Guide for managers of cycling networks and mountain bike infrastructures in the context of COVID-19

This guide has been produced with the primary aim of centralizing as much information and useful references as possible for managers of cycling networks (municipal and associative), operators of mountain bike centers and administrators of cycling clubs (road and mountain) in a single tool. It consists of two parts.

The first part includes detailed preventive measures for managing a recreational cycling site in the event of a pandemic, as well as recommendations for managers and administrators. This part of the guide outlines the actions to be taken for a successful and safe reopening or continuation of activities, in response to government directives, particularly those from the Public Health Department. The measures in this section are presented in detailed categories. They provide a clear understanding of the recommendations and actions to be taken to comply with the government measures presented below.

The second part This guide presents the prevention measures put forward by the provincial and federal governments, as well as the general workplace prevention measures issued by the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ). You'll find a presentation of the essential information you need to know in the current situation, and practical links to the various guideline issuers for further details.

Finally, you will find links to help you navigate more easily through the guide, using one or more words. highlighted in green. You will find the same type of links on sets of words highlighted in blue when a link to an external resource is proposed.

Vélo Québec, including its members, directors, committees, employees and consultants, assumes no responsibility for the interpretation, use and application of the measures, guidelines and recommendations contained in this guide.

This guide is designed as a tool for managers of practice sites and cycling infrastructures, and for organizations responsible for holding outdoor recreational cycling activities. The recommendations issued in connection with the government and legal measures presented in this document are as follows are not to be construed as standards or guidelines..

Once again, this content will have to be analyzed and used by managers of practice sites and cycling infrastructures, and by organizations responsible for holding outdoor recreational cycling activities. It is then up to them to make the decisions they deem relevant, applicable and appropriate to the specific human and financial realities of their operations. What's more, they must adapt these recommendations to the standards, rules and laws in force in their area, notably the Municipal Powers Act.

The production of this guide would not have been possible without the rigorous work of Rando Québec and the Laboratoire d'expertise de recherche en plein air (LERPA) of the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), which produced most of the cross-disciplinary content on outdoor activities. Vélo Québec would like to thank Rando Québec for making these contents available, so that they can be adapted to the needs of cycling network managers, mountain bike center operators and other players in the world of recreational cycling. The contents of this guide may not be reproduced without the authorization of Rando Québec, LERPA and Vélo Québec.

Rando Québec would like to thank the Laboratoire d'expertise et de recherche en plein air (LERPA) for the rigorous work carried out under very tight deadlines and demanding conditions related to the health crisis, as well as the dedicated work of its in-house team, without whom the production of the document would not have been possible with such professionalism and so little time.

Rando Québec would also like to thank the Rando Québec member networks involved in this project: Sentier international des Appalaches - Québec, Sentiers Québec-Charlevoix, Parcs régionaux de la Matawinie, Massif du Sud regional park, Estrie trails and Coopérative de la Vallée Bras-du-Nord. They were the experts who accurately conveyed their realities and needs.

Numerous organizations also collaborated and contributed to the consultation table set up by Rando Québec: the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq), Aventure Écotourisme Québec, the Association québécoise pour le loisir des personnes handicapées (APLPH), Vélo Québec, Sans trace Canada, the Réseau des unités régionales loisir et sport du Québec (RURLS), the Association des guides professionnels en tourisme d'aventure (AGPTA) and the Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur (MÉES).

For its part, Vélo Québec would like to thank its partners who took part in the consultations that led to the production of this guide: Association des réseaux cyclables du Québec (ARCQ), Association des stations de ski du Québec (ASSQ), numerous mountain bike trail managers (Énergie CMB, MEC des Pays-d'en-Haut, Parks Canada, Empire 47, Ville de Bromont, Percé 360, Sentiers du Moulin, Vallée Bras-du-Nord, Association régionale de vélo de montagne Québec Chaudière-Appalaches, Plein air Sutton and Vélo Chicoutimi) and cycling club administrators (Club de vélo Sutton, Cyclo Bois-Francs, Club de vélo Île-des-Sœurs, Club cycliste du Haut-Richelieu, Les Cyclopétards, Vélodyssée, Vélo 2.0, Cyclo Nature and Club vélo Sainte-Marie).

• Public Health Agency of Canada (2020a). Coronavirus disease: Prevention and risks. Retrieved May 02, 2020
• Public Health Agency of Canada (2020b) Physical distance: How to slow the spread of COVID-19. Retrieved May 02, 2020
• Camping Québec (2020). Campground Operating Guide: In the Context of a Coronavirus Pandemic. (p. 17-18). Canadian publication.
• Commission des normes de l'équité de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). (2020a). Workplace Health Standards Guide - COVID-19. Retrieved April 28, 2020
• Commission des normes de l'équité de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST). (2020b). COVID-19 KIT. Retrieved April 28, 2020
• Government of Canada (2020). Risk-based decision-making guidelines for workplaces and companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Government of Quebec (2020). Public Health Act. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Government of Quebec (2020). Occupational Health and Safety Act. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Government of Quebec (2020a). General information on coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Spotted May 2, 2020
• Government of Quebec (2020b). Gatherings in the context of COVID-19. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2020a). Distancing and confinement measures in Quebec: impact and projections. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2020b). COVID-19: Preventive measures in the workplace: interim recommendations. Retrieved April 28, 2020
• Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2020c). COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2): Interim recommendations for the protection of immunosuppressed workers. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2020d). Interim recommendations for cash handling in stores and workplaces. Spotted May 3, 2020
• Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2020e). Interim recommendations concerning community organizations: additional prevention measures more specific to organizations offering lodging. Spotted May 2, 2020
• Service Québec (2020). Gradual resumption of activities related to the COVID-19 slowdown measures. Retrieved April 28, 2020