We’re back. Kind of.
This week, Big Gretch opened up outdoor events to groups of 250 or less if you can socially distance. That just barely means SOL is back in business. It will mean no touching.
We’re pumped. We know some of us are more pumped than others. It’s important to remember, however, that not everyone is in the same situation, nor do they face the same risks. So while Speed of Light is coming back, we’re experimenting with a new format for the next two weeks.
First up, we’ll be taking all times posted for the week. If you want to ride it alone, you can. If you want to ride with one pal, okay. If you want to ride with ten people, hey, stop showing off how many people like you. The only official SOL start time of the week is whenever you can ride it. Just because we can have more people together doesn’t mean that everyone feels comfortable doing it, and some folks have higher-risk loved ones at home.
Second, we’ll be using Slack to post groups planning on riding together. You can join our Slack channel here. You can also use the #Rides channel to post up rides anytime, and the various other channels to talk about bikes, races, and who is stretching their spandex to the max after such a long break.
Third, we’ll be using the 2018 Speed of Light course so that it’s really, really easy to hop in without a group to follow. It’s also what Norte used to determine their JV and Varsity placement, so all the goods should know it by now. Why is it easy? Because it’s the 25km.
Here’s the very tentative schedule through July!
June 8 – Fat Bike/Cyclocross Night!
June 15 – Ladies’ Night!
June 22 – Random Relay Night!
June 29 – Tour Competition Stage One
July 6 – Tour Competition Stage Two
July 13 – Tour Competition – Queen Stage
July 20 – Tour Competition Finale
July 27 – Team Time Trial Night
Note: That date is just the Monday that week starts. You have all week to ride it.
We’ll be working with our sponsors to come up with SWEET prizes each week, plus a weekly charity to support. “Entries” will be a whopping $5 and, again, we aren’t going to be checking. We just appreciate the folks who can support these organizations when possible.
NBAQs (Never Before Asked Questions)
Q. Will there be a WorldTour this year?
Yes! 20 points, -1 through the top 20. Grand Tours are worth 20 per stage, 20 for GC, plus 5 for the final top five in each classification.
Q. When do I need to ride the course by each week to count?
That’s a great question! Friday night. Recaps pop out over the weekend.
Q. I want my team to do the course together.
That’s not a question, but that’s a great way to get more people involved and you should do that. Coordinate with your crew.
Q. I really, really want to do SOL at 6:30 like the old days when things were simple and we could stand so close I forgot where my bike started and where Dan’s began. Can I do that?
You can do that, just get other weird freaks to go with you.