Unofficial The Ceder Thread

[Bub Marley]

19 minutes ago, SSCC said:

Would you like to retract your previous support of the UCI accreditation 😂

Race organizers have to pay the UCI for accreditation. More accurately the people that enter these races are the ones that are paying that bill. 

if there is prize money the people that enter these races are paying for the prize money if there is no major title sponsor  

The Cedar costs about R5,000 to enter once you pay the entry and R2,000 camping fees plus transport. For that price you could enter 5 gravel events within a few hours drive from Cape Town and arrive on race morning  

 

Well if you read previous posts, most have said the price has always been this steep so doesn’t look like the UCI thing as made much of a difference  in terms of price. That being said, if you do a comparison with the Ronde Van Swartberg. Last year as a UCI race, I recall entries were definitely in the upper price tier of gravel events. Now that its no longer got the UCI designation, it’s definitely one of the more affordable ones. However, it is completely different organisers. You may have a point though 🤣

[Shebeen]

9 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Almost R 2400 per entry now that early bird has sold out. Didn’t even realise there was limited spots. Is this price normal or is this just because of the UCI designation now?

 

Second question, is this route worth that entry fee?

the original Ceder used to be a ~240km race in october start finish at Cederberg oasis. Wasn't there a "renegade" tour/race in may using the same route but none of the race support/frills/costs?

so the obvious thing is to do this in october now on the original route?

[Zebra]

15 hours ago, Bub Marley said:

Compare this to pure mtb events like Trailseeker series as an example, you’re looking at under R500 an entry. So much more value there. Just confusing to me as to why gravel is so much more?

…this GCN video, at 4 minutes 55 seconds in to the video, DOES raise an interesting ‘Gravel PRICING’ conundrum; though related to the price of Gravel BIKES, and not entry fees, they query why gravel bikes cost up to 20% more than an ‘equivalent’ high quality MTB, and the likely answer is; they charge what they do because…they can! (demand).

Are things about to Ungravel: GCN Show, Episode 627…

Demand might be PARTLY why Gravel RACES are seemingly costly…and then charging very high prices for accommodation/food if the races are largely ‘isolated’ does seem cynical. But then, I did the Epic races back when THEY were affordable (2005, etc…), and now….

Edited Thursday at 05:14 AM by Zebra

[ChrisF]

24 minutes ago, Zebra said:

…this GCN video, at 4 minutes 55 seconds in to the video, DOES raise an interesting ‘Gravel PRICING’ conundrum; though related to the price of Gravel BIKES, and not entry fees, they query why gravel bikes cost up to 20% more than an ‘equivalent’ high quality MTB, and the likely answer is; they charge what they do because…they can! (demand).

Are things about to Ungravel: GCN Show, Episode 627…

Demand might be PARTLY why Gravel RACES are seemingly costly…and then charging very high prices for accommodation/food if the races are largely ‘isolated’ does seem cynical. But then, I did the Epic races back when THEY were affordable (2005, etc…), and now….

 

Same applies to W2W.

 

A friend did it from about 2013, a group of old varsity buddies that used this event as an annual get together.  By 2016 the price started creaping up ...

 

By 2018 they noted a significant increase in the weekend cost.  Not just the race entry, but everything around it.  By 2019 it became plain expensive - compared to what it was 3 or 4 years earlier.

 

 

Sadly, these events are BUSINESS .... build a market, then start increasing the prices ....

 

As many have posted above, it is now at a point where we have to take a step back and plan which events we want to attend, as the cycling budget only stretches so far.  2024 saw a number of races canceled due to low entry numbers .....

 

 

Cederberg ... many of these routes are available for weekend riders, just look at this on Strava.  Couple of friends are doing regular long rides, sometimes 2 to 3 days, in the area.  These high event fees may prompt more riders to do their own thing.

[Skubarra]

3 hours ago, Zebra said:

…this GCN video, at 4 minutes 55 seconds in to the video, DOES raise an interesting ‘Gravel PRICING’ conundrum; though related to the price of Gravel BIKES, and not entry fees, they query why gravel bikes cost up to 20% more than an ‘equivalent’ high quality MTB, and the likely answer is; they charge what they do because…they can! (demand).

Are things about to Ungravel: GCN Show, Episode 627…

Demand might be PARTLY why Gravel RACES are seemingly costly…and then charging very high prices for accommodation/food if the races are largely ‘isolated’ does seem cynical. But then, I did the Epic races back when THEY were affordable (2005, etc…), and now….

My gutfeel: Around R1K is a fair price for a 100 miler gravel race, there are hidden costs involved in hosting a race we the riders don't know about and logistics are more expensive out in the sticks.

However for me as a general rule anything more than R1,5K then someone is getting ripped off

Ceder - for me personally one of the better events I have done but I'm not paying R2,5K+accomodation unless its part of the gravel series because that is something I will be invested in.

 

[SSCC]

2 hours ago, Skubarra said:

 

Ceder - for me personally one of the better events I have done but I'm not paying R2,5K+accomodation unless it’s part of the gravel series because that is something I will be invested in.

 

The Cedar route is 10/10 but their aid stations were 5/10 with no water or coke at the finish. So yeah it’s overpriced. 

Who publishes the “gravel series” list of races? Is it a WP cycling thing? 
 

[Skubarra]

19 minutes ago, SSCC said:

The Cedar route is 10/10 but their aid stations were 5/10 with no water or coke at the finish. So yeah it’s overpriced. 

Who publishes the “gravel series” list of races? Is it a WP cycling thing? 
 

Yes it wp cycling, but they are taking their time. Although the series would likely only start in April so I guess its ok.

[HdB]

1 hour ago, Skubarra said:

Yes it wp cycling, but they are taking their time. Although the series would likely only start in April so I guess its ok.

Which is way too late to take advantage of any entry fee discounts. They really should coordinate with the event organisers, so there is at least a pretty solid idea of which events will form part of the series, at the time the early bird specials are available.

[milky4130]

50 minutes ago, HdB said:

Which is way too late to take advantage of any entry fee discounts. They really should coordinate with the event organisers, so there is at least a pretty solid idea of which events will form part of the series, at the time the early bird specials are available.

Just a reminder that "they" are volunteers with lives, family & jobs, etc and in the instance of gravel a rider too. I'm sure they are working hard on it to finalize the gravel series calendar. If you see early bird entries for an event or route you like, available grab it and can always be sold again if the dates clashes with other events, but dont wait for the series calendar to decide.

[HdB]

15 minutes ago, milky4130 said:

Just a reminder that "they" are volunteers with lives, family & jobs, etc and in the instance of gravel a rider too. I'm sure they are working hard on it to finalize the gravel series calendar. If you see early bird entries for an event or route you like, available grab it and can always be sold again if the dates clashes with other events, but dont wait for the series calendar to decide.

Definitely, and I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything.

I just think even a list of the events most likely to be in the series would help those that might be interested in the series to plan their year a bit better; and if you can get one or two discounted early entry fees it might sway you to add another race or two in the series to your plan.

I'm just dipping my toe in the gravel thing this year, with only the Prince George planned. So the series isn't a deciding factor. Depending on how it goes I might consider more next year, or sell the gravel bike 🤣

[Prince Albert Cycles]

On 1/15/2025 at 1:38 PM, Bub Marley said:

Almost R 2400 per entry now that early bird has sold out. Didn’t even realise there was limited spots. Is this price normal or is this just because of the UCI designation now?

 

Second question, is this route worth that entry fee?

I remember John Swanepoel of Swartberg Gran Fondo fame complaining about the huge fee payable to the UCI for his now non race.

[betaboy]

UCI - usual cash incentives 🤣🤣🤣

[Skubarra]

18 hours ago, HdB said:

Which is way too late to take advantage of any entry fee discounts. They really should coordinate with the event organisers, so there is at least a pretty solid idea of which events will form part of the series, at the time the early bird specials are available.

Agree, think the take-up on the series will be better if they can finalise the calendar earlier. Hopefully something that will improve in future.