Sportive entry fee?

[DiddlyDodds]

£20 max here , anymore than that and i can not justify to wife why it costs so much to perddle on a public road

Yes liabilty insurence and council bungs are at an all time high but £63 is not robbery with a smile.

 

[frank9755]

Link ?

Here you go. As a new rider you would be a 4th Cat, so could enter any of these races (with a BC licence). They're not cheap to enter, but you do get closed roads, and they're mostly amateur events organised by clubs so no-one is making a profit from them but a chunk of your entrance money goes to fund the Cycling GB set-up that keeps winning all the medals. Afterwards, you also feel that you've done the real thing rather than been pretending!

 

[frank9755]

There are some important issues around fiduciary arrangements and so called charitable sportives. Some may be de facto commercial operators spinning a gloss of charitable enterprise where no part of their actual surplus is donated.

It's often worse that that: Flying Dodo did some digging on the Moonriders operation as an example here. The charities will often pay an organiser to be involved so not only does the organiser get the entrance fee but also the first £70-80 of money raised by sponsorship.

I don't mind straight commercial operations which charge £x to give you Y, employ people to be able do it and make some money for their trouble. But the way some rides use charities (and charities allow themselves to be used) is, at best, intentionally misleading.

 

[yello]

I think those of a sensitive disposition ought look away now....

Entry to the Rapha Bordeaux-Paris team event requires you to pay/raise £2500 per rider (with 4 riders per team). I'm sure it'll be a great event, and will raise plenty of money for 'Ambitious about Autism' but that is a lot of dosh. I think I'd need a sponsored ride to raise the sponsorship! ???

 

[billy1561]

Dam i looked. Wow, i could get a new bike with that

 

[Peteaud]

@Frank9755 thanks for the link

Its sounds and looks far to complicated for me, with licences, cat, etc etc I know it is the real thing but lets face it a middle aged fat ex smoker wheezing about at a "proper" event is a no-no. At least on a sportive "pretend" event i am not alone (me and another fat bloke walked up one of the hills on my last one )

However, it has given me some thoughts for the future.




Frank9755, post: 2329508, member: 3701"]Here you go. As a new rider you would be a 4th Cat, so could enter any of these races (with a BC licence). They're not cheap to enter, but you do get closed roads, and they're mostly amateur events organised by clubs so no-one is making a profit from them but a chunk of your entrance money goes to fund the Cycling GB set-up that keeps winning all the medals. Afterwards, you also feel that you've done the real thing rather than been pretending![/quote]

 

[Christopher]

Saying that, anyone who is fortunate enough to own a garmin can save any routes thay have done on sportives as a course in their device and then ride again whenever they have the opportunity.

Or anyone that can read a map! It amazes me how poor people are at map-reading. I can see that Garmins are great but I much prefer paper maps - the OS 50ks are great. Not ideal for a long tour but unbeatable for day rides.

 

[boybiker]

I dont mind paying up to £30 for an organised ride with timing , food stops and marshals etc.

 

[Powely]

I would happily pay £25/£30 to do a sportive. I see it as paying for a good 'day out'. However I can see how someone my have an issue with paying someone to ride on a public road but it's the atmosphere I imagine would be good with these mass events. Still to do my first one.

 

[Peteaud]

I would happily pay £25/£30 to do a sportive. I see it as paying for a good 'day out'. However I can see how someone my have an issue with paying someone to ride on a public road but it's the atmosphere I imagine would be good with these mass events. Still to do my first one.

Did my 1st last year and it was very enjoyable.

 

[Scoosh]

Have a look at this one! I ride these roads often and was looking forward to taking part in this but nearly fell off my chair when I went to sign-up!!!
http://www.etapemercia.co.uk/

Did you also read the important words 'Closed Roads', which is their USP ?
That is what a large part of the cost of putting on the Event goes on - and it ain't cheap !

I'm not disagreeing with the concept that Sportives are over-priced, mind you !

 

[frank9755]

Did you also read the important words 'Closed Roads', which is their USP ?
That is what a large part of the cost of putting on the Event goes on - and it ain't cheap !

There are lots of misconceptions about how much things cost. But remember that road races have closed roads too and they are generally run on much tighter budgets, often with smaller fields and entry fees < £20.

The cost for the closure will vary by area but I just looked up the Kent Council website and it would cost about £7-800 for a sporting event closure there. I don't know what it costs in Scotland but Kent is crowded so I expect it might be one of the more expensive places to have a road closure. In some areas there might not even be any charge if it was felt that the event would be bringing people to spend money in the area.

 

[Ningishzidda]

Here you go. As a new rider you would be a 4th Cat, so could enter any of these races (with a BC licence). They're not cheap to enter, but you do get closed roads, and they're mostly amateur events organised by clubs so no-one is making a profit from them but a chunk of your entrance money goes to fund the Cycling GB set-up that keeps winning all the medals. Afterwards, you also feel that you've done the real thing rather than been pretending!

 

[Noodley]

IME sportives are full of nobbers with little experience of group riding that are a PITA, or nobbers who think they are racing but don't have enough balls to race properly, or nobbers who think cos they have seen some bloke on drugs riding their bike in France that they can piss about and cause annoyance to others.
You're unlikely to find me on another sportive any time soon

 

[billy1561]

Don't agree with much of that Noodley.
Take out the ' nobbers with little experience of group riding that are a PITA, or nobbers who think they are racing but don't have enough balls to race properly, or nobbers who think cos they have seen some bloke on drugs riding their bike in France that they can **** about and cause annoyance to others' and what is left? likely, just the guys who want to race and time trial who can do that every weekend in their various clubs.
A sportive is generally a non competitive event with a few distances for various abilities.
For many entrants, a sportive is their chance to be wiggo for the day, to see if they can actually ride the distance they have entered, to see if they like riding in a group. Sure, they will wobble about, move without signals, take the wrong lines, dress innapropriately, struggle with puncture repairs but riding in a friendly group is one of the best places to gain that experience.
After my first sportive last year, i'm sure i was all of the above that you complain about, but i completed my longest ever distance in great company and loved every second of it. Most importantly i felt 10 feet tall back in the pub telling anyone who would listen how enjoyable it was.
Don't be too harsh on us amateurs mate
IME of course