Quandary over cycling events

Cycling enthusiasts are likely to know within a week whether popular and growing Arapiles Cycling Event will go ahead this year.

Event committee members are considering whether the October 3 event, which has raised money for Wimmera Drug Action Taskforce, will be possible based on the evolution of COVID-19 restrictions.

Horsham mayor Mark Radford, also event spokesman, said there was a need to ‘seriously’ weigh-up whether the event could go ahead in some form or postpone it until 2021.

“One option is to cancel it and look forward to next year. Another is to wait and to make a last-minute decision in early August,” he said.

“We could perhaps keep it open but limit it for locals, although that would risk being discriminatory against post codes. Or, we could run a virtual event, which has been quite popular with other cycling events.

“The reality is if we were in a ‘normal’ year, we would have already started calling for entries.”

The ACE ride last year, based in Natimuk, included 100, 50 and 10-kilometre rides throughout a countryside with Mount Arapiles as a backdrop.

Organisers promoted the event outside the region, attracting 109 riders overall, many coming from Melbourne and South Australia as well as across regional Victoria.

This year ride organisers had decided to raise money for Wimmera Against Cancer in Kids.

Cr Radford said circumstances had led to an obvious quandary.

“For example, there are a lot of people riding bicycles at the moment and it would be great if we could do something locally to get people active,” he said.

“And we could probably pull something together in six weeks if needed. But would it be appropriate?

“We have to make a decision. It is much more than just the riders – it’s all the volunteers involved.

“We have about 50 people who volunteer on the event and we really have to do the right thing by them. Community health and safety is a priority.”

The ACE ride is scheduled as a leadup to the Great Victorian Bike Ride, pencilled in for the southern Mallee, Wimmera and Grampians between November 28 and December 6.

The nationally significant 2020 ride, with organisers expecting 3000 riders to take part, starts at Rainbow and visits Brim, Horsham, Halls Gap, Dunkeld and Pomonal before finishing in Great Western.

Bicycle Network, which runs the event, has continued to plan for the event but has held off on opening entries, which would have usually happened in May.

The network has confirmed it will wait for the all-clear from authorities before opening registrations. The latest tickets will go on sale is mid-august.