COVID-19 and Track Weekends

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Excalibur2012

Member
Have track organizers started making decisions and announcements about future track events in light of COVID-19? Given the increasing restrictions occurring around many parts of the U.S. in one week's time this whole country may be on lockdown like Italy.
 
afm199

afm199

Well-known member
Yes, it may be. At this point, AFAIK, none have closed down. That may change. Track riding is not a close contact sport if done properly. Social distance is easy to maintain.
 
FXCLM5

FXCLM5

bombaclaud
IMO kinda hard to avoid crowds @ a trackday unless you pit in no man lands and run like 10000ft of extension cords........... then run a entire day with nobody to talk to about the previous sessions or what your trying to work on or figure out etc.

For me, I loved the social interaction @ motorcycle trackdays, loved to walk down the vendor row, talk to parts guys, tires guys and suspension guys.

I really enjoyed the camaraderie and shooting the shit with random ppl that walk into your pit to talk about the last session of how they where chasing/following/leading or when they eyegoggling your bolt on attachments and then laugh bout your chicken strips - all in a good sportsmanship.

I like the inbetween sessions of classroom teachings for newer riders as well.

All in all, socializing in the pit is a huge part of the trackday atmosphere imo.
 
synfinatic

synfinatic

Wannabe Fast Guy
It's not just hanging out at the track. It's Casa Ramos. It's how well did they clean this hotel room anyways? As vaara said, it's ending up in the ER which is also potentially out of hospital beds because they're dealing with the virus.

As people who ride two wheels on a race track I think we've all got a pretty high threshold for accepting risk. And most of are are young enough where the virus isn't likely to put ourselves at risk.

That said, I'd hate to give it to my parents or my wife's parents who are at significantly higher risk because I wanted to enjoy my hobby.
 
Whammy

Whammy

Veteran of Road Racing
Whammy got an email (cars) from two groups saying we need drivers cheap track days.
If the weather wasn't crumby id be joining them.:teeth
 
Holeshot

Holeshot

Super Moderator
Staff member
afm199 said:
Yes, it may be. At this point, AFAIK, none have closed down. That may change. Track riding is not a close contact sport if done properly. Social distance is easy to maintain.
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Sonoma is closed until April 1. I'm sure they'll reasses at that point. Thill is open, Buttonwillow is open and Chuckwalla is open. I'm not sure how that'll change when (if) the 100 person limit is imposed, down from the current 250. I'm pretty sure most of the tracks will need to do something other than business as usual.

banshee01 said:
Pridmore sent an email saying Green light
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He's at Chuckwalla. I talked to Mickey Sat morning and he's not shutting things down. He wasn't happy AFM cancelled the event at Buttonwillow, but we feel we had no choice.

guycole said:
I have a email from AFM that says round 1 at Buttonwillow has been cancelled.
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Fingers crossed the April round won't be impacted as well.
 
synfinatic

synfinatic

Wannabe Fast Guy
Holeshot said:
I'm not sure how that'll change when (if) the 100 person limit is imposed, down from the current 250. I'm pretty sure most of the tracks will need to do something other than business as usual.
Click to expand...

The CDC is already recommending a limit of 50- so it’s likely soon.
 
cwanger2000

cwanger2000

Well-known member
seems like 100 person limit should consider the size of the space and activity also. Like 100 people in a building compared to 100 people in a 1 mile square outdoor facility.
 
Gravisman

Gravisman

Aspiring Racer
synfinatic said:
The CDC is already recommending a limit of 50- so it’s likely soon.
Click to expand...

Z2 sent an email today that Sonoma is still on in April, so even with the 50 person limit, they still feel good to go. Haven't heard anything from PTT, so assuming Thill is on this coming weekend. I think the current attitude is track days are on until law enforcement shows up and says otherwise.
 
RRrider

RRrider

Enthusiast, Fukrwe Club
Hmmmmm. Well life looked a lot different by Friday of last week than it did on Monday of last week...

I suspect it depends on how quickly the numbers rise, and how close we are getting to running out of hospital beds and ventilators. As we near that threshold, attitudes and enforcement will likely change (as they did over the last two weeks in Italy...)..

Right now, everything is a go. But I still spitball it at 50/50 come end of the week.
 
Mario

Mario

Well-known member
I got an email from Michael (PTT), said event is still on, turnout will be smaller but safety precautions are in place.

I don't really see an issue as long as the 6 foot buffer is now kept both on track and off track.

Edit: maybe Michael can chime in, don't want to share a private email. The big difference is that they are changing riders meeting, now held outside.
 
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RRrider

RRrider

Enthusiast, Fukrwe Club
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-to-shelter-in-place-What-you-need-15135087.php

"Six Bay Area counties are expected to announce a “shelter in place” order for all residents on Monday, directing everyone to stay inside their homes and away from others as much as possible for the next three weeks as public health officials desperately try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus across the region.

The directive begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and involves San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties — a combined population of more than 6.7 million. It is to stay in place until at least April 7. Three other Bay Area counties — Sonoma, Solano and Napa — were not immediately included."

And it's just lunchtime on monday....
 
Mario

Mario

Well-known member
Exemption: "To engage in outdoor activity, provided the individuals comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in this Section, such as, by way of example and without limitation, walking, hiking, or running."

But who knows... last week it was business as usual, today is shelter-in-place, maybe next week we'll get a lock installed on the outside of our doors...
 
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