VOLUME 109, ISSUE NO. 24 | STUDENT-RUN SINCE 1916 | RICETHRESHER.ORG | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025
ALL BEER, NO BIKE
FRANCESCA NEMATI / THRESHER Top: Students evacuate to the concourse of Rice Stadium. Bottom left: Miranda Schwab ’27 and Braulio Garcia ’21 perform for students in Rice Stadium. Bottom middle: Students fill the stands during the lightning delay in Rice Stadium. Bottom right: Alumni bikers kick off the Beer Bike races on April 5.
Beer Bike canceled due to weather concerns VIOLA HSIA
ASST. NEWS EDITOR Despite talk of rain and a possible ‘Beer Run,’ the Beer Bike races seemed like they were proceeding as normal on Saturday. Alumni races were well underway at noon. At 1:30 p.m., the women’s teams were teeing up for their second heat when, under sunny skies, the races abruptly stopped. Throngs of bewildered students poured out from the stands, ushered into the stadium concourse to wait out the lightning warning. In the meantime, the Marching Owl Band put on an impromptu performance. Half an hour later, students got the call: For the first time since 2020, the remaining Beer Bike races would be canceled. A campus-wide alert cited “inclement weather” and lightning warnings nearby. The announcement to all students came at 2:03 p.m. via a Rice Alert text message. “Beer Bike is canceled for the day due to weather,” the message read. “Stay under cover. Shuttles at Gate 4 will take attendees to colleges and lots. More info to come.” At 2:32 p.m., a new alert came through canceling Beer Bike for the day despite giving the all clear on the weather. According to Jerusha Kasch, director of institutional crisis management, the decision to cancel the remainder of races was due to the weather. “We received a weather alert that lightning strikes were occurring close to
the Beer Bike track, which put the event participants at risk,” Kasch wrote in an email to the Thresher. “As a result, a predefined contingency plan was activated to move event attendees immediately into the stadium concourse until the weather moved out of the area.” Kacsh said that upon reviewing the weather information, student planners and response personnel decided to cancel the event. “No one wants to cancel a fun event like Beer Bike, and the student planners did an excellent job making a difficult decision,” Kasch wrote. While the remaining races have not been canceled altogether, they did not continue on Saturday. However, all events leading up to the races happened as scheduled, including Martel College’s morning party, the color war, the water balloon fight and the float parade. “The morning was very successful,” said Liza Jacob, one of the Brown College Beer Bike coordinators. “Even though the end kind of fell through, I think people had a really nice time.” Student Association President Trevor Tobey put out a statement on Instagram Monday evening that said the SA was working with administration and Rice Program Council as “they explore all possibilities to reschedule the remaining races.” Tobey, a Hanszen College senior, said that the campuswide coordinators are doing everything they can to reschedule
the remaining races. “I promise you, [the campuswide Beer Bike coordinators] are doing everything they can, and the Student Association is trying to help them in whatever way possible,” Tobey said. “All the Beer Bike captains are too, and all the students are together on trying to get this done. But still, I don’t want to give anybody false hope.” RPC’s campuswide Beer Bike coordinators Wiley Liou and America Salas wrote in an email to the Thresher that continuation plans have not been confirmed and they are still in communications over logistics. “Right now, we’re working to hear directly from bikers and better understand where everyone stands,” wrote Liou, a Baker College senior. “While we would love to make Beer Bike happen again this year, we also want to be realistic about our personal capacity and the logistical resources available. We’re doing our best to get answers out as soon as possible, but we want to avoid making any promises we can’t keep.” Abel Limachi, one Brown’s Beer Bike coordinators, said the circumstances behind the cancellation were upsetting because of their unpredictability. “It’s one of those things that I feel like you put in a lot of work, and the fact that it just ended up being canceled because of weather is probably the worst type of reason,” said Limachi, a senior. “It’s just the one thing you can’t control.”
SEE BEER BIKE PAGE 2
SATURDAY 11 a.m.
First alumni heat began.
11:30 p.m.
Second alumni heat began.
1:30 p.m.
Beer Bike emcees announced over the speakers that due to lightning in the area everyone needed to evacuate from the track to the Rice Stadium concourse.
2:03 p.m.
Rice Alert message sent to all students: “Beer Bike is canceled for the day due to weather. Stay under cover. Shuttles at Gate 4 will take attendees to colleges and lots. More info to come.”
12:15 p.m.
First women’s heat began. Two injuries led to pauses in the race and intervention from REMS, with one requiring ambulance transportation.
1:50 p.m.
Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman informed college presidents that a message was to go out soon to cancel Beer Bike.
2:32 p.m. Rice Alert message sent to all students: “Weather all clear. Beer Bike remains canceled for today. Shuttles at Gate 4 continue to take attendees to colleges and lots. More info to follow.”
JESSICA XU / THRESHER