# Organized rides($$$)



## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

I have done many of the NW organized centuries including the Tour de Blast (see the other current thread). Yesterday, besides the Tour de Blast there was the Mt. Adams Country Tour century/group ride near my home in the Gorge. I was ready to pay my money and do the ride until I went online and found it would cost me $65! Am I cuckoo, or isn't that a bit steep? 

Tour de Blast is $45 and that is the most expensive I've encountered. Now, say the Mt. Adams Country organizers gets 3000 paid riders, like I think the TdB gets. The potential fees there, at $60 per rider, are staggering! 

To put some perspective on this, the OBRA State Championship Road Race fee is just $20. With timing, etc. The Elkhorn Classic Stage Race, currently running in Baker City, is a 3 day, 4 event race, with whole roads closed, with police escorts, with timeing and scoring, with downtown Baker City's mainstreets blockaded, with T-shirts, meals, chase cars and hundreds of volunteers, that is $85 for professional racers. Some racers even get free housing for the duration of the event.

Now, I am all for compensating organizers for their time, and expenses. I've worked as a volunteer at some bike races and some centuries. They do take substantial time and do cost some money when all is done. I understand some of the proceeds are to be 'donated' to the county emergency services. That is a good thing, I guess, if they are being shortchanged by our government. But $60 ($5 late fee) is a bit "over the top" in my world, to charge each rider for a few feed stations a t shirt and a barbie. Add up all those $60 fees and you probably would "make expenses" quite handily.

Anyhow, it was a beautiful day for an event like that, and the route is wonderful..I ride it with friends quite often, and it is spectacular! The wildflowers are in full bloom right now and there was no west wind for the participants to contend with. We, the cheapskates who actually live around there, rode a 70 mile-5500' loop over near Mt. Hood rather than paying the $60 bucks for the Mt. Adams ride. 
Don Hanson


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## heliskyr (Feb 21, 2005)

I agree with you, the prices of some of these rides is really heading north. I did Tour De Blast yesterday, which was $45 plus $5 late fee. As I mentioned in the TdB thread, the support was woefully inadequate for atleast 50% of the riders. I arrived at most rest stops at the midpoint of the pack as best I can judge, and many stops were out of all food save "bongo bars" and some of the critical stops were out of water.

Since this route goes through essentially unpopulated areas, support is key, especially when the temps are pushing 90 deg. I think the TdB organizers made a killing on this ride, as I can safely say I didn't consume more than $5 worth of food and water (2 bongo bars, one orange, 4 water bottles worth of water (plain))

I'm happy to pay whatever is reasonable to fully support a ride, however if I am paying $50 I think it is reasonable to expect a sandwich or a banana! If organizers continue to charge increasing prices to support a ride, they better expect riders will demand value for that money. Otherwise more and more folks will "bandit" the rides.


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## Birddog (Sep 9, 2004)

In my part of the country, that is pretty steep for a basic ride. BTW, in most events, all the drinks and food are usually donated by sponsors, organizers rarely buy that stuff. A well organized ride tries to have virtually all the costs covered by sponsor donations so that entry fees are all gravy. This is not always the case, but it is the ideal. The Triple Bypass is an expensive affair, but they have some road closures and it does include an all you can eat meal at the finish and a nice jersey. I think the Hotter'n Hell is still just $20 (maybe $25) and they have unbelieveable support to go along with the 9 or 10 thousand riders. The amount of ice alone that is used in the Hotter'n Hell is staggering.

Birddog


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## Gnarly 928 (Nov 19, 2005)

*Ahh, the key word.."reasonable"..*



heliskyr said:


> I agree with you, the prices of some of these rides is really heading north. I did Tour De Blast yesterday, which was $45 plus $5 late fee. As I mentioned in the TdB thread, the support was woefully inadequate for atleast 50% of the riders. I arrived at most rest stops at the midpoint of the pack as best I can judge, and many stops were out of all food save "bongo bars" and some of the critical stops were out of water.
> 
> Since this route goes through essentially unpopulated areas, support is key, especially when the temps are pushing 90 deg. I think the TdB organizers made a killing on this ride, as I can safely say I didn't consume more than $5 worth of food and water (2 bongo bars, one orange, 4 water bottles worth of water (plain))
> 
> I'm happy to pay whatever is reasonable to fully support a ride, however if I am paying $50 I think it is reasonable to expect a sandwich or a banana! If organizers continue to charge increasing prices to support a ride, they better expect riders will demand value for that money. Otherwise more and more folks will "bandit" the rides.


 Reasonable fee....that's agreeable. Reading the other current thread on the Tour de Blast and it's participant's experiences, sounds kinda like that one (TdB) should have cost...maybe fifty-cents or so..The time I rode it (2 yrs ago) many of the feed stations were out of food, had full almost overflowing porto-potties with very long lines, and the morning registration was a bit unorganized...But hey, whatta yuh want for a measley $50 bucks?..

.I expect to have full support on a fully supported ride, and "'oh, we only have bongo bars left' is not full support..Or, "oh, sorry, we're out of water for now" that is almost criminal! Enticing all these ( premium fee paying) neophyte bikers 30 miles away from civilization and then leaving them waterless on a very hot strenous ride, that sucks. "Making a killing" on this ride...it's probably only luck that the organizers avoided just that (literally) Dehydration and heat stroke.are life threatening, especially to people who do not know how to recognize the symptoms or are not aware of what's going on in very hot conditions. 

So, how many riders will return to a (supported?) ride like the Tour de Blast, go back and give the organizers another big fat fee for nothing? (and one 'excuse' about inadequate services is not even acceptable when the ride fees are that large) But I guess some of the more money hungry ride organizers don't even count on 'return' business for the next year, they count on 'developing riders' who are not yet comfortable doing a century on their own. They riders who'll pay for 'dicey' support, riders who'll pay $60 bucks for some water, a snack and a t-shirt..(remember, the road is still free, you can ride for nothing, so far..) riders who don't know any better yet..

Don Hanson


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## Cerddwyr (Jul 26, 2004)

Just a guess, but I suspect insurance is a major reason. While being counter intuitive, I suspect it is much more expensive to insure a public ride as apposed to a race. Why, because in a race all the riders can be assumed to have a freaking clue, and to actually understand what it means to sign a waiver.
The general public, on the other hand, is mostly made up of litigous morons, or fall of a bike and land calling their lawyer.

Just a guess. If rides in California are even higher than Oregon, it would support the theory.

Gordon


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## Meat Foot (Jul 13, 2005)

*Nail meet head...*



Cerddwyr said:


> Just a guess, but I suspect insurance is a major reason. While being counter intuitive, I suspect it is much more expensive to insure a public ride as apposed to a race. Why, because in a race all the riders can be assumed to have a freaking clue, and to actually understand what it means to sign a waiver.
> The general public, on the other hand, is mostly made up of litigous morons, or fall of a bike and land calling their lawyer.
> 
> Just a guess. If rides in California are even higher than Oregon, it would support the theory.
> ...


Lawyer and insurance fees are the likely cause of "outrageous" fees. Unfortunately, money for the aid stations goes to the insurance carrier and the lawyers.


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## borregokid (Jun 9, 2005)

*Worst Ride-Race*

The worst ride-race in terms of bang for the buck was near Bellingham, Washington last year. The promoter allowed the 270 or so riders self seed into a competitve class and a recreational class. He gave away merchandise for the top finishers starting with the competitive class. After he gave away quite a bit of stuff in the competitve class he announced to the crowd that there would be no awards for the recreational riders. I complained last year about the lack of any recognition in the recreational class and his response this year is to announce that recreational riders will receive no recogntion. At least he can point out after the ride that he said he wasnt going to do any recognition. He still allows everyone to self seed and sign up by age. The food at the end of the ride consisted mostly of inedible green bannans. For this riders paid up to $50. As the promoter said, " if you dont like it then dont do it".


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