Exmoor Beauty 2013

Ron Keegan

Entries have just opened for next year's Exmoor Beauty. Last April's inagural edition proved really popular, with approaching 800 signing up for the ride. However, truth be told, the event didn't quite match our original concept. We'd intended it to be a nice day out on the bike - a very douable, early season, leg stretching challenge. In reality, the route was a bit too lumpy and a tad too long for the time of year. So, in order to address those issues, next April's event will start from Tiverton and the distance will be down to about 100 km. max. The new start will mean that the opening and closing sections - along the roads of the Exe Valley - will be relatively flat. The exact route, north of the Oakfordbridge / Bampton area is currently under consideration, so any suggestions from those with a good knowledge of Exmoor will definately be considered. The location of the new H.Q. venue will knock about an hour off the previous journey to get to the start. And, with the start time window extended to 9:30 a. m. things should be much easier for those travelling from further afield; an overnight stay should not be necessary for most perticipants. Early birds are already signed up and entries will be capped at 1500. To book a place, for Sunday 21st April, visit http://www.exmoorbeauty.org

Ron Keegan

The route map of The Exmoor Beauty is now up on the event's website www.exmoorbeauty.org The geographical spread of early entrants suggests the new H.Q. location is going to prove a great hub for a big sportive. Of the well over 300 already signed up ( with 3 months still to go ) significant numbers are from the west of London, the West Midlands and South Wales. All are only a couple of hours or so drive to Tiverton via the M4/M5.

moserism

Exmoor is such a beautiful place to ride, fingers crossed for sunshine!

_andy

Just a shame that half of the ride wont actually be on the moor

vs

C'mon you can't really start a short ride in Tiverton and have Exmoor in the title, as stated half the ride isn't even on the moor.

There are many beautiful roads on Exmoor, this misses the point because by the time you get to the moor it's time to descend back to Tivvy. Just a cash cow.

£29!!! TWENTY NINE QUID for a 60 mile ride. Save your money, Exmoor's free to ride...

Ron Keegan

Collectively responding to _andy and vs's postings; while half of 'The Beauty' isn't on the moor, the other half most certainly is and we therfore feel we are entirely justified in including Exmoor in the event's title.

With an entry fee of £29, the event can hardly be called "a cash cow". One only needs to check out all the cost of staging a fully supported ride, for hundreds of participants, to conclude that only s fair and honest return on investment will be made if the event is numerically supported by the riders. With 3 months still to go, 400 have already signed up.

With regard to it being free to ride on Exmoor, or anywhere else for that matter, nobody is stopping you but, only those who are petty and cynical would choose to follow the route of a sportive, on the day it is held, without being officially part of it.

Enjoy your cycling guys - live and let live.

vs

If I entered a 60 mile ride entitled 'Exmoor Beauty' I would certainly expect far more than half of it to be on Exmoor, probably 100% to be fair!

As for the cost, £29 is steep for a 60 mile ride.

Ron Keegan

Like I said, we're happy and comfortable with the title, and the price, as are the 400+ who are already supporting the event and its concept.

vs

http://www.dsairambulance.org.uk/get-on ... -ambulance

£10. Emoor start. 54 miles with food stop. Free lift to the start for the first 50 odd entrants - and lift home for another 50. Proceeds to Air Ambulance (plus a t-shirt for the first 200 entrants, if you like that kind of thing).

Ron Keegan

Ah ha!!! Very clever. I see what you've done here vs. You've highjacked the Exmoor Beauty thread and tried to rubbish it in order to promote a charity ride the following month. Shame on you; even if it is in a good cause.

vs

Ron Keegan wrote:

Ah ha!!! Very clever. I see what you've done here vs. You've highjacked the Exmoor Beauty thread and tried to rubbish it in order to promote a charity ride the following month. Shame on you; even if it is in a good cause.

I can assure you I have nothing to do with Air Ambulance or their bike ride and anyone on here who knows me would back this up 100%

I will expect an apology for implying I could stoop that low. If I wanted to promote a ride I would start a new thread - just like you did!

I was merely pointing to the fact that, in my opinion, your ride is highly priced for what it is, and that it is possible to stage a reasonably priced event, with food, and do something for a good cause too.

Ron Keegan

No apology necessary from me vs. Whether or not you are connected with the charity is not the point. The point is you have a problem understanding the costs involved in staging a professionally organised, fully supported sportive, as opposed to other types of cycling challenges, such as charity rides or Audax events. To make your point, you could have started a new thread questioning if, generally, sportives deliver value for money, rather than having a pop at 'The Beauty'. Such a thread would however just have been raking over old coals because this topic was done to death several years ago with no clear conclusions. The facts now are that sportives appear to be here to stay ( well for many years to come at least), because thousands of riders are happy to put their hands in their pockets to enjoy the pleasures the experience gives them. Meanwhile, there are a significant number who do not wish to ride in organsed events for which they have to pay. A smaller number just bang on about sportives being a rip off.

For the record; The Exmoor Beauty is not "a money cow", on the contrary it is highly respectful of those who support it with their entry fees and it will continue to strive to give value for money, just as its more established partner The Exmoor Beast does.

vs

Ron Keegan wrote:

Shame on you;

Ron Keegan wrote:

No apology necessary from me vs.

if you say so Mr Keegan,

Ron Keegan wrote:

For the record; The Exmoor Beauty is not "a money cow",

still not quite sure how you figure this out though, same price as a 'full' sportive (more expensive than most full sportives actually) but less support needed for a much shorter ride?

Ron Keegan

Actually not very much less support needed if the esential infrastructure is kept in place and safety is not compromised. Like I say, there will always be those who complain about entry fees but, generally, they have little idea of the costs involved.

vs

Ron Keegan wrote:

The point is you have a problem understanding the costs involved in staging a professionally organised, fully supported sportive, as opposed to other types of cycling challenges, such as charity rides or Audax events.

This is what the charity ride offers:
A lift to the start.
A HQ.
A food stop.
Mechanical support from 'The Bicycle Chain'.
Prizes for the highest fund raisers.
A t-shirt.
The knowledge that the profits are going to a good cause and not an organiser.

Please enlighten me as to what The Exmoor Beauty offers on top of this for an extra £19.

Ron Keegan

It appears the concept of a business enterprise returning an honest profit is difficult for vs to accept. This is not a case of what extra the riders get for another £19, because the charity ride exampled is funded, supported and run in a totally different way from a commercially staged sportive.

Unlike the charity ride, which is supported by volunteers, The Exmoor Beauty has to pay for the event to be marshalled, stewarded and staffed; the weekend wage bill runs into a few thousand pounds. To this you can add a portion of the organising company's office overheads in the run up to the event. Then let's deduct another £4.83 from the mythical £19, because the VAT man wants his share. Also there are levies due to the sport's governing body of several hundred pounds. Now because 'The Beauty' is classified as a sportive, riders expect an individual micro-chip timing system; this does not come cheap and adds another few thousand pounds to the bill. Unlike the charity ride, who only offer T-shirts to the first 200 to register, 'The Beauty' gives ride rewards and goodies to all who enter.
Mobile mechanical back-up is provided by three Bike Shed service vehicles. a team of moto riders from the National Escort Group (NEG) are engaged to patrol the route and trouble shoot and private ambulances / medical technician teams cover the event. Safety / recovery vehicles are also engaged. Also, to back-up the teams (because mobile signals can be problematic in some rural areas) satelite communications are hired at a high, but very necessary expense. These systems helped save the life of one of the riders in last year's even.

Above are just a few of the major expenses incured when running a well organised sportive for which, I submit £29 is not an unreasonable sum.

garethp73

I'm assuming looking at the route, it's clockwise?

vs

_andy wrote:

Just a shame that half of the ride wont actually be on the moor

Pumpkin Positive

Ron Keegan wrote:

It appears the concept of a business enterprise returning an honest profit is difficult for vs to accept.

Therein lies the problem. Businesses exist to make a profit by selling good or services to people who are free to decide whether or not they wish to part their hard earned cash. What's wrong with that? It's how our economy works. I doubt you'll find many sportives in N Korea.

The "why would I pay £29 to ride on public roads?" argument comes up regularly on this forum. It's all very tedious stuff.

Just my 2p...

Ron Keegan

Thanks for your 2p Pumpkin Positive, I'm in total agreement with you.
_______________________________

Also.
Hi Garethp73 and thanks for your posting.
The route is, in fact, anticlockwise.
I'll request this be made clear on the event's website map.

ooermissus

The charity ride and the sportive don't really compare like with like - given that you're expected to raise sponsorship in addition to the £10 entry fee for the Air Ambulance ride. The organisers took in an extra £33k in this way last year, which presumably makes it worthwhile keeping the entry fee as low as possible.

Personally I think we should let Ron use this thread to tell us about his event without a long argument about whether it's worth paying for a sportive - as Pumpkin Positive said, it's not like anyone is being forced to sign up.

vs

Although I do find paying £29 for a 60 mile bike ride madness, I didn't join this thread just to point this out.

My initial issue was with the tenuous use of 'Exmoor' in the title, which is a bit of a stretch.

How about 'Tivvy Takeaway'?

Ron Keegan

Thanks for your supportive words ooermissus.

vs, if you "didn't join this thread to point this out." (your ongoing issue with the event entry fee), why did you not just stick to the problem only you appear to have, namely the event title?

"How about 'Tivvy Takeaway' ? you ask. Er, no thanks we'll stick with THE EXMOOR BEAUTY.

Pumpkin Positive

vs wrote:

Although I do find paying £29 for a 60 mile bike ride madness, I didn't join this thread just to point this out.

My initial issue was with the tenuous use of 'Exmoor' in the title, which is a bit of a stretch.

How about 'Tivvy Takeaway'?[/quote

How very dull. Change the record

vs

Pumpkin Positive wrote:

vs wrote:

Although I do find paying £29 for a 60 mile bike ride madness, I didn't join this thread just to point this out.

My initial issue was with the tenuous use of 'Exmoor' in the title, which is a bit of a stretch.

How about 'Tivvy Takeaway'?

How very dull. Change the record

PP: Fair enough; change of record. How much riding have you done on Exmoor?

Pumpkin Positive

vs wrote:

Pumpkin Positive wrote:

vs wrote:

Although I do find paying £29 for a 60 mile bike ride madness, I didn't join this thread just to point this out.

My initial issue was with the tenuous use of 'Exmoor' in the title, which is a bit of a stretch.

How about 'Tivvy Takeaway'?

How very dull. Change the record

PP: Fair enough; change of record. How much riding have you done on Exmoor?

Not a great deal; I ride mostly on Dartmoor. But i don't see what that's got to do with it. I'm just a little irritated when a thread I'm watching gets hijacked by someone with a bee in their bonnet about trivial matters

Bobbinogs

I do quite a bit of riding down that way as my family live in Minehead/Watchet. I get back there every couple of months. Some great riding but not much of it flat if you want some variety!

I did ride around much of the general area over Xmas. Great stuff but it was very damp near Dulverton at the time. I suspect it is now too.

The Beauty/Beast organisers do run a cracking event (did the Beast back in 2010), so nothing to worry about in terms of the ride...get those climbing legs on and enjoy the scenary

derek48

I have to say I'm with vs on this one. I live on Exmoor and ride it year round. It's just a pity that with so much great riding the route of the Beauty is so mundane and with such a substantial portion off the Moor. Once having decided on a Tiverton base which I find incomprehensible, then I suppose this was inevitable. I understand that it's supposed to be an 'easier' ride than the Beast, but it certainly doesn't showcase the best (or even much) of Exmoor.

Ron Keegan

While Derek48 may find "a Tiverton base incomprehensible", not so the hundreds of visiting riders who, having already driven the motorways for a couple of hours, are delighted that they now don't have to add another hour on more challenging roads to get to Minehead. We've had sack-loads of comments from riders suggesting the move south and an extended start time window, so they don't need to stay overnight.

As I've pointed out before, half of 'The Beauty' route is within the Exmoor National Park so naming it THE EXMOOR BEAUTY is entirely justified

derek48

Ron
The point I was trying to make is that the Tiverton base means it is unavoidable that you do a substantial amount of fairly mundane riding up the Exe Valley before you reach the Moor. As for time saving, I can see that anyone travelling northwards up the M5 would benefit, but for anyone from the north, the M4 and so on the time saving is minimal. e.g on the AA route finder, Taunton to Minehead is 23.7 miles and takes 47 mins. Taunton the Tiverton is 24.6 miles and takes 31 mins. So for a saving of 16 minutes, you have sacrificed the opportunity of more riding on the Moor. That is what I found incomprehensible. Of course there may be other reasons for the Tiverton base but I can't really see that time saving is one of them.

Ron Keegan

Ultimately, Taunton was not an option for us; the suitable venues there were not available. We'd originally wanted the start in Bridgwater, but that wasn't a goer ether. So, Tiverton it is. For us and the riders (currently 435), any time saving has to be welcome.