£49 for the Tour de Yorkshire

Philip Whiteman

The roads are not closed. Given the cost, can anyone justify why it is worth paying this high fee?

markhewitt1978

Crazy especially when the likes of Evans and Wiggle are doing similar sportives for £20 or less.

If the roads were closed they could justify the cost but not on open roads.

ugo.santalucia

Philip Whiteman wrote:

The roads are not closed. Given the cost, can anyone justify why it is worth paying this high fee?

Because sportives are now ran for profit and the all industry works pretty much like the property market... someone rise the entry fee and all the others feel entitled to do the same... what really pisses me off is that the genuine events, ran for charity on good will seem to be the ones who suffer, while I would like to see the corporate events suffer...
I suspect people don't give shxt about these details though... :roll:

jimmythecuckoo

I was happy paying UK prices for sportives even though I felt value wasn't key... then I entered an overseas one and saw what was available for much less.

I think the price will have to come down or people will vote with their feet.

bernithebiker

Crazy.

Why not do one of the biggest races in France?

Easy to get to (Brittany), it only costs 26 Euros. Roads are CLOSED, which is the way it should be when you have 7000 riders, and all of the 26 E goes to charity.

It's in June;

http://www.laplbmuco.org

I came 80th last year, but only because I was buzzing on about 8 caffeine gels!!

timothyw

Ah, so roads are open? I thought that information was conspicuously absent on the web page! Talking about riding the course before the pros seemed to heavily imply it was a ride london type situation.... sneaky.

markhewitt1978

Exactly. You would have thought with the idea of it being tied to a race and the importance that brings that it would be a closed road event. The North definitely needs its own version of Ride London and I was hoping this would be it. But no they squandered that one.

thefog

London has masses of transport options for people to bypass all the closures. The Tour of Yorkshire is travelling across main a and b roads and they will only be closed on rolling closures for 30 or so minutes. No chance of a closed road sportive.

rodgers73

Just go up there and ride the route. None of the roads involved are that busy. That's my plan anyway.

ugo.santalucia

It's perfectly possible to close or marshal the roads...in Italy all Granfondo are closed or marshalled and Italy is a country with the same population and similar size. The problem over here is that the start is staggered, so you will have people starting over 1-2 hours. A mass start will reduce the time required for the roads to be closed... courses with fewer/bigger climbs are better than those with 35 small bumps in keeping groups compact and making the event quicker. Timed gates to redirect the slow riders to smaller loops help too. Realistically you want a course where the first finisher is 1 hour ahead of the last (as the last will have been redirected on a shorter course automatically), while over here it's more like 5 hours, because in the name of fairness even the last straggler dressed as a gorilla on a Boris bike is entitled to finish the course he paid half of his weekly salary to enter.

It's a matter of being practical rather than stupid.... the culture has to change.

tlw1

bernithebiker wrote:

Crazy.

Why not do one of the biggest races in France?

Easy to get to (Brittany), it only costs 26 Euros. Roads are CLOSED, which is the way it should be when you have 7000 riders, and all of the 26 E goes to charity.

It's in June;

http://www.laplbmuco.org

I came 80th last year, but only because I was buzzing on about 8 caffeine gels!!

I like the look of that - thanks

NeXXus

Philip Whiteman wrote:

The roads are not closed. Given the cost, can anyone justify why it is worth paying this high fee?

No

hjghg5

I'm in. It's pricey to ride my normal training roads but I'm happy that these events are coming to my local area and want to support them. Plus I have friends from all over the country coming down to stay at my house for the weekend to do it/watch the pro race as I live a mile away from roundhay park so it would be curmudgeonly not to join them.

And at least I have no travel expenses - a sportive in france may be cheap but getting to france (and taking time off work to do so) isn't!

I will ride the route on my own other times, but I like the sense of "event" that you get with big organised rides too, I just don't enter more than one or two of them per year!

bigmat

Given they are taking the mick to such a great extent, does just riding the route for free become justifiable? I will be in the area for the pro race anyway.

The blurb I received was pretty misleading regarding closed roads - it was certainly implied and I don't see how else they could justify that price. Oh, I forgot, you get VIP access to the finish straight (along with the 7,000 other riders).

Of course, I could just ride one of the other stages instead - quite fancy the Selby to York one (and then back home to Beverley?).

Harrogate Velo50

BigMat wrote:

Given they are taking the mick to such a great extent, does just riding the route for free become justifiable? I will be in the area for the pro race anyway.

The blurb I received was pretty misleading regarding closed roads - it was certainly implied and I don't see how else they could justify that price. Oh, I forgot, you get VIP access to the finish straight (along with the 7,000 other riders).

This.

I am dead against doing it normally but I think they are taking the Mick, and as long as don't nick any of the food and drink, don't think I would feel too guilty

Of course, I could just ride one of the other stages instead - quite fancy the Selby to York one (and then back home to Beverley?).

Harrogate Velo50

Agree with big mat. It's way too much, I'm not interested in a time and just want to take in the crack, and as long as don't pinch any food or drink much as don't feel great about it may just tag along. £49 is way too much for roads you can ride anytime for nothing

norvernrob

Complete rip off when Velothon Wales was only a fiver more (less with the advanced booking) and it's on fully closed roads.

I live in Yorkshire but won't be paying £50 for that, it's twice as much as it should be and a shameless cash in.

jimmythecuckoo

twenty four euro I paid for Flanders... not sure about comparable organisation but these prices in the UK just keep on rising.

ugo.santalucia

It is a strange world that of sportives. The ones with the highest entry fees thrive and the ones that offer the best value for money struggle... so you can complain as much as you want, but the reality is that it's full of people prepared to pay 50 or even 100 quid to ride an event... not only that, but they are keener to pay 50 quid than 20... the more they pay, the more they feel committed to it...

Anonymous

Which ones are high priced and thrive?
I would have thought an overly expensive sportive would fail as seems to be happening with the TdY perhaps.

I think most of the ones I have done are pretty good value for money.
Not as good as things mentioned on the continent, but not a rip off either.

What do you get for your £49 with TdY?
It would need to be a pretty good goody bag.

ugo.santalucia

Carbonator wrote:

Which ones are high priced and thrive?
I would have thought an overly expensive sportive would fail as seems to be happening with the TdY perhaps.

Dragon Ride, Eroica Britannia, Fred Whitton Challenge (although for charity), Etape Caledonia, Etape Pennines (the charity ride that gives no charity) the list is long and includes your favourite event too...

Anonymous

Not done any of those. Mainly do local ones. Not sure if thats better or worse lol.

I would not say RideLondon is my favourite event. Its very different though and do think its OK value at £58.
There are loads of things people pay £58 for that are far worse.

ugo.santalucia

Carbonator wrote:

Not done any of those. Mainly do local ones. Not sure if thats better or worse lol.

I would not say RideLondon is my favourite event. Its very different though and do think its OK value at £58.
There are loads of things people pay £58 for that are far worse.

All I am saying is that the most expensive are also the most popular, whether they are worth or not is subjective. My point is that money doesn't seem to be the deterrent, if anything the opposite is true.

When last year the Eroica Britannia made its debut at £70, I thought it was crazy and it would flop, but it filled up instead... there is a lot of disposable income around...

Just look at the stream of offers of carbon wheels and top end equipment in the classifieds, it never stops...

markhewitt1978

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

Which ones are high priced and thrive?
I would have thought an overly expensive sportive would fail as seems to be happening with the TdY perhaps.

Dragon Ride, Eroica Britannia, Fred Whitton Challenge (although for charity), Etape Caledonia, Etape Pennines (the charity ride that gives no charity) the list is long and includes your favourite event too...

Don't know about the rest but the Etape Pennines has been dropped now.

ugo.santalucia

markhewitt1978 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Carbonator wrote:

Which ones are high priced and thrive?
I would have thought an overly expensive sportive would fail as seems to be happening with the TdY perhaps.

Dragon Ride, Eroica Britannia, Fred Whitton Challenge (although for charity), Etape Caledonia, Etape Pennines (the charity ride that gives no charity) the list is long and includes your favourite event too...

Don't know about the rest but the Etape Pennines has been dropped now.

Not surprised, after they named and shamed them for running a charity event that didn't raise any money for charity

buckmulligan

I totally agree, the TdY certainly won't be a flop. You could probably sell it out just with people from Yorkshire, let alone the with the widespread coverage it's getting thanks to the Tour visit last year.

markhewitt1978

I've no doubt it will sell out, which is a shame that a sub-par expensive ride is the one that gets the attention.

ugo.santalucia

Just to give you an idea about how minds work: since they increase tuition fees from 3K to 9K overnight, University applications have gone up... significantly. It's not that you get a better degree suddenly... it's the same crap, but 3 times more expensive... people can't get enough of it.
It's human nature to aspire to be part of an elite... the more it is out of reach, the greater the desire to be part of it. That's why like for like you are more likely to succeed by setting up a three figure entry fee event, than a three quid one

markhewitt1978

It's a very well known phenomenon. I forget the exact name of it, probably Cost / Value fallacy or something

But it happens quite often with products where if it's sold at a low price to encourage people to purchase it, then sales are relatively low as people perceive it to be of low value. But charge a high price for exactly the same item and people will automatically assume extra value with the purchase, and believe it to be more prestigious etc.

I remember one test they did with food where they told people the value of the item / drink they were consuming vs those who didn't know the price. Those who knew the price did have a different physical reaction and got more enjoyment from the high priced food rather than the low price. For those who didn't know the price there was little difference.

It's not an easy one to break out of even if you know you're doing it as we all use shortcuts when comparing purchases as we can't possibly know everything about each before we buy. So we look at brand and we look at price. If I'm presented with a £250 TV and a £500 TV I would; of course assume the £500 is better even if I don't have anything to back that up.

dombo6

You only have to glance around the car park at most big sportives. X5s, Rangeys, Discos, most other German car manufacturers well-represented. The organisers will have noticed too and priced accordingly.

yorkshireraw

Try this instead:

http://www.richmondcc.co.uk/cyclosportives

Done it the past 2 years, brilliantly organised (by chaps who in some cases then jump on their bikes after running the registration desk and wallop round), stunning setting, horrible hills, sufficient food / support, £20 all in.

It's difficult to compare UK based events to continental ones, especially when it comes to closing roads. Police / Councils etc. are usually much more engaged in or with organisers in Europe and see supporting events as part of their public duty. In the UK the red tape is probably a nightmare and the public bodies are massively stretched as it is. Plus we just don't have a history of closing roads for any type of event - too many NIMBYs demanding their 'right' to drive on a certain stretch of road for a period of a few hours, despite being forewarned.