Just a few days ago, on March 21, we told members that we weren't shutting down nationally but we said that could change any day. Since then, things have quickly gone downhill. The US confirmed cases have increased ten-fold and surpassed China. Our European and English speaking brethren worldwide have shut down, including Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. In much of Europe, not even solo riding is allowed other than utility cycling.

While not every state or county in the US has declared "stay at home" orders, we are heading that way. Testing has ramped up, giving us a better picture of community spread, but it's still incomplete. Too many are being monitored, test results unconfirmed.

So, with concern for our members, their families and communities, we started contacting RBAs one by one who still had rides on the calendar for April.  While every RBA was being ultra careful, the Board felt that those rides needed to be cancelled. At this point, we have nothing on the calendar for April. There is a small handful of rides taking place this weekend; but April is cleared.  

At this time we aren't sure about May. Rides are still on the calendar. The Board did not want this to be "closed until further notice", rather we'd see where this was headed, whether things were starting to level off. In densely populated areas, we do not expect the virus to have peaked in April. We need to develop a reopen strategy, perhaps starting out with short populaires that won't require either support or replenishment stops. If and when we approach this decision, it will probably be with travel and rider count restrictions. We want riders to feel safe and comfortable, and the Board wants your support and agreement that it's the right thing to do. We will be setting up a small board-led committee of RBAs to monitor and recommend a reopen strategy.
 
The RUSA Board