Barry Roubaix October 10, 2020 - Officially Cancelled

Dear Barry-Roubaix friends,

With the fall reschedule date of October 10th fast approaching, we have been working hard to find a way to safely host the Barry-Roubaix event in regard to COVID-19. In the process we have had multiple discussions with local officials, state officials, medical, health professionals and key race stake holders. These discussions have centered around race alterations to keep everyone safe and comply with the Governors COVID-19 executive orders. After many hard meetings we have concluded that the only prudent decision is to cancel the Barry-Roubaix for 2020. This was an exceedingly difficult decision for our small race promotion family. Not only does this mean that we won’t get to see all of your smiling faces at the finish, but also that we won’t be able to provide a meaningful economic impact to the City of Hastings and all of our wonderful volunteer organizations. Our team’s top priority is keeping our riders, volunteers and families safe and healthy. We could not see a path to ensuring the health and safety of all while still putting on the event experience we are known for. Every possible variation of the event was explored including no mass start or awards after-party, running the race as a time trial, virtual event or multi-day experience… but ultimately, we were unhappy with the compromises necessary. Our team is known for putting on a world class event experience from start to finish and feel that is the major draw for those coming back for their 13th, or very first, Barry-Roubaix. The large gathering, start waves, clamor on the streets and afterparty excitement are a large part of what make the event so special! So, what now?

Our event policy states that there are no refunds, but we could not stand behind that knowing we were unable to provide riders the experience they paid for. Our team takes pride in doing what’s right by all stakeholders in the event, and that is what we aim to do. Riders will have two options for their 2020 entry fees; request an 80% refund or donate your entry fee to help insure the future of the event. You’re probably wondering, “why 80%? I should get the whole thing back?!”. If we had not gotten to within mere weeks of the original event date and made a large investment in upfront costs, we would be able to do just that. Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit a crisis point after we had put all the moving pieces into motion. It takes a whole year of planning to host the World’s largest gravel race and we simply cannot wait until the weeks prior to make all our large purchases and deposits. After closely scrutinizing event finances we determined that 80% was the maximum refund we could achieve without jeopardizing the future of the event. You’re probably also wondering, “Why don’t you just defer everyone until 2021?!”. The problem with deferrals is that we cannot recoup many costs from attempting to put on the 2020 event and would therefore have to host the 2021 event at a loss (robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario). We love the cycling community and have made this our full-time job.  Our ongoing commitment is to keep entry fees low while providing the highest race production experience.  Our team is small, and our livelihood depends on hosting these events. Hopefully that helps to explain why we can’t simply give everyone back 100% of their entry or defer to 2021. Trust us, it would make our lives easier and weigh less on our minds…

You will receive an email to the email account you have registered with BikeReg. The link to your registration is located at the top of this email. Click the link, scroll down to additional information, select your refund option and hit SAVE. We recommend verifying your email address is correct with BikeReg, and to check your junk/spam folders if at first you do not see the email. Here are the options:

1.       Receive an 80% refund of your entry fee. We will begin issuing the refunds at the end of the decision making period on 8/31/20. Please be patient as it can take several days for the refund to post to your credit card on file.

2.       Donate your entry fee to secure the future of the event. Those who chose to donate will be GUARANTEED a spot in the next edition of Barry-Roubaix (you will still have to pay the entry fee). With an uncertain future we may need to drastically reduce the number of spots available which will only exacerbate the sell-out window. This is a good way to ensure you will get a spot in 2021.

You will have from now until August 29th, 2020 to make your decision. After that time period any unclaimed entries will automatically go into the donation pool. Excess funding beyond what helps to cover 2020/2021 costs will be set aside to “pay it forward” and offer a discount to 2020 registrants.

The last questions you’ve probably got on your mind is, “what about that sweet merchandise I ordered?!”. We want to get it to you! However, not everyone keeps their address up to date in BikeReg so we can’t blindly trust that information and mass-ship everything. If you’d like your pre-ordered merchandise mailed to you simply PayPal $5 to barryroubaix1@gmail.com and verify your shipping address. We are working on a potential in-person pick at an outdoors location this fall. Please be aware that we are unable to ship the large metal street signs and can either refund that purchase or hold onto them for in-person delivery. If you are not in a rush we will hold onto your merchandise until 2021 and give it to you then. If you did not pre-order merchandise but would like some, don’t worry, we bought extra of everything and it’s available in our online store.

We expect to receive a high volume of messages, emails and phone calls over the coming weeks. Please be patient if you contact us and do not hear back right away. We can assure you that we care, and we will get back to you! We hope our 13 years of providing a great race experience at an affordable rate will help you see we do this for the love of the sport and our cycling community. We know this has been a trying year and we are just as upset that we aren’t gathering in 2020. Our 18, 36- and 62-mile routes are permanently marked with street signs and we encourage you to make a trip to Hastings this fall and enjoy the colorful foliage. We thank you for your understanding and ongoing support of the Barry-Roubaix and look forward to the future when we’re back to racing and celebrating!

Sincerely,

The Pavement Ends Team

Rick & Cathy Plite, Marnie & Scott TenCate, and Jenny & Matt Acker