Just noticed that the Etape Du Dales has been open for entries since 4.00am and has only got 8 entries so far, time was when it sold out in 12 hours a la Fred Whitton. Is £40 ott in these straitened times?

Seems like a fair chunk for a non-competitive road event to me!

Nahh, not considering the support required, £40.00 sounds about right.

Seems fine to me.

Slightly different, but the Great Yorkshire 10k Run cost me £35 to enter a couple of years ago.

Not sure what my point is, or if indeed I have one, but I think it’s £40 seems ok in comparison.

I think it’s a ridiculous price, do an Audax instead. You need to be a bit more self-sufficient though.

My girlfriend’s dad wants me to do the etape du dales with him. £40?

If he’s paying then.

I have a good running thread on the road cc forum about this subject.
Pennine Etape £61.One other near to me £51.
I’ve just seen one today for Bristol at £100.
Sticking to the Sunday club runs myself as these prices are far too high for me,and for people in my club when i mentioned it to them.
I’d rather spend the money on some gear for me or the bike.

I’ve just seen one today for Bristol at £100.

Wow! Which one’s that?!

You could do the LVIS audax for under a tenner and it’s got much better cake 🙂

Audax rocks. Especially ours 8)

Seriously though, compared to l’etape du tour, most are cheap. Weather is generally better in la france mind.

The one in Bristol is supposed to have some Italian sprinter called Chipolata riding in it.

Thats nowt. We have actual chipolatas. On sticks.

And The King!

Yeah, I’d thought of doing the Brizzzle one.. I wonder if Chippo’s bringing his Podium Girl enterage with him…
Failing that.. I’ll bring my own.

adh, if there aren’t chipolatas on sticks do i get my money back? (in fact I might make that as my cake contribution)

and soup with bacon in it.

or soup with carrots in it, if you’re some kind of herbalist.

Both approved by The King.

Nahh, not considering the support required, £40.00 sounds about right.

what support is required over and above an open road race?

(in fact I might make that as my cake contribution)

Good idea. Be sure to put Mario’s face on them too. You can leave the fag ash off mind.

what support is required over and above an open road race?

They can invent many unneccessary costs – insurance, food, timing, marshalling, signage, big bonuses for the organisers.

£40 is really taking the urine.
I help out with a local sportive, all profits for charity, and we only charge £15. That’s with timing, food half way, food at the finish, all the signage etc etc. The charity made £3500 with just 250 riders.
That was all with 1 person doing all the admin, 2 people putting out the signage and 6 people on the day (Serving food, driving the broom wagon, taking OTD entries and timing).
Besides that, the major sportives on the continent, Tour Of Flanders etc, only charge 25Euros and I can’t see anyone in the UK putting on better events than these let alone charging 50% more for it!

only charge 25Euros and I can’t see anyone in the UK putting on better events than these let alone charging 50% 100% more for it!

Yes, maths isn’t my best subject. 😀

The Etape Caledonia is (IIRC) over 60 quid and was sold out in weeks – 4,500 riders? On that basis, the answer to the OP is an emphatic “no”.

Etape Caledonia is on closed roads. Is Etape du Dales?

The Etape Caledonia is (IIRC) over 60 quid and was sold out in weeks – 4,500 riders? On that basis, the answer to the OP is an emphatic “no”.

Difference is, that the Caledonia really, really is impressivley well organised – road closures in place, well signed, etc.

really p*sses over the others in terms of logistics and organisation – hopefully the etape pennines will be similar.

I think A lot of others have tried to “peg” themselves on a similar price, without actually looking behind the scenes of WHY the caledonia is so sucessful

Most clubs let you ride for free a few times, most club runs are ~65-70miles. Park out of town (for free), ride to meeting point, do club run, ride back = 100mile sportive for free, and there must be 100’s of club runs every weekend of the year!

Remember the Etape Caledonia now needs to fund an army of road sweepers and ambush counterattack forces too.

The question should not be ‘how much do they cost to run’ but ‘how much are you willing to pay’?

Given how much I’ve enjoyed the last few I’ve entered, £30-40 seems reasonable. I enter them mostly for the timing equipment (yeah, I could just use a watch/cycle computer), the food/banter at the end, and the occasional free T-Shirts which is a welcome bonus.

Mostly though I enter because no ride I organise myself would have several hundred other riders, all riding ‘non-competitively’* on the same hilly/rolling/scenic route.

*anyway, how does ‘non-competitive’ differ from ‘as fast as you can’? Put me on the same 100 mile route with no other riders to chase and I’m guaranteed to do it slower… 8)

I hope you still decide to do the Etape, I pay for the numbers every year which is about £400, but I do it because its a very good charity.

It is an excellent event and seriously hard to do that requires a lot of training, our team crack round in six hours, which I enjoy helping support on the motorbike.
I hope to do the event this year as I have only done it once.

£40 for roads in the UK you can ride anytime 😯 ? I find the fact thta some people think this is good value astounding.

And what exactly is the point of a ‘Sportif’ anyway? Apart from relieving mugs of their money? I bet the organisers can’t believe their luck.

And ‘big’ Sportifs in the UK? Don’t believe the hype. This is a Sportif route, enjoyed with 7,000 other riders…..

69er
its a charity ride, the money supports the dave rayner fund,
a lot of people work hard to support the fund.

It’s about putting something back in to the sport.

not just what you get for your £40

And what exactly is the point of a ‘Sportif’ anyway? Apart from relieving mugs of their money? I bet the organisers can’t believe their luck.

OK, I’ll bite (since I’m one of the mugs).

The point is going somewhere different, riding your bike along what is usually an interesting/long/scenic route, in the company of (in my experience) hundreds of other riders. For some, there is also the added benefit of the food stops, broom wagon, signposting etc.

Riding the same route by yourself is NOT the same experience, unless you’re a truly grumpy, antisocial bugger.

Also, for all the ‘non-competitive’ chat, riding with loads of other riders IMMEDIATELY fires you up, and you will ride yourself into the ground for the sake of posting a decent time, at least I do. Personally, the experience is more akin to a ‘100 mile time trial in the mountains’, and I doubt I’m the only one.

And ‘big’ Sportifs in the UK? Don’t believe the hype. This is a Sportif route, enjoyed with 7,000 other riders…..

By the same token, you could say that ‘mountainbiking’ in the UK doesn’t exist, because we don’t have big mountains.

I just entered the Peaks 100 which is £25 and support Kids Cancer charity. I assume as it’s up north, the food stop will have Lard sandwiches. I’ll be disappointed if not 😉

The point I was making wasn’t about vfm or how worthy the charity is, rather that entries have been so slow relative to other years. I did it in 2009 and the organisers must have been kicking themselves that it sold out so quickly at £25 a go. Maybe they could have charged more and raised more for the Dave Rayner fund which has helped lots of up and coming cyclists to realise their ambitions. If this year, they only get 4-500 riders at £40 it will not raise as much as 1,000 at £25. Maybe using “overpriced” was wrong, perhaps they have reached the point of diminishing returns. Or it could be that the website is still full of 2011 links and info and people haven’t realised they can enter yet.

I didnt know entries were open, I’m glad I read it here first. lol

There was a discussion on Bikeradar about how diluted the market for Sportives is getting, perhaps that is resulting in slower/lesser uptake?

I hope not, part of the appeal for me (see longwinded posts above) is the number of other entrants.

I noticed the NoFuss Glen Coe sportive in April had about twenty folk already entered. Hopefully numbers will pick up, could be a great event if they do.

unless you’re a truly grumpy, antisocial bugger.

See, dictionary definition of ‘audax rider’, where drafting is viewed in much the same manner as bottom sniffing.

Haha! 😀

I remember trying to organise a through and off on a B-road on an audax once. Never again 🙂

Wiggle are charging £26 for “epic” 35 mile mtb rides in flat country, apparently not for charity.

Of course, it may very well cost that much to stage due to the total oversupply of “features” built into this 35 mile ride: Mechanical Support,Full Route Marking,Rider public liability insurance,Free energy drink + energy snacks,Electronic Chip timing,Bike wash facilities,Web results service,Emergency support,On site catering.

Completely bonkers!