Cost of Events

[Slowbee]

A lack of transparency does not help the cause of the event holders either.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Paying R25/km (or more, usually more) to ride me bike. F&^k em. I'll just go ride, and enjoy it too.

 

Edit, Wait, they do it for charity? Ok, I'll donate my entry fee to a worthy cause rather.

 

I think that is a valid point.

 

I think many events ride on the back of "Charity" for their high costs, "must be something left to donate" but how many riders actually enter an event JUST to support a charity, not too many in my opinion.

 

...so it becomes a moot point, I cant see the issue with just saying "we are running an event, it will cost XYZ and the money (profit) gos to making next years event better?"

 

...but then again, I probably only do three or four cycling events a year, so I am probably not the best judge.

[Slowbee]

oh well, lets ask the question before someone else does ....

 

big breath *sigh* why are running races cost effective ..... still takes the same level of organisation ?

[Slowbee]

 

 

As a matter of interest what % of a race/ride gets paid to CSA ?

[scotty]

?

And what do CSA contribute for open riders who represent the bulk of entrants at a road race. I've observed they are only interested in the lic riders, once the lic riders are finished they pack up and go home leaving the orgs to handle all the rest, and for this part of my entry fee goes.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Slowbee

[Aurora]

The Golovane was R330 per team and then we got no goodie bags and the water tables were shocking. Prize money was less then the entry fee...

[Gravity Sux]

Hi everyone,

 

Having just ridden the MTB marathon (40km) event and then the Holla Trails Boxlee (50km), I felt that the costs of these events is getting too much; particularly so when the water stops consist of water, coke and unripened bananas! And in the case of the Marathon champs, only one water stop, used twice!

 

The Karkloof, which is a great event, is now R230 for late entries ( I usually enter late, as the weather has caught me out a few times, resulting in throwing money away)!

 

Am I being a fuddy-duddy, or does anyone else feel that these events are getting out-of-hand, cost wise?

 

Dean

 

I am sorry but is is a bit stupid to complain about the cost of late entries. The whole point is to have riders register early so that the race organizers know how many riders to cater for. If everybody entered late you would not know if nobody is going to show up or half the world is going to show up. If nobody shows up the organizer makes a loss and the race does not happen again. If too many people show up then the water tables will run dry, parking, registration and the course will chaos. Also, you are probably doing a 250km round trip in your car to get to the race so just getting there is costing you R250 in petrol alone (probably 5x that is running costs on the car).

 

Just do the events you feel are value for money and avoid the others. If enough people agree with you then the market will determine which events survive and which events die. Alternatively, just ride for fun and don't race

[Slowbee]

so umm is the epic over priced ?

[Caerus]

I am sorry but is is a bit stupid to complain about the cost of late entries. The whole point is to have riders register early so that the race organizers know how many riders to cater for. If everybody entered late you would not know if nobody is going to show up or half the world is going to show up. If nobody shows up the organizer makes a loss and the race does not happen again. If too many people show up then the water tables will run dry, parking, registration and the course will chaos. Also, you are probably doing a 250km round trip in your car to get to the race so just getting there is costing you R250 in petrol alone (probably 5x that is running costs on the car).

 

Just do the events you feel are value for money and avoid the others. If enough people agree with you then the market will determine which events survive and which events die. Alternatively, just ride for fun and don't race

 

 

Why not just make the race a reasonble amount, a certain amount of entries and maybe use the locals to be marshals & to man the water tables. A lot of races are at already existing courses, so trail maintenace is already taken care of.

[Gravity Sux]

so umm is the epic over priced ?

 

Simple answer, yes but there are still people willing to pay that much. It is the Tour de France of mountain biking and that is what it is worth to many folk.

 

Well, early bird entries did not sell in less than a minute this year. If you are looking for a challenging multi day event the Pioneer Trek is just as challenging at half the price. They will still fill the race but I am sure they won't be over subscribed to the same extent they were a few years back.

[Danger Dassie]

Speaking to guys from other countries we do seem to generally have well organised events with top logistics.

One thing though is that there doesn't seem to be a clear guideline as to what are the requirements for a 'sanctioned' event and how these are enforced.

Also guys, remember that while many people can have the luxury of planning a month ahead for a race entry, some folk work on call or have the kind of jobs that don't have a set schedule. By all means, have a late entry but keep it reasonable and not penalise people for it. There should always be an estimation of late or on the day entrys, especially with organisers and events that have been running for a number of years.

[Gravity Sux]

Why not just make the race a reasonble amount, a certain amount of entries and maybe use the locals to be marshals & to man the water tables. A lot of races are at already existing courses, so trail maintenace is already taken care of.

 

I don't organize races but in most cases organizers are trying to make some money / raise funds for a club / school / etc. Don't think there are many who are prepared to run at cost.

[Caerus]

I don't organize races but in most cases organizers are trying to make some money / raise funds for a club / school / etc. Don't think there are many who are prepared to run at cost.

 

 

I don't think that anyone expects organisers to run an event at cost, you wanna make money obviously, but try bringing costs down but employing locals. One wonders how much actually goes back into the local communities.

Edited April 4, 2011 by Caerus

[Klaus]

Most of these races are run for profit. There is nothing wrong with that. In the past four/five years I've pretty much done an event every weekend in the race season - sometimes two.

 

As mentioned before you have a choice which ones you go for. I have had a bit of a rush to the brain and figured out roughly what this has cost me and I ain't laughing. I now will pick certain events that I enjoyed the most, provided me with best bang for my buck and are the best organised. (funny enough certain organisers are quite good even at different type of events and I tending to follow this)

Your money - you choose. If you cant afford it then offer some support to marshal - maybe you get a free entry to another event.

 

With the late entries I think they have their place but need to be limited. To many times we've sat on the start, freezing/boiling/getting wet, while they carry on selling entries for people, most, not all, of which where too lazy to do the online entry.

 

I factor in travel and accommodation costings as well and certain trips to North West, Durbs, Limpopo etc... are now off the cards as I feel these are more of a rip than the ride/races

Edited April 4, 2011 by Klaus

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I factor in travel and accommodation costings as well and certain trips to North West, Durbs, Limpopo etc... are now off the cards as I feel these are more of a rip than the ride/races

 

Yeah, dont you also think that with the new cost of fuel etc that the travelling entrant is going to drop in numbers.?

 

Maybe two or so years back entrants would travel all over the country to ride events, but I am not so sure now, I think for many 100kms will be the max they will travel to an event, maybe even less.

 

This will result in events having to rely predominantly on local cyclists which may also affect numbers and costs.

[Caerus]

Yeah, dont you also think that with the new cost of fuel etc that the travelling entrant is going to drop in numbers.?

 

Maybe two or so years back entrants would travel all over the country to ride events, but I am not so sure now, I think for many 100kms will be the max they will travel to an event, maybe even less.

 

This will result in events having to rely predominantly on local cyclists which may also affect numbers and costs.

 

I was thinking the same thing.