The Mid South was the last big bike race to happen in the United States and likely the last until at least after May 3 because of coronavirus.
McElveen and his Orange Seal Off-Road Team crew rolled into Stillwater, Oklahoma, to get a lay of the land in an uncertain time leading up to the race last Saturday. The night before, he and his team took a ride down to the start line area to see if tents were still set up. The morning of the race, he still wasn’t entirely sure if it would happen.
With 938 entires into the 100-mile gravel race last Saturday, the event far surpassed what was then recommended to be groups of no more than 250 along with calls for social distancing in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“We were starting to get a picture of how significant the situation was in regards to COVID-19 as we were rolling into Stillwater,” McElveen said. “We got back from a pre-ride and were reading the news and realized this is a big deal. People were being extra proactive and making their own decisions on whether to do the event or travel. Honestly, still on race day, it seemed like a big deal but not that sort of deal where we should not race.
“There has been more blow back regarding the COVID-19 situation than I was expecting. It’s just another part of the story in terms of what happened there that weekend. The race organizers were in a challenging spot and took extra measures to minimize the situation. With thousands of people on the ground with an expo set up and all that, it would have been a tough call to pull everybody out 12 hours earlier. I’m not an authority on the subject by any means. Hindsight is 20/20. At the time, racing felt like the right thing to do.”
It was after the race that USA Cycling made a statement that all issued permits for sanctioned events would be suspended through May 3. As McElveen and others were doing cleanup after the race, the real feeling that it was their final race for a few months had set in.
“There’s no denying that it’s going to be tough for a bit,” McElveen said. “We will see how long this thing lasts. Luckily for me, I have sponsors who have my back unconditionally and value the stuff I do non-competitively, as well. I’m a little lucky in that I still very much love training as much as racing. I know some athletes out there really live for racing and training is a means to be prepared for racing. It’s going to get tricky.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
