to COVID-19, however, the break in the event calendar has given us an opportunity to reimagine the events to deliver an incredibly exciting new format utilising the excellent outdoor space offered by Alexandra Palace, as well as providing the perfect environment to showcase the best brands in the industry.”

- The Philly Bike Expo has postponed its show until 2021 following updated local guidelines.

Bina Bilenky, Philly Bike Expo show director, said: "We are working to provide the best solution for our exhibitors and the expo alike. We’re lucky in that so many of our exhibitors are like a family and we’ve already seen a tremendous amount of support for this decision. We are looking to the positive side of these tough times, and with the explosion of folks purchasing new bikes for transportation and recreation we know there will be a continued increase of interest in all aspects of cycling. We’ll miss seeing our expo family this year, but look forward to welcoming a larger group of riders than ever before in 2021.”

July 17
- The 2020 Malverns Classic has officialy been cancelled.


Gutting news from Si Paton as he has this morning confirmed that the 2020 Malvern's Classic will be cancelled for the second year running. Once again, it's due to issues out of the organiser's control as a COVID outbreak on a nearby farm has left the local area in risk of a lockdown.

We've got everything crossed for Si and hope third time will be the charm in 2021.

bigquotesGT Bicycles Malverns Classic postponed to 2021.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform you that the festival is postponed until August Bank Holiday 2021.

Today we received a letter from the council and their concern over the recent C-19 outbreak on a farm, just 4 miles from Eastnor with almost 100 cases confirmed. ‘My recommendation is that at this time you should not go ahead with the event. The risk is too great and there is still a risk that that area could be under lockdown when the event was due to happen’.

All spectators and racers will be refunded within the next seven days. Any queries, please email oliver@malvernsclassic.com

Thank you and again apologies to let you all down.
Si Paton



For events before July 17, read our first part of this complete timeline of coronavirus' effects on mountain biking, here.

Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

18 Comments
  • 9 0
 It’s all canceled, there I updated everyone
  • 7 4
 Except stuff in the US! God bless this mess!
  • 1 0
 @slimjimihendrix: agree, thats just crazy.
how dare they have DH events?
  • 4 0
 Poor, poor Si. Dude's really giving all he's got to organize the event. I recall there was an article in Cranked or Eskapee a year or two ago. He really goes all or nothing. I truly hope he manages to bounce back from this one!
  • 6 3
 Well we're doing our part in the U.S! Allowing thousands to gather in protest only to lock the country back down 2 weeks later due to the subsequent infections, all of which are still coming as the death rate is trending down. Gotta love those smart governors that are calling the shots. Good old gov Murphy even raised the tolls on toll roads in New Jersey, you know, because he needs his paycheck.

seriously idk how anyone can still support these liberal governors/senators.
  • 5 2
 @TacosMcGee: So let me just get this straight; the whole reason that we are locking down the country is to minimize person to person interaction, because that can transmit the disease faster/easier. It's because of this reason that they say we can't go to bars, congregate in churches with more than 10 people, or go to social events. BUT, somehow it's totally safe and acceptable to be in a mob of hundreds/thousands of people, because somehow the virus cares about racial inequality?

Ya, I call bullshit. looks like you bought it.
THat article was a joke too, all it said was "there isn't a lot of evidence that protests lead to rise in cases", while they ignore New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and California. There isn't a lot of evidence that says the virus transmits easier in bars as opposed to restaurants, but the governors of NY, NJ, and CA still shut down all bars.

Bottom line, the hypocrisy of our government is enraging. "Stay inside, unless it's to protest. All stores are closed because they are dangerous, unless they're huge corporate stores. Stay 6 feet from each other, unless you're storming a Nike store for "social justice". Don't go near old people as they are at higher risk, while we put a bunch of COVID patients in a nursing home"....f*cking idiots man.
  • 3 4
 Look, I can see that is a touchy subject for you. I'm not trying to make this political, I just wanted to point out the you were making a claim that is demonstrably false.
I can site more sources if you want, but the consensus in the public health community is that protests against police brutality did not have a significant contribution to the increase in cases of COVID-19 which has led many states to being to re-close.
The big issue is mask compliance and the availability of testing. In societies that show high mask compliance and widespread testing (e.g. Taiwan, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7270822) the pandemic is fairly controlled.
In the cases of increased cases of coronavirus in California, New York, Chicago, and New Jersey, this is generally attributed to increased community spread due to an overall increase in activity of citizens, especially youth, compounded by inconsistent mask use.

Personally, I also feel that death rate, while a nice tangible metric to quantify the impact of COVID-19, does not emphasize the potentially life-altering impact of COVID infection. While these effects are not yet fully understood, they're strongly expected to include permanently decreased lung capacity and organ damage to the heart and kidneys.

Anyways, I agree. People should stay inside and wear a mask if that's not possible.
  • 1 0
 @zaalrottunda: Well said frend
  • 3 0
 @TacosMcGee: I just don't see how you can rationally say that gathering en masse with such numbers as there were for the protests, had no contribution to the rising COVID numbers but somehow people going back to the gym or restaurants did? I feel like this whole "trust medical and government officials completely" is kind of getting tiring when they can't keep a consistent message. Is gathering dangerous or isn't it? And what is the scientific reasoning that despite so many people being in close proximity at those rallies that there wasn't an outbreak? That they wore their masks? Ya, idk, something seems like bullshit. I've only seen people under strict mask regulation in restaurants in CA and NV so it baffles me that they're going to blame those strict supervised situations for the spike over the unsupervised mass gatherings. Rant over.
  • 2 0
 And that is exactly how race organizers should message a cancellation. Transparent, humble, straightforward.
  • 1 0
 @freeridejerk888: No, don't please.
  • 2 0
 Replied to entirely the wrong comment. Fat fingers due to too much rad trail building during lockdown, probably...
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