England : Cheshire Etape Mercia. £63!!!

[PaulB]

I was interested in this and got more interested when I saw it was on closed roads...but then I saw the cost! OK, they'll get a full entry but £63! I know it's for Marie Curie and all that but even so.

 

[DCLane]

The £63 doesn't go to Marie-Curie - they pay to have their name on! See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/jun/20/charity-bike-ride

For the record I did the Etape Pennines last year and enjoyed it. The marshalling was excellent, as were the feed stations.

But was it better than the £25 Evans King of the Pennines? No - and I got a free breakfast plus meal after and lots of goodies at that.

The only benefit is the closed roads. However, I found most stayed on the left anyway - leaving the RHS free for me to go past

 

[BJH]

Yes expensive but still doing it!

 

[dodgy knees]

It is expensive at nearly £1 a mile, i also did etape pennines last year too, was good to have closed roads, but as have route on garmin can do t any time i like now

 

[3outof5]

I've signed up to this. I'm seeking a bit of advice
Never having done anything like this before, can someone give me an idea what an event like this is like?

• What sort of level of rider do you get, is it everything from complete novice/leisure rider up?
• Would it be possible to do this on something other than a road bike or would that be regarded as rather odd?

For the record, I would class myself (currently) as a leisure/commuter. This distance would be by far the furthest I've ever cycled. I do not own a road bike but I could probably lend one from a friend.
I have entered in the bottom group, i.e. 'more than 5.5 hours' to do the event, which calculates as having to maintain an average of about 12.5 mph in order to finish with some dignity!
When I entered this I thought it would just be a friendly, gentle ride in the countryside, now I'm seeing the word 'race' bandied about. I'm not overly worried but is this going to be a stretch for a newbie like myself?
Looking forward to it whatever.

 

[dan_bo]

£63?

Blimey!

 

[e-rider]

If you compare the cost of some of these sportives, to that of 1960/70s rock gig reunion concerts, you will see a similar trend
Both are aimed at middle aged people that are generally 'finanically secure' and the charges increase massively annually and continue to do so until the events are no longer 'sold-out'
if the ride sells out this year for £63, expect it to be £83 next year...and so on......

 

[e-rider]

I've signed up to this. I'm seeking a bit of advice
Never having done anything like this before, can someone give me an idea what an event like this is like?

• What sort of level of rider do you get, is it everything from complete novice/leisure rider up?
• Would it be possible to do this on something other than a road bike or would that be regarded as rather odd?

For the record, I would class myself (currently) as a leisure/commuter. This distance would be by far the furthest I've ever cycled. I do not own a road bike but I could probably lend one from a friend.

I have entered in the bottom group, i.e. 'more than 5.5 hours' to do the event, which calculates as having to maintain an average of about 12.5 mph in order to finish with some dignity!
When I entered this I thought it would just be a friendly, gentle ride in the countryside, now I'm seeing the word 'race' bandied about. I'm not overly worried but is this going to be a stretch for a newbie like myself?
Looking forward to it whatever.

so you paid £63 for "a friendly, gentle ride in the countryside"?

 

[3outof5]

so you paid £63 for "a friendly, gentle ride in the countryside"?

I guess I didn't regard the price as equating to 'value' of any kind, A: having never done anything like this before and B: I imagined most of the fee would go to Marie Curie charity and, as I couldn't be arsed fund raising myself, I thought it was a good way of making a contribution whilst doing something active, and C: it's close to me geographically so it's something I can do that isn't going to involve staying away anywhere. Simple as that really.

 

[Hacienda71]

The Great Manchester Cycle on closed roads is £20 this year. I know which one I am doing.

 

[DCLane]

I guess I didn't regard the price as equating to 'value' of any kind, A: having never done anything like this before and B: I imagined most of the fee would go to Marie Curie charity and, as I couldn't be arsed fund raising myself, I thought it was a good way of making a contribution whilst doing something active, and C: it's close to me geographically so it's something I can do that isn't going to involve staying away anywhere. Simple as that really.

See my post #2; The £63 doesn't go to Marie-Curie - they pay to have their name on! See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2012/jun/20/charity-bike-ride

Basically, Marie-Curie hope some people will get sponsorship.

However, you'll find fast and slow people doing it. Go at your own pace and enjoy the ride.

 

[e-rider]

I guess I didn't regard the price as equating to 'value' of any kind, A: having never done anything like this before and B: I imagined most of the fee would go to Marie Curie charity and, as I couldn't be arsed fund raising myself, I thought it was a good way of making a contribution whilst doing something active, and C: it's close to me geographically so it's something I can do that isn't going to involve staying away anywhere. Simple as that really.

not 1p of the £63 goes to the Marie Curie charity - you will need extra sponsorship for that

 

[3outof5]

Okay, thanks, wish I'd seen that report before signing up. A promo piece in the local rag and the name of the event not unreasonably led me to believe that at least something would go to the charity. Fuc*ers. What's done is done, unfortunately.

 

[e-rider]

Okay, thanks, wish I'd seen that report before signing up. A promo piece in the local rag and the name of the event not unreasonably led me to believe that at least something would go to the charity. Fuc*ers. What's done is done, unfortunately.

anyway, like you say, what's done is....
enjoy the ride; there will almost certainly be riders of all abilities (ranging from very slow to very fast) - get some training in beforehand, and don't be intimidated by all the flashy bikes on the start line - people who spend £63 to enter these rides usually have very expensive bikes too, and that often has no correlation to actually how fast they cycle and how fit they are!
enjoy it and enter a less 'profiteering' event next time
that said, 97% (or more) will be on lightweight road bikes

 

[Demonclimber]

If you compare the cost of some of these sportives, to that of 1960/70s rock gig reunion concerts, you will see a similar trend
Both are aimed at middle aged people that are generally 'finanically secure' and the charges increase massively annually and continue to do so until the events are no longer 'sold-out'
if the ride sells out this year for £63, expect it to be £83 next year...and so on......

Like and Agree, same thing happened with the now oh so trendy sport of Triathlon - I simply can't afford to do these things any more, so much for Sport For All - well, SFA (as long as you can afford it!). And although this might start a huge rant, I bet there's a few out there making VERY good livings organising this sort of thing (and some that maybe aren't).