Price of Races

[ErikV]

I'm sure if they don't hand out medals and goody bags it would be a lot cheaper to organise races.

 

 

 

To be honest the goodie bags suck and the medals only cost about R5 each!

 

 

 

So dumping these will not make a difference. And if we dump the medals we'll have 1000's of fun riders moaning that they'll have nothing to brag with and hang above their pub at home.

[HappyMartin]

Like CB radios in the 80's and LSD in the 60's cycling, particularly MTB'ing, is experiencing a popularity bubble that will most likely not be sustained. It is inevitable that race numbers will start to decline as the loads of people that purchased bikes because it all looks like so much fun move on to the next big thing.

 

 

 

Think roller blading, those funny little push scooters, skate boarding and lots of other activities. Sure the hard core will remain in cycling, and perhaps you are part of that core but the very real possibility exists that the phenomenal growth in our sport will die back and we will move into a more quiet and mature phase with less magazines, races, cycle parks and people.

 

 

 

Prices of races are not the only thing driving down numbers.

[Tumbleweed]

Like CB radios in the 80's and LSD in the 60's cycling' date=' particularly MTB'ing, is experiencing a popularity bubble that will most likely not be sustained. It is inevitable that race numbers will start to decline as the loads of people that purchased bikes because it all looks like so much fun move on to the next big thing.

Think roller blading, those funny little push scooters, skate boarding and lots of other activities. Sure the hard core will remain in cycling, and perhaps you are part of that core but the very real possibility exists that the phenomenal growth in our sport will die back and we will move into a more quiet and mature phase with less magazines, races, cycle parks and people.

Prices of races are not the only thing driving down numbers. [/quote']

 

well-reasoned post, but you also have to consider the differences between cycling and other "fad" sports. so many different genres exist: road - tt, one-day races, stage racing; mtb - freeriding (which itself has many sub-genres), xc racing, marathon, stage racing, dh, 4x, and there is a growing market in mutliday touring; bmx - vert, park, flatland, racing; and obviously other recreational pursuits.          

[scotty]

 

We are also partially to blame as cyclists.  How many of these races are comercial undertakings with the slant on making profit?  THe Rooiwal races and GNC league races are a lot less expensive.  Why?  because most of the labour is done by volunteers and club members.  So if you want cheaper races' date=' the join a club and help organise them.

 

[/quote']

Very few races pay volunteers, my club has a race comming up where i'll be working all sat and sun for no payment, at best i'll get a T shirt. Diffs with those races you mention is they do it to cover costs only wheras others charge extra to donate profits to charity.  

[Thug]

One of the problems I think race organisers have Scotty, is that they are hardly transparent about their "donation" to charity.

 

 

 

It's all very well and good to advertise that XX charity is the beneficiary but what proportion of the race entry fee are they actually receiving ?

 

 

[scotty]

Its not about portion ie. entry cost R180 therefore donation to charity will be R10, but whats left after ..Metro has been paid, CSA have been paid, Timing have been paid, medals have been paid, hire of venue have been paid, cost to set up wp, petrol costs have been paid, cost of advertising, online entry costs, banking costs, prize money etc, these costs are not negotiable. What ever is left over is then handed to the charity usually Lions or Roundtable who also provide marshals and volunteers on the race day. Basic bookeeping if the costs are more than income (and there are races that lose money) , orgs share the loss and charities get nothing.

scotty2010-01-28 02:39:01

[Thug]

Of course I understand what your saying, but the point I'm trying to make is that in most circumstances, charities receive very little of R180 entry fee cost although one of the major blurbs is that "all proceeds go to charity".

[MadScientist]

 

Like CB radios in the 80's and LSD in the 60's cycling' date=' particularly MTB'ing, is experiencing a popularity bubble that will most likely not be sustained. It is inevitable that race numbers will start to decline as the loads of people that purchased bikes because it all looks like so much fun move on to the next big thing.

 

Think roller blading, those funny little push scooters, skate boarding and lots of other activities. Sure the hard core will remain in cycling, and perhaps you are part of that core but the very real possibility exists that the phenomenal growth in our sport will die back and we will move into a more quiet and mature phase with less magazines, races, cycle parks and people.

 

Prices of races are not the only thing driving down numbers. [/quote']

 

well-reasoned post, but you also have to consider the differences between cycling and other "fad" sports. so many different genres exist: road - tt, one-day races, stage racing; mtb - freeriding (which itself has many sub-genres), xc racing, marathon, stage racing, dh, 4x, and there is a growing market in mutliday touring; bmx - vert, park, flatland, racing; and obviously other recreational pursuits.          

 

I have to agree with Holy on this one, as roller blading & skate boarding is infact seen as a more rebalious type sport than a fad. When i comes to cycling i think that the popularity will increase especially if the gov continues stuffing up. If eskom gets their proposed increase we will have to make a decision on buying either electricity or petrol as most won't be able to afford both, thus i feel cycling/commuting to work will increase thus the popularity of the sport will increase.

 

Here are some figures to support my clail about the price of the eish-lectric

 

ESKOM TARIFF INCREASE:

Apparently it will be 45% increase each year for 3 years! Total 135%

over 3 year. It has already been increased by about 100% Your

account will look like this over 3 years:

2008                R1500.00

2009                R3000.00

2010                R4350.00

2011                R6307.50

2012                R9145.00

 

Please keep in mind this was an independant study and works back from 2008 when we had our first increase. I for one would have to decide will i be watching tv or driving to work. guess i will rather watch tv and cycle to work.

 

[scotty]

Could be true, but would be very unscrupulous of them and criminal charges should be laid for theft.

[Tankman]

ok I havent read through this whole thread but has anyone noticed...

 

on the PPA race calender sent out at the beginning of the year the

99er is advertised at R150 for the 121km route...

the route has subsequently been shortened to 108km and now costs R170

 

so we have to pay more to ride less?

 

Not to mention if you miss the early entry this event will cost you R280?

Why is that, are the late entrants going to be on the road longer than the early entrants?

 

 

 

[Tankman]

oops, only now notice that the calender I downloaded from the PPA website was for 2009!

 

None the less we still pay more for riding less and the question remains, why is the late entry so much more expensive?

 

[kevind]

best of all!!!

 

The pro's don't pay a cent. They get free entry to every race...

[Kranswurm]

oops' date=' only now notice that the calender I downloaded from the PPA website was for 2009!

None the less we still pay more for riding less and the question remains, why is the late entry so much more expensive?
[/quote']

To encourage you to pay early of course

[Tankman]

dit is nou n k*k antwoord kaaswurm, soos hulle sou se in plain afrikaans!

 

what difference does it make when they receive the cash?

 

[Paul Ruinaard]

Hmm - so I get a mail from the organisers of the Kloofzicht Corporate challenge for the new series and the race on 28 march. I liked this idea cause I cold take customers out MTBing for the day as a thank you, but hey presto the price has doubled from R2k per team last year to R4k per team, and when I asked why it is a lame excuse about lunch for all the spouses and a major goodie bag.

 

So now we are paying R1k per rider in an MTB challenge?

[Tumbleweed]

dit is nou n k*k antwoord kaaswurm' date=' soos hulle sou se in plain afrikaans! what difference does it make when they receive the cash?

 

[/quote']

 

 

 

pop the money in a call acount and earn more interest, maybe?