On Monday, Team-in-Training announced that they’re postponing our riding in America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in June to the Tour de Tahoe event in September. Bike the West, which organizes both AMBBR and Tour de Tahoe, is working with TNT to shift us to the September event.

As we approach their dates, cycling events have been dropping like me at the back of a pace line. TNT already cancelled all in-person training through the end of May, so it seemed it was becoming less practical and reasonable to keep the June event. At least we all know ahead of time. Let’s see what COVID-19 has in store over the summer.

With AMBBR being postponed, there was another non-charity ride up the northern California coast on the same weekend as AMBBR that I had my eye on but it just cancelled as well. As everything is week-to-week and day-to-day right now, and obviously there are bigger concerns and priorities, acceptance is going to be my best buddy.

I’m still training as if nothing has changed. With my back feeling better, I’ve gotten myself back on my trainer and riding on Zwift this past week (including a three-hour torture fest on Saturday) and my back has held up well. I’m grateful that my back seems to have recovered much faster than the initial prognosis and just in time too — cycling is a great outlet and being able to helps give me a routine these days.

Should everything otherwise go as hoped, TNT will resume training in June which means we’ll be training in peak Sacramento summer when it surges above 100F during the day. That’s going to be ugly. Maybe I should start hoarding hydration products now.

In the meantime, the cancelling of events and lack of being able to ride in groups is making me wonder what to do as a “charity cyclist.” I’ve already hit my fundraising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society well ahead of AMBBR and so was looking forward to signing up for other events/causes, but that’s all on hold now. CascaBicycle’s Ride from Seattle to Vancouver & Party (RSVP) still is on the books for August 21-22, but Cascade Bicycle now seems on shaky financial footing as well.

I suppose there’s not much to do except keep training and wait for things to settle down, but I would like to keep my cycling connected to seva somehow. Best wishes for everyone’s good health and safety while we progress through this crisis. And, if you are someone who rides for charity or events in general, how are you keeping motivated?