Re: The Poll. Why aren't as many people doing events this year

For me, I was coming off a long period of riding less, getting back up to speed to race again, did an event or two…then broke my hand a couple weeks before a planned month of racing each weekend 🙁

Stuff is more expensive, but I don’t think it’s a huge difference? Racing has always cost, and always been more expensive than “just riding”. Not just the fuel/entry, but making sure your bike is tip-top is more expensive than “good enough for a weekend ride”.

Also just out of practice for some stuff, stopped racing DH for work reasons, then never started it back up again…but then I tried some enduro, so *shrug*

I’d normally do the No Fuss TUTB but decided to give the Glentress 7 a go this year instead as I’ve done about 5 TUTB’s.
I’d also be doing the Tour de Ben Nevis but it’s too close to baby no.2’s due date.
They’re the two events I normally do but couldn’t this year.
Time and money are the two biggest concerns for me, weather’s got sod all to do with it 😉

For me it’s lack of money and time – both to actually go and do the event and also get out enough to have a halfway decent level of fitness in the first place.

Money – lack of & high entry fees.

IMHO – lower the entry fees and more people will participate, profit margins will be tighter but you need bum’s on seats in the first place before you can start worrying about profits.

Why am I not doing more events this year?

Because they offer poor value for money.

MTB events?
High entry fees for what you get, Plus general frustrations with organisers, routes.. .such as there’s a massive blast off the start line then a few hundred yards later everyone’s standing beside their bikes waiting in a queue to file into the first section of single track. That’s disappointing and exhibits very poor route planning by organisers.

Sportives?
Again, steepening entry fees with very little value for money. Many Sportives offer little more than a few signposts and 1 or 2 ‘feed stations’ where a cereal bar and water or sports drink are offered, for what… £35?

Compare that to the Tour of Flanders I rode this Spring, which offered an epic (this is an appropriate use of the word ‘epic’ as opposed to the use of the word that many Sportive organisers seem to think, which just means an extra loop added into their route) route, incredible marshalling, fantastic and plentiful feed stations, and excellent organisation. And all for 20 euros i.e. about £16 !!!

Enduros?
All too far away from the SE. Would cost circa £100 – £200 in fuel, plus another £50 in accommodation. Shame.

Dh races: too pricey, not enough ‘time-on-bike’

(i’ll do one every now and then, just to keep my eye in)

gravity enduro’s: started off as ‘Dh-racing-for-xc-ers’, turned into ‘Dh-racing-for-ex-Dh-pros’

(it’s a good format, possibly the best (imho), great fun, they just got too hard for me)

xc racing: there are some good ones (fun courses), but i’m a bit slow, there’s a very real chance of finishing last, by miles.

xc-enduro: no chance.

mates races: they’re usually a knock-out format, which is great for the fast lads…

(head to head + knock-out is a very good way to make do without a complicated timing system)

fell races: they cost £4, and attract a huge range of ability. the winners are super-human, but the stragglers are just out for a bimble so even a duffer like me can finish mid-field.

so i’ve done loads of fell races. they’re great.

🙂

Oh… and as for the one CX race I did last season.. it had NO dismounts at all (Brighton/Hove… Hope Valley CX).

How can it be a CX race with absolutely NO dismounts/shouldering??? It was more like a grass-track Time Trial.

A waste of £17.

A waste of £17.

You’re complaining that you didn’t have to walk your bike?

You’re complaining that you didn’t have to walk your bike?

Yep. Dismounts are an essential part of CX. Ever seen a Pro CX race without them…?

Me neither.

£17 for a cross race, they’re £7 in yorkshire and have been brilliant, I am hoping to spice them up a bit soon and organise some events.

but from an organisers perspective, It’s a total pain in the arse dealing with authorities, and everyone who has to give their approval for some fun on a bike.
A lot easier to organise a football tournament.

INRAT

But, for me, cost is main issue. For a long weekend racing at MM Or SiTs including everything (travel, entrance, food, spares, camping kit etc) you can easily spend over £200

Year on year the list of companies there selling stuff/showing kit has got smaller and smaller. MM was very disappointing this year.

More needs to be done on the social/none riding side….. Get dj’s, bands etc on a Friday and Saturday night.
Beer festival or something like too

I live less than an hours drive from both MM and SITS, I wouldn’t want to drive any further (especially driving back on the Sunday)

Talking of Sundays, do more to keep people around

Change of scenery would be good too, but I know suitable places are hard to find

More needs to be done on the social/none riding side….. Get dj’s, bands etc on a Friday and Saturday night.
Beer festival or something like too

I always thought a lot of the events would be better held on a Saturday with a good piss up on the night
As it is most people have a quiet Saturday night, ride Sunday and go straight home

“I am hoping to spice them up a bit soon and organise some events.”

Sancho, could you organise some that allow mtb entry like the one in Ilkley did, unfortunately I missed out due to ill health, but would love to try out a cross race (to see if its worth getting a CX bike)

Used to do a few each year but time/money is in shorter supply. This year I just chose the one weekender (SITS) and having seen the MM & 24/12 weather I’m hoping I chose right…

It’s just not something that interests me. I don’t do camping, I don’t see the point of riding round and round again and again.

I reckon we’re all finding the cost of fuel prohibitive too.

Sorry, am bit of a miserable cah. 🙄

They are a bit boring.

I’m actually doing more events this year. Did 2 Gravity Enduros last year. Doing 4 this year.

They are all selling out this year unlike last so not everyone is down on entries….

cinnamon_girl – Member
It’s just not something that interests me. I don’t do camping, I don’t see the point of riding round and round again and again.

It’s all about learning the course, how fast you can push in the corners, the best lines for traction on the climbs, where you can overtake etc etc and then getting each lap as perfect as possible. Personally I love short course, multi lap races, but each to their own.

Mostly_Balanced – we all want different things from riding don’t we? 🙂

Also, if people are getting into road riding they may be switching to sportives from MTB events

This. My regular riding partners are – like me – more into road riding at the moment, so sportives are getting a look in instead of, for example, the ST Weekender. Also, I have no desire to camp anywhere in this weather.

Cinnamon Girl – no criticism intended, just trying to give an insight into a view that you (and others in this thread) obviously don’t hold. Big epic scenic rides are great too, both on and off road.

Health issues have curtailed my racin this year but have turn up @ a few local ones to help out!
Costs are an issue and I,m pretty sure they would get more bums on seats if they lowered the entry fee!Go down the easyjet route and charge for showers and dare i say it posh bogs why dont they have the urinal ones they have @ concerts! The costs for solo entrants is taking the piss, wish we could go back to the back in the day Malverns style events people need to be entertained so live music is a must!
Cracking event I have done this year Dyfi even though the music was shite!

Rich Going to STW hopefully they will have some tunes going on!

I think for me mixture of events being a bit “stale” this year, i’ve not seen anything new to get excited about except the odd DH enduro.

Coming back from the Passportes Du Soleil, you pay 45 euros for 15-20 chairlifts, food, drink, insurance and brilliant signage (plus free rucsac).

Here you pay £45 for a lot of events for 2 port-a-loos in the corner of a field and a miserable git barking the pre-ride speech via a megaphone followed by a dodgy burger and the same four trade stands!

Plus for me, I don’t mind riding on a really wet and muddy day, when you can return home or back to a campsite with facilities to deal with the wet and cold, that is part of MTBing in the UK, but you tend to lose your sense of humour when it is raining continously, every short climb has to be walked as other riders (and myself often) have to get off as it is churned up, you have nowhere warm between laps, no decent catering etc

The British weather has played a big part in recent years. Have entered two events – first was canceled due to torrential rain and then Mayhem turned into a mud-bath. Also cost as could not afford to do 24/12 as well, although my prefered race, due to travel costs.
Also the organisers need to make the events more fun, including the course – where were the bombholes on Mayhem this year 🙁 . 24/12 has a great vibe so why can’t others do the same. Having done Mayhem 7x this year was my last. The years when they had lake jumping, big screen movies, trials demos etc were bitchin – nowadays they charge you £25 for a t-shirt which you used to get included in your entry.
Make the events more fun and easier/cheaper for more exhibitors to turn up and trade/promote then the numbers will hopefully increase.

Mostly_Balanced – I wasn’t taking it as criticism and didn’t intend any myself. 🙂 I did a fair amount of races when I was into running, although not for competitive purposes, but fully appreciate why folk do.

These days I’m trying hard to keep my body in one piece, currently recovering from shoulder surgery, so it’s damage limitation and riding on cycle paths!

I think the number of events has increased year on year, and with less people with cash in their pocket, I think the bubble has burst!

Not even ridden my mtb that much this year trails have been so poor.

Its mostly been on the road.

Thought of paying to ride horrible trails?

Funny people says enduro races (I suppose it’s proper enduro) are bad value for money, as they are here the event that offer best value for money.

I found it to be very funny that people actually look for value for money for an event, when I have been criticised my mark for saying books were better value for money (again) than bike magazines. One thing that WON’T stop me to enter an event is the value for money of said event.

Funky dunc – absolutely
the summer cross allows mountain bikes anyway, so Id like to run a similar format.
But more technical than the “grass” events that have been the norm.
Im looking at tong off road centre and also a park in Guiseley that has a lot of good technical features.

I aim to do a one hour 20 minute multi lap race where everyone finishes regardless of how many laps they have done once the leaders finish.
Slightly longer than a typical cross race and a little bit of a mtb cross over but should be fun.

What flange said way back ^^.

MTB events just aren’t value for money when you add it all up. Fuel getting there, the cost of entry, the cost of food/drink while there, the amount you then have to spend on your bike and kit. Can easily be £200 before you even factor in fixing any breakages. One muddy race can knacker brake pads and a drivetrain. You’re also away from home for the entire day at least.

Compare that with road racing where you’re out early doors, race and generally home for a late lunch, it’s cheap(ish), a good workout and (barring bad crashes) doesn’t write off half your bike every time.

MTBing for me has gone a bit stale now. I used to do loads of XC, then enduro/24hr stuff and mostly loved it but for me, the thrill of it has just worn off now. The same venues, the same mud, the average (at best) food and facilities. Not for me any more thanks.

There’s a few that buck the trend. The Singletrack Classic Weekender is always great and I loved the No Fuss events although they were difficult to get to – real shame they cancelled 10 Around K’tree. Events like (the old) Beastway and the (new) Manchester Midweek Madness are a good format, midweek evening MTB racing in a relatively urban setting and obviously the road based equivalent, midweek crit racing.

Oh, I may have this wrong.. but STW used to list all the events in a Fixtures section, which I don’t think happens any more?

I wouldn’t know which site to look at for events…

+1, it’s not a deciding factor, but I looked all over in January for an events calender and couldn’t find one. So, I know the events that I’ve already done, but nothing new….I need to be able to plan ahead. There’s about 12-15 of us in Team Raven[/url], so if we can find events early we’ll be there.

Cost is an issue, for both competitors and promoters, so it should even out? No?

I was at 24/12 last weekend, the weather did spoil it, but no one can change that. However, way back SITS was held at Trentham Gardens which had proper shower blocks and toilets, it makes such a difference especially if the course is at the same venue, but again it costs.

I vowed not to do another 24hr, I’ve done 8 and enjoyed them, but not last weekend. For similar money I can have a weekend in Wales or Exmoor and changed my plans according to the weather.

I’ve done mayhem and SITS for the last, er, six or seven years and probably will carry on. In previous years I’ve also done some of Kielder 100, 10 UTB, some cross races and some XC races or one of what used to Merida marathons. This year I also did Muckmedden as it was just down the road.

I suspect I’ll carry on with that sort of mix. I don’t think the price of the events is going up all that much, maybe a tenner in 8 years for mayhem which isn’t that bad when compared to the percentage increase in, say, a pint. The cost of getting there has though but it’s not yet at levels that put me off.

Cost of XC races has put me off as last time I looked it was at least 25 quid which seemed steep. I guess for hours on the bike it’s not too out of whack with Mayhem if you’re not one of the fast boys but Mayhem et al are a whole weekend on top of the time on the bike.

The thing that mostly stops me doing events is they clash with other things: holidays, friends being in town and so on. However, that’s mostly as there seem to be more events on so more of them clash. If not for that I’d probably have done at least one of glentress 7s and tour de ben.

I think there is a cyclical element to these things. I remember back in the early to mid 90s there were loads of XC races and they were mostly pretty well attended and then it all seemed to die out a bit as people moved on to other things. Then the 24hr/marathon events started picking up and we’ve not got loads of them and again they seem to be having a bit of a slump.

That was a bit rambling really.

I think you need new people every year to keep in going, or rather their enthusiasm.
I rode 24s every year from 2000 to 2009. At my last event I nearly went home before I’d started when I felt the first rain drop.
And tbh the riding isn’t great and the social side can’t be enjoyed when you’re riding.
So my reasons
1) bored
2) Too many rude weekend warriors.
3) Too much hanging on just one day, got a bad cold once so for the cost of my solo entry, travel, food, spares etc I rode one lap.

That said I’m racing most weeks so still doing events, and if I race eight times a month that’s only £64

I wanted to do more events but they have been cancelled even built a new bike for the no fuss 10 -10 events which were cancelled in Wales so just saved my money , also wanted to do some gravity enduro events but dates clashed with family events so no luck there, and have no money to travel far so was hoping to do more local comps, and have now given up, and just go riding, also it is very hard to find details of events, and I guess the weather does not help much..

Event cost and having to ride, I use the term loosly, in a load of mud.
In my point of view it’s not easy to find event or race series details, but then I haven’t looked too hard either.

Reasons why I’ve not taken part this year include:

Repetition & familiarity of the main events and their courses e.g. MM, 24/12 & 24 Solo Nationals etc. However, missing them this year could enhance my experience next time.

Riding more on the road and going to ‘new’ road based events.

Petrol prices to travel to events are prohibitive.

I bought a new bike this year and I can’t afford to do all of the events that I used to do.

The entry prices this year are not as good value as they have been.

The weather hasn’t helped; it hasn’t stopped me riding at all (far from it) – just stopped me from wanting to ride round in muddy circles.

Some events have conflicted with football – I bought my first season ticket for 25 years this season.

Great stuff. Keep up the comments, good or bad. I have no particular agenda on this topic, I’m just interested. I’ve always done events purely as a social thing, so I look forward to the camping and the hanging around bit, I appreciate that many people don’t like camping, especially (and understandably when wet).

As for rich race organisers. I can’t say I’ve met any outside of North America. (24hrs of Moab for example is $360 for a solo rider, $165 per rider for a fun team – and then you have to pay camping on top of that). Putting on an event like Mayhem needs something like 16 acres(!) of camping and there needs to be a course that is wide enough to take 24 hours of overtaking, given that the fast riders are often more than twice the speed of slower riders. So putting a 24hour on somewhere that’s a challenge to ride (say for argument Coed Y Brenin) doesn’t work once you get past a couple of hundred riders, and everyone will bitch about not being able to overtake. And I just heard this morning that Pat Adams was charged £50 an hour (each) for the four tractors that were pulling everyone out of the campsite at Mayhem.

Anyway, I guess there are pros and cons about levels of quality in race organisation that affect the price. If you want chip timing, that’s an instant £1000 for the timing guys to get out of bed. If you want showers, marquees, barriers and massage tents, that all adds up. However, if you want no-frills, look at cyclocross where it’s £7 to enter, you get a fun hour of racing and a cup of tea for 50p at the end of it. Finding the venues can be an issue too – to put on a ‘cross race you only need school playing fields. To put on a 24 hour or similar race, you’ll need ten miles of private land that doesn’t have any bridleways crossing it. Plus the aforementioned camping and so on.

After years of not doing any XC, I’m finally wanting to do a few two-hour flat out races, though I’ll admit I’ve not got round to finding out any. The BC calendar incidentally is a pretty good resource for many events.

I’m rambling too now, so I’ll stop 🙂

djflexure – Member
Not even ridden my mtb that much this year trails have been so poor.

Its mostly been on the road.

Thought of paying to ride horrible trails?

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

I think You need a serious dose of mtfu! If ye don’t like mud, perhaps mtbing isn’t for you after all?

Chipps, the feature you did on 100 quid weekends strikes a cord. My mates and i can travel from here in Ayrshire and have a great weekends camping and riding world class trails in the lakes or the highlands for 100 quid. And that includes beer n food, give or take 20 quid.

I too really like the idea of st weekender, and fancy going next year, but as countless others say, riding laps n laps for upwards of fifty quid doesn’t do it for me, each to their own though.

Mainly cost, but the weather is factor. I have been losing the will to live, let alone ride due to total downpour. I have always liked to do events in different parts of the country but lately I have found myself driving long distances in a day because I can’t afford to stay overnight.