Surrey Hills sems like their ideal market!

lots of lovely advertising for them 🙄

If people are daft enough to spend their money that’s up to them…

Was just pushing off at the start of Follow The Dog yesterday afternoon while a guide was briefing a family of four.

“We’ll do the first bit and if you like it we can do some more’

lol

Some people like the comfort of paying someone else to show them where to ride. If they are happy to do it then fine. If you are paying them and you don’t like the trails you can tell them to take you somewhere else rather than having to continue because your ‘mate’ who said he would show you some trails likes climbing steep hills that reduce you to pushing.

As for silly trail names : ‘Follow the Dog’ is so much better for a trail name than ‘Life on Mars’

£29,995 for an 10 km walk – WTF?

I know the area well and recognise quite a few of those trail names, which include a number of bridleways, footpaths and at least one trail on private land. Nice.

I should start charging!

I’ve heard it said that there are some people who pay good money each month to a ‘gym’. They go there in the car and then run on a treadmill or ride on a fixed bike for an hour or so before going back home in the car.

One day I’ll share my profit making idea with them, on a 50/50 basis. It goes something like this: don’t pay the monthly fees, simple run or ride to the gym, turn around and go back home!

I’m on to a winner there.

I used to run a bike guiding business about 20 years ago.

Used to charge £10 for half a day including bike hire, which seemed like a lot at the time.

On the days that I made £200 it was great, but on the days (most days) that I made £0 it wasn’t.

Didn’t do it for very long.

Sometimes wish I’d had someone to show me round my local trails when I started biking, hmm actually I still do like to be shown round new places, fortunatley there’s quite a few people on here will do it for free 🙂 £30 seems steep but if you’ve got a loaded client base why not. I like andrews business plan, I’ll give you a quid for a 40% share! Interested in the legal implications if they are using FPs and private land. Cheeky is just haggling over ROWs, does charging to take people on FPs change things?

3.5 hours? I did a 12 mile ride with a few friends last month, 6 hours it took us, it was a lot of fun.

It’s not to be sniffed at but it’s hardly excessive profiteering, it’s actually pretty standard for a days freelance work – not that amazing when you take into account all the costs, time spent organising it, answering phone calls/emails about it, filling in tax returns yada yada yada.

Good luck to them, you can’t blame them for being enterprising, looks like a professional outfit, what’s the problem?

£30, so about half an hours worth of time for the stereotypical stw-er then………

My recent ponderings to set up a walking/riding guiding company has found me trying to justify charging a certain amount for something people can do for free.

However, it’s been pointed out to me that people WILL pay for a few hrs walking or riding. Local knowledge of trails and tales for some is better than going out and potentially not seeing/experiencing the best on offer, or a specific type of experience in the outdoors.

Fear of getting lost, de-motivates some people as does constant looking at maps, etc… A good guide will encourage and support others, offering rests and alterations during planned route to adapt to circumstances. Money in the right place will make an outdoors experience a positive thing, thus encouraging people to do it again, whether paying for it or doing it alone.

People buy, TV’s, DVD’s, electronic games, etc all to provide entertainment, and i today’s society of waste and laziness £30 is nothing for a few hours enjoyment.

Some people happily spaff £30 on a night out, most of them regret the waste and lose the next day to a hang over.
I could go on..

Agreed 12.5 miles and 3hrs isn’t a long distance or time for some, but for others it’s a way of them getting out of what may be a enclosed life, devoid of little meaning, that 3 hrs maybe the best 3hrs of their year, a few hrs to change their lives…For them that’s a boody good investment..

Surrey Hills = good trails. Fact.

I wonder how padded the mandatory padded cycling gloves have to be though?

Mine haven’t got any padding in at all.

And sometimes I dare to ride with mitts, or even bare handed!

Would I be allowed to ride?

(Good luck to them btw. People spend money on much sillier things.)

Ahem, how much do people pay to be taught how to ride that £2-3000 mountain bike, dressed in £200-£300 of kit?