May 8/20 18:15 pm - Cycling Canada & Provinces Publish Cycling Activity Guidelines

Posted by Editor on 05/8/20
 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cycling Canada has been committed to supporting our public health authorities and governments through the provision of guidelines and recommendations to help minimize the transmission of the virus and reduce risks and pressures for our athletes, coaches and members across the country.

Today, we recognize that the situation continues to evolve and varies significantly across different provinces, regions and cities. With a progressive de-confinement being discussed more thoroughly, we believe that it will eventually be possible to make a progressive return to cycling activities in certain parts of the country. We believe that it is our collective responsibility to properly prepare for a progressive return to cycling and evaluate the possibility of providing a safe environment for participants by following the recommendations of the federal and provincial government health authorities.

In order to assist the cycling community, Cycling Canada in collaboration with its provincial and territorial affiliates, has identified shared core principles to follow before organizing a cycling activity:

• The activity must follow the social distancing measures and recommendations in effect by the federal as well as the relevant provincial/local government authorities
• Modify your activities to limit or eliminate contact between participants to the extent possible
• Limit your activities to small groups
• Limit all occasions for congregation of parents or athletes/participants in parking lot or gathering areas
• Limit the use of communal or shared equipment and avoid the sharing of equipment between participants if possible
• Ask each participant to bring hand sanitizer and regularly remind them to wash their hands
• Educate coaches to recognize the symptoms of COVID-19
• Ask participants under the age of 18 for a consent from a parent/guardian

We are all in this together. As a community, we need to be proactive in adapting our offerings to comply with recommendations from health agencies while meeting the needs and demands of our members (where possible and where safe and appropriate). We need to be creative and reimagine how our sports can be delivered providing a safe and high-quality experience to our participants; especially for youth cycling.

Each provincial and territorial affiliate is working on a more detailed progressive return to cycling activities which will be communicated to their members when approved by government and health authorities.