Cost of gravel races in South Africa

[SSCC]

It really sucks when local events go the route of UCI registration or becoming part of an overseas series. I see Road to Desolation have jumped on that bandwagon and doubled the entry fee to their race. It’s now $200 or R3,600 for a 100 mile gravel race. So much for community connect. More like use the local community to build a race, get exposure and then shaft them. 

@Community Connect

It will be interesting to see what other events like The Cedar do with pricing. Will they follow suit and sell out for the UCI accreditation? 

Long live the home grown events like RVR, Canola Roller, Stanford, Gallows, Round the Pot etc. There is a mix of pricing in there but all of them are good value  

Organizers can charge whatever they want but we as customers can also vote with our wallets and not support them. 
 

 

[Community Connect]

Hi! 

thank you for making a good point. Nothing would hurt us more than being a sell out. Over the past three years we have been putting some effort into making events more accessible for the community and support various riders to enjoy all the local events, road to desolation included for which we have been giving a lot of support which included travel, accommodation and nutrition. 

As for next years pricing we have increased our prices since running an event is actually very expensive and we include a lot in the entry. but haven’t exceeded any other of your named local events. 

You might be looking at the event from outside of South Africa or with a vpn. International entries are more expensive since our philosophy is to bring people together and support locals through International currency. Being part of an international series allows us to get the interest for those participants. 

For locals the entry is R1250 while early birds are available and they will increase to R1450 and late entries will go at R1850. This is indicated all on our website for the event as well. Community is important which is why we include a dinner after the race where everyone gathers for price giving and enjoys local Karoo food. 

We would love to see you in Graaf-Reinet at the start line. If you should struggle with the local pricing option feel free to contact us at race@roadtodesolation.cc

[RossTopher]

Checks out

Edited 8 hours ago by RossTopher

[guidodg]

Canola Roller is still one of the cheapest, if not THE cheapest …. no need to get greedy😉

[Sid the Sloth]

51 minutes ago, guidodg said:

Canola Roller is still one of the cheapest, if not THE cheapest …. no need to get greedy😉

Vastly different events - both have their place but you get a lot more out of desolation than you do out of canola. Both are amazing events I will attend next year but you don’t quite get a free community dinner afterwards, a stacked goodie bag, pre race social rides and opportunities, post race support, professional photography, etc. follow vehicles, all of which come at a cost as you’re obviously well aware. 

And the quantity of people entering canola make the economies of scale way better than a tiny race very far from anywhere else. I’m sure the profit generated from canola isn’t too shabby running the numbers on total revenue with sold out entries this year. To my knowledge Desolation barely breaks even having chatted to a lot of people involved - it’s a true passion project drawing together our cycling community and the Graaf Reinet community  

Hopefully the international classification attracts more riders as it’s easily one of my top 5 SA races having done most of the local gravel over the last two years.