It's that time of year when all next years cycling events are been advertised.

Yes they provide food (at times), some have camping, yes they have sign posts, yes they have first aid people, marshals and toilets etc.....

And yes I've done events in the past, but is it just the Yorkshire man in me when the new prices are coming out to say "How much? "

Kielder Chiller 24 - £60 to £65

Battle on the Beach - £35 to £49

Gritfest - £69 now, but £99 from Jan 1st. Plus £25 for electric hook up while camping

And the list goes on, you can buy some great bike packing gear and keep it forever for that sort of money.

Well done to Stu, Dee and the likes of Postie Rich with the JennRide for keeping it real

A lot of events now suffering from this now.

and no, it's not just you John.

You don't have to be a Yorkshireman John. It's not just you

This thread would've been funnier had no one else replied...

But yeah, sod all that for a lark.

and its a BIIIIG no from me

Can I tactfully suggest you don't go to the r@pha travel webpage.
I can also confirm that there will be a 0% increase in the Spanish C2C cost next year. This year nowt, next year nowt.

Thanks all, it's not just me then.

Some silly prices out there I could afford Dirty Reiver without thinking about it this year but haven't entered for next year, not at £60 (plus a 1.5% card processing fee)

Plus events get prizes for free (maybe money although I have no knowledge of this) from shed loads of sponsors https://www.dirtyreiver.co.uk/sponsors/

This is why I stopped paying to ride my bike years ago!

Does seem to be getting a bit silly with prices but you have to organise an event to see where all the money goes, SSUK was only small but hiring stuff aint cheap!
Jennride costs nowt to run as there are lots of good people in Staveley that let me use stuff for free or discounted i.e. the beer.

Would not diss people for putting up prices on successful events as people always want more when they go again

..yet Audaxes cost peanuts and often have a good spread at the end.

Yep same here when I consider my wages have almost not moved for 6 years

I'm glad you raised that John as I was thinking the same this evening when I saw a few new rides put on fb
I'm also glad you mentioned the bosses and postie rich, I'm sure we all will thank them for keeping it real!! I'm getting to the point now where by I want to do these events but I'm not paying shitloads of cash to essentially what is ride my bike. Yes it is part of the fun with everyone else but it's getting a tad silly. So cheers John it's not just you fella. And on a happier note....Here's to the winter event only a few weeks now!

hoppy58 wrote:..yet Audaxes cost peanuts and often have a good spread at the end.

Ride them now before they turn into £50 a go sportiv's.

No, not just you, but I'm from Yorkshire too

I have friends who think nothing of going away to expensive sportives that are basically half a days ride. And that's with the added cost of travel from here. My brother enters a good few adventure races, mountain marathon s and obstacle course races which are really pricey too.

Our local bike club summer sportive is £20, for a 50mile route I regularly ride anyway with a bit of cake at the end. That's only done as it feels awkward/embarrasing to not support it as its the only bike event here lol!

It's not just you that baulks at paying that kind of money for events, particularly when you plan to do a few, though another Yorkshireman here so I can't comment on that . But I don't think many are unreasonable, given the costs, particularly insurance, of putting events on. The Dirty Reiver, for example, is held over hundreds of square miles of empty forest. Getting people and basic supplies out to the right places, and monitoring the whole event is a logistical nightmare. And given the length of the event and the time of year (I may be wrong) but there's a risk of people riding in the dark, which I know poses a big problem (and expense) for 24hr events and insurance.

Theses events seem to be quite popular, so fair play to the organisers. For the likes of us, there are plenty of alternatives.

Instead of the Dirty Reiver, there's a "Dirty Free'ver" being planned on here
Jennride has previously been mentioned
Some of my local club are riding the Moors and Shores "Adventure Cross" on the North York Moors in April (£40). There's a gravel Audax on around the same time, also on the Moors (£7).

Interesting topic John.

I think we need to bear in mind that there's a real difference between those organising events from a business stand-point and those doing it for love, etc. Neither is a right or wrong approach but the price of entry does reflect the difference. The BB events and especially the WRT would probably be quite different if we didn't freely open our home to everyone ... hiring a venue, even just a field is often way more expensive than people imagine.

With regard to sponsors. Yes, they do supply prizes, hand-outs, etc but my experience over the last 10 years is that they're not breaking your door down to do it. There's a lot of work, dead-ends and wasted time involved in getting people on board. At the end of the day, people expect something in return and that again takes time.

I suppose it's very much a case of supply and demand. The Dirty Reiver has being mentioned but no matter whether 'we' think it's expensive or not. chances are it will still be over subscribed and fill up in less than a day or two. The WRT costs about 1/3 less to enter and lasts 3 days but will likely attact only 1/3 of the riders.

Right, I'm off to eat bread and water and spread some more love

Our (road) cycling club organises a sportive. With over 700 riders attending finding somewhere suitable as "event HQ" isn't easy or cheap. Add in St John's ambulance cover and Raynet comms cover for the day plus hire of venues for food stops, timing systems, etc. and you have substantial costs before you get your first entrant. This is with club members doing most of the work as unpaid volunteers and with goodwill from event sponsors, etc.

As Stu says there's a difference between commercial, enthusiast and charity events. Sheer numbers also make a difference, there's lots of places that can deal with 50 participants, fewer that can handle 150 and much fewer that can handle 500+.

Every year there's threads on STW about the Ard Rock event in Swaledale filling up in minutes despite the cost being something like £80 for the whole weekend. Some find it value for money, others don't and think more should be laid on for them.

Some find it value for money, others don't and think more should be laid on for them.

Aye, you can't please all the people all the time. We're trying to think of a few cost effective additions for next years 10th anniversary WRT and it's not easy. However, we're in a fortunate position that expectations amongst the great unwashed are quite low and anyone who perhaps does feels short changed, can simply be told to FRO

i dunno all in compared to most sports i do the participation costs om biking are quite small , though gear costs are the highest out of everything i do. most of my cycling is basically free, and the odd event might cost money but over all its ok.

fly fishing costs me £80 for a salmon/ sea trought licence, 100 for anual club member ship , then 10 -30 quid a day if i fish elcewhere (but trout rod like £60 quid even my salmon rod cost like £90 so ye lots less than bike bits and take allot less hammer so last longer )

skiing costs attest 20 -30 quid a day if lift served in Scotland, but tend to tour whitch is free , but petroll to get to snow. but afgain kit cost is much lower like £300 got me most of my touring set up of sale, and will last as long as a bike


so basically i think allthough some events do take the piss, in general mountain bike participation costs are low as most of the time biking is free , and if you want to race / event , there are cheep options. though it does have a high set up cost as a bike is atleast £1K and bits brake allot ! but ye overall day to day participation is pretty good value as you can just go ride your bike if you want

For the cost of some of these I could bikepack for days, maybe even a week.

after seeing what you can do with yer events at BB for 20 odd quid Stu the 'Other' event organizers should hang their heads in shame.

I've no problem with the cost of those events. The Dirty Reiver, for example, has a fcukton of organisation/staff/equipment/venue hire etc behind it. It's also being run as part of a business so has an obligation to run at a profit. Without looking at the specific prices it's what - £35 or something more expensive than a BB200? It's hardly ripping people off when you look at everything you get for that extra cost.

But look at the number of riders the DR will get, there must be some economy of scale come in to play, it should be able to be cheaper to put on an event for more people. Also 'probably' most of the marshalls are volunteers? They were certainly looking volunteers last year.

I'm not greetin' about it I've just accepted that most events will not be for me now. I'll either do my own thing or do the odd grass roots event. I preferred the free ride to the sun to the couple of paid sportives I did anyway.

wondering if I can get my brother in law to do the 10th WRT with me now...(which May BH is it?)

(which May BH is it?)

First one Shawn.

ride to the sun

Yup, should have added that one to my list above (which is a sort of personal calendar of maybes for next year to be honest).