Johnsqual":1vpeels1 said:
Making the cycling aspect unaffordable to most ordinary people seems a bad idea. It's a shame that the strongest 'retro' culture in the UK is tweed rides with bikes and equipment unaccessible to most people.
Retro biking is a great way into cycling for everyone because you can start off with a 50 quid bike from gumtree and go from there. Why not build on that, instead of having another exclusive event that only well off people can pay for?
Agreed, the food side of it gives it a broader appeal, but why not use that broader appeal to then make people more aware of British cycling heritage? It wouldn't cost much extra after all. I think it's a shame people don't know who people like Hoban and Bainbridge are, and their stories are fascinating. This is a chance to try to change that.
There is a huge scene of "cheap events". There are at least a dozen Audaxes around the country every given saturday and sunday, plus a few every other day of the week. There are time trials you can enter for 3 pounds or nothing if you belong to the organising club. There are road races you can enter for less than a tenner and there are charity rides and sportives which cost 15-20 pounds including food stops.
There are a number of overpriced events (50-80 pounds), but they are a minority... most sportives cost 20-30 pounds... Now, you can argue that's a lot of money, but to be fair a new chain costs 20-30 pounds, a new set of tyres costs more than that... so yes, 55 pounds is expensive, but in the grand scheme of things is not a lot of money and travelling to do an event like the Retro ronde will cost 3-400 pounds when you include everything.
I think most people put off by a high entry fee are put off by the concept of charging a lot of money to ride on public roads rather than not being able to afford the entry fee.