View Full Version : How much is too much ($$) for a "Fun Ride"
It seems more fun century rides are getting very expensive. Some do give you more goodies than others, but at what dollar level do you say too much?
Dan Le foot
08-20-2011, 09:08 PM
There was a Grand Fondo in Bend, or. today. Was $125 and included a tee shirt. A bit steep for me.
I think $80 plus a cycling jersey is about right.
But I'm pretty cheap. ;)
Dan
Ken Robb
08-20-2011, 09:12 PM
I have never figured out why I would pay for a ready-made traffic jam. But I'm REALLY cheap.
dave thompson
08-20-2011, 09:32 PM
All of you SandyEggans are cheap!
Up here in the Beautiful Country our big rides typically run $45~$75 including t-shirts and often socks.
kramnnim
08-20-2011, 10:23 PM
I balk at $50+.
Ahneida Ride
08-20-2011, 10:39 PM
25 frn$ is about my limit
SoCalSteve
08-21-2011, 12:19 AM
Most of these events help a local charity, school, bike club, whatever...I do not think for one minute that anyone personally is profiting from these rides.
Food, water,permits, police, signage, promotion, schwag, t shirts, etc, etc, etc all cost money. Lots of money!
I did an event today that is in it's 17th year. It sells out every year. It was so well marked, supported and organized, I truly did not mind paying the $60.00 to ride in it.
ciclisto
08-21-2011, 01:38 AM
they should pay Ken to be seen in spandex.
i've moved a bit in the past few years and don't have many cycling friends down to ride 100 miles. i'll register for a century and mark it down on my calender, to me it's a vacation and something to look forward to.
it's usually an awesome route i've never ridden in a place unfamiliar, with the peace of mind i'll be assisted, fed, and rescued need be. living in a new(ish) state with few friends it's an opportunity to explore (with peace of mind).
if it's a local ride, i'll also participate and encourage others to join. it's an opportunity to get others out and give them something to train for. it's good for a local cycling community.
people pay far more to do less significant things where the cash goes to nothing special. i'd bet that most cash from most rides go towards cycling, and that cycling/local community and likely some charity/cause. in short, nobody is getting rich off of these rides.
how much is too much? i don't know, to each their own...but i think it's safe to say that whatever the cost, it's likely invested in something good. i'd rather ride a beautiful and supported route wearing some old hand me down than spend that $100+ on vanity, say a new jersey (i'm from NJ, ha ha).
toaster
08-21-2011, 08:20 AM
I won't do centuries. A Gran Fondo maybe or a well organized charity ride if the cause is important to me.
Just yesterday there was an annual century nearby, it looked silly.
Ken Robb
08-21-2011, 10:58 AM
they should pay Ken to be seen in spandex.
Oh, the horror--the humanity! :banana:
ergott
08-21-2011, 11:06 AM
I only do it once every few years, but Mt. Washington was $400. Good cause and very rare road to get on.
Usually I'm on local pick-up rides. They are more my pace.
Today was 78 miles @ 20mph avg. 9 guys and a lot of fun/pain.
fourflys
08-21-2011, 11:17 AM
since I only started riding since I've lived in SoCal, my view is pretty limited... but I've paid around $25 for a local ride up to $100 for the second year of the San Diego Gran Fondo (it did include a jersey...). I don't put any $$ amount on what I'll pay, it just depends on what I feel... a good example is I won't pay $50 to do a local mountain bike race, it just doesn't seem worth it to me (they actually want $100 for the upcoming 50 mile race)... As Steve says, pretty much all the proceeds go to some sort of non-profit... I would have gladly paid to ride Jeremy Power's Gran Fundo if I would have been on the right side of the country as it supported junior racing in the New England region (look up J.A.M. fund)...
retrogrouchy
08-21-2011, 01:35 PM
I won't do centuries. A Gran Fondo maybe or a well organized charity ride if the cause is important to me.
Just yesterday there was an annual century nearby, it looked silly.
That's interesting. I would do a century, but not a charity ride, because they look silly. The yin balances the yang, I guess. Feng shui! :cool:
Ahneida Ride
08-21-2011, 01:58 PM
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
is a good site to investigate what salaries are paid to the
Big cheese of a "Charity" and what % is taken out in overhead.
tv_vt
08-21-2011, 02:40 PM
There's a difference (to me) between a 'fun' century and a 'fundraiser' century. Most of the centuries I do help to raise funds for different charities, and I'm ok with that. Sure, I balk at some of the entry fees, but if I think it's going to a good cause, I'll pay if I'm up for the ride. And if you itemize your tax return, you can deduct these fees as charitable contributions.
There are very few plain old fun centuries around here, anyway.
Kontact
08-21-2011, 02:43 PM
Most of these events help a local charity, school, bike club, whatever...I do not think for one minute that anyone personally is profiting from these rides.
Food, water,permits, police, signage, promotion, schwag, t shirts, etc, etc, etc all cost money. Lots of money!
I did an event today that is in it's 17th year. It sells out every year. It was so well marked, supported and organized, I truly did not mind paying the $60.00 to ride in it.
Someone is personally profiting from these rides:
http://centurioncycling.com/
I paid $65 to a charity ride last year (local farming). The support was terrible and they kept giving away all the food to the first 50% of riders who arrived at each stop (despite having a meticulous check in system for how many riders on the course). Long story short, I would not mind $65 if it gets you a good ride, but this one did not. But there are lot's of other charities to spend money on who are more organized and fun.
Really, $50 is high. Including a jersey certainly makes much higher prices okay, if you actually like the jersey enough to use it.
retrogrouchy
08-21-2011, 02:45 PM
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
is a good site to investigate what salaries are paid to the
Big cheese of a "Charity" and what % is taken out in overhead.
I strongly second that. I frequently use Charity Navigator before making donations.
toaster
08-22-2011, 08:43 AM
That's interesting. I would do a century, but not a charity ride, because they look silly. The yin balances the yang, I guess. Feng shui! :cool:
Maybe I should have said Memorial Ride. There's a good one here in SoCal in November. Otherwise they're a no-go.
Bruce K
08-22-2011, 09:58 AM
Depends on what is involved.
If it's just a local century with support $25 - $35 seems about right.
If it is a major event with t-shirt that involves more significant support and there is a post ride bash $50 - $60
Charity rides with all the "bells and whistles" plus a ride jersey $100 - $125 doesn't seem out of the realm of reasonable (the jersey is half that anyway).
The fundraising minimums in addition to ride registration can go from silly small ($10) to very high ($4000 for the Pan Mass Challenge) and that would certainly require additional thought as to the level of your commitment.
BK
Ken C
08-22-2011, 10:44 AM
There's a difference (to me) between a 'fun' century and a 'fundraiser' century. Most of the centuries I do help to raise funds for different charities, and I'm ok with that. Sure, I balk at some of the entry fees, but if I think it's going to a good cause, I'll pay if I'm up for the ride. And if you itemize your tax return, you can deduct these fees as charitable contributions.
There are very few plain old fun centuries around here, anyway.
Technically you can't deduct your entry fees paid on your tax returns since goods and or services were received for those amounts. You can only deduct amounts above the entry fee which would be considered charitable fudraising.
1happygirl
08-22-2011, 11:05 AM
Most of these events help a local charity, school, bike club, whatever...I do not think for one minute that anyone personally is profiting from these rides.
Food, water,permits, police, signage, promotion, schwag, t shirts, etc, etc, etc all cost money. Lots of money!
I did an event today that is in it's 17th year. It sells out every year. It was so well marked, supported and organized, I truly did not mind paying the $60.00 to ride in it.
snipto me it's a vacation and something to look forward to.
it's usually an awesome route i've never ridden in a place unfamiliar, with the peace of mind i'll be assisted, fed, and rescued need be. living in a new(ish) state with few friends it's an opportunity to explore (with peace of mind).
if it's a local ride, i'll also participate and encourage others to join. it's an opportunity to get others out and give them something to train for. it's good for a local cycling community.
people pay far more to do less significant things where the cash goes to nothing special. i'd bet that most cash from most rides go towards cycling, and that cycling/local community and likely some charity/cause. in short, nobody is getting rich off of these rides.
ut i think it's safe to say that whatever the cost, it's likely invested in something good. how much is too much? i don't know, to each their own...
I'm with SCS and C6: I have a goal for next year as that is incentive to get my miles in. Schedule a 'fun' ride every weekend. When I run outta money I guess I'll rethink. The support is worth it.
norcalbiker
08-22-2011, 11:15 AM
I just did a centurey ride yesterday for $55.00 called "Tour of Napa Valley" I was told that most of the people that work there are voluntary and most some of the food are donated. It's really not bad for $55.00. You get coffee and pastries in the morning. They have 4 stop with water, gatorade, cytomax and bunch of other goodies. One of the stop of course is lunch with sandwiches. And then at the end of the ride you get a full lunch of burger, sausage link or bbq chicken. Most of my $55 goes to our veterans and this why the start to finish is in veterans home in Napa, CA.
I would not mind doing this for $55.00. Now anything above $100.00 for an organized ride, I think is too much.
Most of these events help a local charity, school, bike club, whatever...I do not think for one minute that anyone personally is profiting from these rides.....
+1
I figure $50 or so is pretty good for a days entertainment, free food & beverages, mechanic and sag support, and sometimes dinner. Not to mention meeting a bunch of new people with a similar interest.
At around $100 there better be something pretty special about ride (multi day, challenging event, etc).
Germany_chris
08-22-2011, 11:25 AM
Much more then $50 dollars to do something I do everyday in the summer is gets hard to justify to my wife, especially since I just don't see her or my daughter..If it happens on a weekend it's generally a no-go..
We have a local half-marathon called the run-to-remember..I need to take an extra day off work to run it..
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