Stage 1 of RPI is regrettably cancelled.

The opening line of this email has been censored.

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Dear RPI competitors,

We have some unfortunate news to share. Last night, conditions rapidly deteriorated as cold, stagnant air settled in to the area and slowly rolled south, carrying thick smoke from the Wapiti Fire toward Ketchum, and Sun Valley. While we hoped and expected conditions would improve, they did not. If you had a window cracked or poked your head outside then you're very well aware of this.

At 5:00am this morning online AQI monitors remained above 500 in many areas. This is far above the safe limit for any kind of outdoor activity let alone racing our bikes. As a result there is no responsible action on our part other than to cancel stage 1 of Rebecca's Private Idaho. The safety of our athletes, volunteers, staff, and everyone involved is our top priority.

This is a heartbreaker for our entire team, especially after the excitement we shared with you during our rider meeting on Wednesday afternoon about the sheer beauty of the Harriman Trail race course, and the surrounding Boulder Mountains. However, it is the right decision.

What's next?

1. Do not drive to Baker Creek! We will not be conducting stage 1, so of course, don't drive to Baker Creek unless you feel like you need to fact-check us, or want to help Cole remove all of the signs he spent 10 hours installing on Wednesday. Today's race will not take place. It's caput -- we've been smoked out. We are beyond bummed.
2. PICNIC! The next scheduled activity for us today is our gathering at Rotary Park. THIS WILL STILL HAPPEN, and we will start 1 hour early! Beginning at 4:00PM we will enjoy an extended afternoon picnic party together. We will feed and imbibe you at Rotary, and this is included as part of your experience at Rebecca's Private Idaho. All participants are welcome as well as their family members and significant others. Our staff will be grilling traditional and vegan sausages to go with traditional beer from Sierra Nevada, and non-alcoholic beverages. At 6:15PM as the sun begins to set we will enjoy three short films as outlined in our event schedule.
3. FORECAST: Friday, Saturday and Sunday plans are STILL A GO. IQ Air is currently forecasting conditions to rapidly improve over the next two days, and we're very much looking forward to doing what we all came here to do.
4. Refunds: If we were in a position to be capable of offering refunds to you for having to cancel stage 1, we promise you that we would without being asked. Unfortunately, the nature of race production faced with circumstances such as this prevents us from being able to do so. The majority of our production costs are already expended in the lead up to this event with only marginal remaining expenditures for the execution of our stages.

Much of this is a big fat bummer, but we're not going to let it get us down. The team behind Rebecca's Private Idaho is working their asses off to make this the best weekend that it can possibly be. Sometimes, things don't go our way, and as hard as it is to avoid being drug down by it, we still have a job to do, and we're going to do it to the best of our abilities. Sometimes we have to make some really tough decisions, but we hope that you agree this was the right call. The last thing in the world we want to do is allow ourselves to ignore the obvious because we don't like the outcome or the hand that we've been dealt.

This isn't the first time that Bike Monkey has had to contend with less than ideal race conditions, and it won't be the last. We hope that you trust us, and believe that we are working hard to make it work. We vow never to take a haphazard approach to pushing through something we shouldn't. This is one of those things.

With this news, we are sorry. But also, please join us instead for an earlier start time to our gathering at Rotary Park where we will discuss the rest of the week, and enjoy some time together in the beautiful town of Ketchum, next to the babbling Big Wood River. Then, at 6:00PM, we'll enjoy three amazing short films with some super cool hosts. Bring a blanket, a folding chair, a pillow, warm clothes, and let's enjoy being here in this beautiful place together.

Thank you for your understanding, and for being a part of this weekend even if we didn't get to slug it out on the Harriman this time around.

Sincerely,
All of us at Rebecca's Private Idaho.