ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke - along with cities up and down the East Coast - felt the impact of the wildfires as haze impacted the air quality, driving people inside as they chose their air conditioning over the heat.
It didn’t stop bicyclists at the U.S. Mountain Bike Championships from taking on the day’s race head-on.
One group came all the way from California for the race, and they came prepared.
Some athletes are more susceptible to it than others, but it’s not uncommon for us in California to have wildfires and air quality issues," Brian McCulloch - a coach with Big Wheel Coaching - said. “So some of us are a little more insulated, shall we say, or at least tolerant of it than others.”
Medical facilities were readily available and the athletes made sure to prepare themselves for the rising temperatures and less-than-stellar air quality.
“They get on the road for a little bit where they can take bottles of water. They can take ice packs. They can take food, get any mechanical service they need, and then they enter right back into the woods,” USA Cycling National Events Director Kyle Knott said.
The race started around 8:00 AM, with race officials ready to change the parameters of the race to fit guidelines given to them by the Olympic and Paralympic committee.
“Anything under 100 (air quality level), we don’t have to make any modifications. Anything from 100 to 150, we have to keep stuff 90 minutes or under, which the majority of our racing out here is under 90 minutes,” Knott said. “150 to 200, we will remove a lap of racing to keep the distance under an hour, and then anything over 200, we have to cancel racing.”