"Kilo to Go" down?

munkster

Their website has been down at least since Saturday and no activity on FB/Twitter anyone got any ideas?

ugo.santalucia

munkster wrote:

Their website has been down at least since Saturday and no activity on FB/Twitter anyone got any ideas?

It says upgrade in progress...

Good thing I entered the Fred and not the Tour of the Peak then...

munkster

It says upgrade in progress...

Well yes, clearly I've read that... Doesn't rule out euphemistic licence

Good thing I entered the Fred and not the Tour of the Peak then...

Yeah, really glad I entered the Tour of the Peak... :shock:

Edit: I am sure it'll be fine!

munkster

Those euphemism sensors weren't wrong:

12th April 2016

It is with deep regret that GST Team Limited has now ceased to trade. More information will be made available in due course.

In the meantime, please contact mw@ipd-uk.com

ugo.santalucia

I think the appetite for sportives in general is shrinking. Classic events have gone and others are less popular than they used to. Prices have stopped growing a couple of years ago and my guess is that they will begin to fall.
The market did rely on a growing number of enthusiasts, but I think numbers have stopped growing.

I see it as a good thing, I would like the scene to go back to where it was 10 years ago... few events, mostly ran by clubs for charity... less profiteering at all levels, from timing technology to photo shoots

alexjones5

(Sigh) entered this for 3 of us (more as an incentive to make my brother-in-law and another friend train!) for Tour of the Peak, £120 that I doubt I'll see again.
Rode last year and it was full and well-organised. Suspect, to an extent, your above thoughts are correct. Add to that the total saturation of the market and these companies all trying to grow to quickly.

FFS

ugo.santalucia

On the same day of the ToTPeaks there is the Etape du Dales, highly recommended charity event... equally hard, possibly a bit harder than the T of TP

DeVlaeminck

Surprised they couldn't make it work given they had a decent level of sponsorship and some well known events, on the other hand I expect costs have risen as the requirements placed on organisers have grown.

paul2718

I guess there's some consolidation going on.

And, for example, the RL100 entry fee is £58, the Tour of Cambridgeshire GF £68, the Velothon £65. For the extra £30ish you get something that only the organiser can supply. It's hard to see what a professional sportive organiser can offer in an open road event that makes it worth coming back and doing another.

Paul

slowmart

If any of the posters used their credit card to make payment and that payment was more than £100 and the goods or services weren't as advertised then you can legally make a claim against the card provider.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shoppi ... -purchases

kirkee

So whoever they are they have 'took the cash and ran'. I paid up to do Cornwall Tor. I cant help think about finding out who has the doh and then forcibly recovering my money by whatever means necessary!

ugo.santalucia

Maybe the clue was in the name... when they bagged a Kg worth of gold they ran with it... :-)

I hate all those event profiteers... Human Race, Kiloto go, all of them... I hope the all scene goes back to be run by clubs for charity as it should be

mercia_man

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Maybe the clue was in the name... when they bagged a Kg worth of gold they ran with it... :-)

I hate all those event profiteers... Human Race, Kiloto go, all of them... I hope the all scene goes back to be run by clubs for charity as it should be

I quite agree about profiteering. It's the same with running. I try to support races run by volunteers from athletics clubs or organisations like schools and village halls wanting to boost their funds. To take part in a fell race in Shropshire, organised by a local club, you pay £5 or £6 on the day. Or you can enter a six race summer road series for £30, again organised by a local club. But it costs £25 or £30 to enter a half marathon organised by a commercial company and a similar amount for those races where you run through mud or on military-style assault courses.

I got disillusioned with the growing entry fee for sportives after the cancellation of the Gran Fondo Cymru some years ago. Sadly, the organiser died in a level crossing crash on his bike and pre-entry fees for the event paid by hundreds of people - it must have been several thousand pounds - was tied up in his personal estate and all in the hands of lawyers. His widow was distraught and entrants obviously did not want to chase her personally for their money back or go through the hassle of making a claim on the estate.

You can't blame people for trying to make a living by organising sportives. But I don't think that events costing £50 or £60 to enter are good value for money.

ugo.santalucia

Mercia Man wrote:

You can't blame people for trying to make a living by organising sportives. But I don't think that events costing £50 or £60 to enter are good value for money.

Depends where the 50 quid go. I am quite happy to suppoer the Dave rayner fund, less so to pay Kilo to go owner's mortgage.

I see them as parassites, as they did not bring anything to the table... they bought out an event run for charity and turn it into a profit making machine.

At least that Lusardi guy who ran the Dragon Ride for profit built it up from scratch... there was some graft there

Rodrego Hernandez

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Mercia Man wrote:

You can't blame people for trying to make a living by organising sportives. But I don't think that events costing £50 or £60 to enter are good value for money.

Depends where the 50 quid go. I am quite happy to suppoer the Dave rayner fund, less so to pay Kilo to go owner's mortgage.

I see them as parassites, as they did not bring anything to the table... they bought out an event run for charity and turn it into a profit making machine.

At least that Lusardi guy who ran the Dragon Ride for profit built it up from scratch... there was some graft there

Can't agree more, they are parasites, putting nothing into the sport and going some way to building up the hatred towards all cyclists by choking up the countries roads every weekend. Round west berkshire there seems to be a sportive every weekend clogging up the roads and making the chilterns almost a no-go area. I'll be glad to see the back of them.

Beatmaker

Bit of a bugger. I'm surprised the fact they were going under came as such a surprise to them, they clearly can't have known they were struggling three weeks previous, as surely they would not have accepted my Cheshire Cat entry...

munkster

I entered TotP on 4 April...

s@intsteve

Beatmaker wrote:

Bit of a bugger. I'm surprised the fact they were going under came as such a surprise to them, they clearly can't have known they were struggling three weeks previous, as surely they would not have accepted my Cheshire Cat entry...

I've lost my entry fee also... Thing is they would have known they were in financial trouble when you entered, there was no incentive for them to be honest as if people knew they had cash flow issues, then they would have gone under quicker. Its really annoying!

Der Kaiser

Sad to see a company connected with cycling go pop. However as one of the number of riders who fueled the Sportive Boom I think the riders have wised up and joined clubs. I go most Sundays with my club and do 60 miles. I'm lucky living in Shropshire because there are some great routes. Lots of great cafe's to stop at as well.

feisty

I got my money refunded by my bank despite paying with a debit card (I think that might have been at my bank's discretion). Have heard of someone else who got money refunded who paid on credit card

feisty

NB. It seems some people are going ahead on some of the rides without K2g: https://www.kilotogo.com/

fenix

I've really no problem with people putting on events. If people want to pay to ride on the road - well that's their choice.

Shame about k2g and people losing cash. I did the cat once or twice - it was something to aim for early season.

Stedman

My bank has also agreed to refund my £40. They just wanted to know which payment it was and which business that had gone into administration.

ugo.santalucia

Fenix wrote:

I've really no problem with people putting on events.

If they only did... They don't put on events. They do take existing events, buy them out for a bag of crisps, transform them from charity rides into twice as expensive rides for profit. Basically they exploit the work of others without really paying for it. Clubs often don't have the resources to keep running the event as it grows and are normally naive and keen to see the event keep going for emotional reasons, so they give it away for nothing to people who really don't give a toss about it

fenix

Was that the story behind the Cheshire Cat though ? I don't recall it existing before K2G did it ?

It is a struggle for clubs to put on big events. It's hard enough to persuade members to turn out for half an hours marshalling let alone for a full days work on an event that you then can't ride. Fair enough - its probably not why people join clubs.

I don't think any club rides in my area have fallen away - but they are low key and no bells and whistles. Small numbers doing them which is fine.

Bigger rides need professional management with paid staff. If you don't like that - then most of them have their GPX files up on the site so you can steal their route and do it whenever you fancy.

ugo.santalucia

Fenix wrote:

Bigger rides need professional management with paid staff. If you don't like that - then most of them have their GPX files up on the site so you can steal their route and do it whenever you fancy.

There are still events ran locally for charity (the Fred, the EDuDales among others) which are the ones I tend to do, which I do not see becoming commercial crap any time soon.

Escher303

ugo.santalucia wrote:

There are still events ran locally for charity (the Fred, the EDuDales among others) which are the ones I tend to do, which I do not see becoming commercial crap any time soon.

Indeed, Le terrier is another. Great route on very quiet roads. You should get it done one day.

jimmythecuckoo

I saw them grow via Flat out in the Fens.

Initially run on a great route deep in the fens from Bourne Leisure Centre with a great personal, intimate feeling, it then went bigger to Peterborough Regional college in a worse route but with more riders and parking spaces.

I stopped doing it and I reckon other people have followed suit thinking that the bigger these events have got the less friendly they have become.

Throw in the Wiggle ones being run with great efficiency (from the ones I have done) and its a recipe for disaster.

Shame though as people always lose money when a company falls over.

dstev55

It seems like all is not lost for those that had already signed up for the Tour of the Peaks:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/ukc ... eak-221764

A very nice gesture by UKCE if you ask me. The route is shorter and not as tough in my opinion, plus it doesn't mention anything about Winnats Pass being closed road but still good to have something on.

siddy1972

I've had my entry to the new event confirmed- FOC by UKCE, so I just wanted to say a big thanks to them really. They didn't have to do that, maybe these companies aren't all in it just for the money...

RallyBiker

Just had an email from ukcycling that the Perth Pursuit has cancelled through lack of entries. Sportive bubble burst???