Cancelled through lack of interest

[User6179]

Totally agree, but the point most people are missing is it's "FUN"!

Moaning about how much sportives cost and who's making the money is a bit like moaning about Wayne Rooney earning £300k a week - it's market led, if people didn't pay/turn up it would fold, as it may have done in this case.

True but if people think they are giving to charity when they are not as in this case then I think you can moan a little.

 

[Drago]

I ride with friends and like minded associates for free. The only real difference is we don't call our group a club and charge money for the privilege.

 

[Dogtrousers]

True but if people think they are giving to charity when they are not as in this case then I think you can moan a little.

Yeah, I saw the link you posted. I did think it was a bit rich of the organisers branding themselves with the Marie Curie logo yet not contributing. But then Marie Curie went into this with their eyes open. It's not like the organisers stole the logo. They will benefit from this, if only indirectly. One way would be (I'm guessing) that when general entries are closed then they get first call on the sponsored places.

 

[subaqua]

You do hear about unwelcoming clubs, but I guess I was lucky with the two I've been a member of. The first I joined as a teenager (The Easterely Road Club in east London, still going strong) and they were the most helpful and friendly bunch you could meet. Same experience when I joined the now defunct Goodmayes Wheelers in the eighties.

sadly it isn't just limited to cycling clubs. there are lots of other unwelcoming clubs for other activities.

 

[subaqua]

sadly it isn't just limited to cycling clubs. there are lots of other unwelcoming clubs for other activities.

yeah I know replying to your own posts is teribbly passe , but have to add that I did think it was me for a bit but i am in a cracking dive club and it is very welcoming.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The last club I joined doubled its annual sub after a couple of years. From one pound to two. I can't recall being looked down upon.

There was that bloke on a tall bike once. And Charlotte on her Ordinary.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

yeah I know replying to your own posts is teribbly passe , but have to add that I did think it was me for a bit but i am in a cracking dive club and it is very welcoming.

You're ok... for a Taff!

Seriously though, I think the activity can determine the outlook of the members. The social and intermediate group side of my cycling club is great, the sports end, not so much, competitive everything. (Well everything a nine stone wet through cyclist might excel at)

 

[Justinslow]

True but if people think they are giving to charity when they are not as in this case then I think you can moan a little.

Absolutely, if the wording insinuated that ALL the money went to charity, then that's a bit naughty.

 

[Justinslow]

Out of the £16 I paid to enter the cycle swarm event I did, I have absolutely no idea if any if that went to charity (probably none of it) even though I knew the "partner" charity was cancer research and that you could be sponsored to do it using the provided forms as I did, many probably didn't. In fact I probably could have done it for the charity of my choice, there were no checks or formalities.

Another sportive I looked at doing required the rider to pay £20 to enter and raise a minimum of £15 sponsorship for the chosen charity. I suppose at least it's all in the open when worded like this.

 

[albion]

'(probably none of it) '
As with the £70, none of it.

Comparatively the maximum cost of the Nottm Bike Ride is £28 (the 100 mile ride)
Maybe .PerfectMotion the organisers of that one could partake, but ideally Durham County Council should cancel heir 'Beast', renaming it the Durham Pennines Etape .
I cant see why not, etape itself simply being a generalised word.

And at £28, I guess only the older generation would see that as a rip off.

 

[Pale Rider]

' but ideally Durham County Council should cancel heir 'Beast', renaming it the Durham Pennines Etape .
I cant see why not, etape itself simply being a generalised word.
And at £28, I guess only the older generation would see that as a rip off.

The Beast is a joint Durham County Council/private company effort.

It doesn't have timing chips, but could be 'upgraded' to a sportive.

The Beast, and the other Big Rides on the previous weekend, are priced to pay all expenses and leave a bit to start organising next year - no one takes a profit.

I'm told the figures stack up if The Beast gets 500 or so entries, although it is tight which is why the entry fee went up from £25 to £28 this year.

 

[jack smith]

The beast was reclassified as a sportive thisyear

 

[Pale Rider]

The beast was reclassified as a sportive thisyear

I think most sportive punters would expect timing chips and a gps route, neither of which The Beast has.

 

[User6179]

I think most sportive punters would expect timing chips and a gps route, neither of which The Beast has.

With Strava you don't need either now .

 

[Justinslow]

On the one I did I just followed the signs old school and recorded it on strava - no issues. I believe a gps map was available however.

Just out of interest what do you think a good sportive should entail or provide?