I want to thank everyone who has approached the coaching staff with their insightful questions about the Cactus Cup Mountain bike race and about how we camp.
TRAVEL
When we travel to races, we do so together and we camp together. In normal times we would all travel in the vans together, with coaches or parents driving the team vans, and all the youth together. This is another opportunity for the kids to bond and to have shared experiences. We very much encourage and ask for kids to travel with the team.
However in these times we are not packing the vans to 12. We are only putting 8 total people in vans, everyone has to wear a mask the whole time, and we mandate a negative test that is not older than 72 hours.
We will have 14 possible spots for youth to ride up in the vans with the team.
Event dates are Friday March 12th to Sunday the 14th.
One van will leave at 9:30 am. TUSD does not have school on that particular Friday.
and a second at Noon, to accomodate the kids who are not in a TUSD school.
CAMPING
So at the McDowell Mountain Park I have reserved one of the group camp spots for us. There is space for 50 people and 6 rv’s I am told, so there should be ample room for us all.
In normal times we would use the team tents that we have, which are huge 12 person tents that you can stand up in. We have always camped in this group style as we believe it helps to build comraderie, friendships and a true team by sharing the experience.
In these Covid Times we are mandating that only siblings can share tents, and that all others must sleep in their own tents, solo.
FOOD
We eat and cook together. In normal times we would have youth placed in shifts and they would help coaches and parents with the prep and clean up of every meal. Its a chance for youth to learn to cook and to be involved. Its also a time for the coaches to talk about proper nutrition and how to properly fuel for a race.
At Cactus cup we will continue to eat together and cook for the team however we will not have kids involved. We will only have adults involved so as to minimize that particular level of contact.
Preparing for the Race
I, Ignacio, will be the coach at the race and will ensure that every rider properly warms up, gets to the start line and understands what to expect. The youth will be guided through the whole process from start line to finish line, except of course for the part where they are actually racing.
We are very aware of the different levels of comfort and factors that each of you as a family are contending with in these incredibly difficult times. We want to create as safe an environment as we can, while also allowing the youth to express themselves physically and to have a chance to bond in that special team atmosphere. We are well aware that not everyone will be able to attend and we fully respect the decisions made by each family.
Please feel encouraged to ask any questions you might have, and you may email me directly if you like.
Ignacio@elgruppocycling.org
