Velo Vol 

I read a few comments on a thread about $100 century rides. Really?

What's the most you have paid to participate in a basic, organized ride? Was it worth it?

John_V 

For me, It depends on the type of ride. All my organized charity rides are different depending on the organizers. I have never paid that much for an entry fee, but I have done two day rides, like the MS 150, where the hotels and meals cost you more than that. I don't know about others, but every charity ride I do is worth it to me. I do between 9 and 12 a year.

mkadam68

I usually pay $100+ for El Tour de Tucson. Doing well there is one of the highlights of my season, so it's worth it. I've also flown to some other rides that, while only $40 registration fee, with the airfare & hotels adds up. But I only do 1 or 2 a year, and they're special ones just to me.

Other than those, I don't really do too many charity century events anyways.

rdubbz

that's the point. they're charity rides to raise money for a cause. if you don't want to pay that much, sign up for a road race and pay 30$.

znomit

130 for my last double century. Note we don't get food at rest stops either

big john

There are century rides here that are around $100 and are not for a charity, rather, for profit.
The best organized rides for me are the few that are put on by local clubs and cost around $20. Great food and support and under 100 riders on great roads.

There is one that costs $50 that benefits the Boy Scouts, I like that one, too.

DropDeadFred

turkey9186

Napa Tour de Cure-$225 minimum buy in.
Death Ride-$135 plus camping fees for a week.
Tahoe/America's most Beautiful-$130 plus hotel.
Most of the other centuries in the bay area are $60-125.

The Death Ride is expensive due to police presence to close down 60ish miles of road and then truck in all the food for the rest stops.

Machka 

How do you define a "basic, organized ride"?

What is included in that?

sleepy

Century rides can go 20- forty bucks. a couple of dollars for bars and coffee, a couple more for a mid-ride lunch break, and the rest for post-century meal and beers.

LowCel 

For the MS150 I pay $25ish, raise $250, pay for two nights hotel and a few meals. Worth every penny.

OldsCOOL

Or ride by yourself and save the 30.00.

MikeyBoyAz

All the organized rides (not racing) for me have been charity driven so $100+ is normal and totally cool with me.

hobkirk

Does "Basic" mean cheap? Here's a pretty spectacular "cheap" century that is VERY well organized...

The Charles River Wheelmen charge $10 (member pre-registered) to $20 (non-member on ride day). It's limited to 700 riders. They offer food (bagels, PB&J, oranges, liquids, cookies [including Fig Newtons], etc.) and mechanical support from a local bike shop (Cycle Loft) and port-a-potties at each rest stop. Rest stops occur roughly every 25 miles. They provide SAG support and a sweep who trails the slowest rider. Then they offered ham and turkey sandwiches at the end. The only downsides? I had to pedal up the hills by myself!

The mechanic was fantastic. He bolted one rider's sneakers to his pedals (sneakers loosely tied so the rider could slip his foot into the shoe - he was a good rider!) while he adjusted my bungled installation of new derailleurs (front and rear!). The food was great and plentiful.

This must be one of the biggest cycling bargains in America.

Myosmith

Most of the charity rides I have seen in MN and ND have a $25-35 entry fee and $100-$500 fundraising commitment. Those by well known national charities are usually well organized with lots of sponsors contributing snacks, drinks, SAG support, etc. I have seen a few with fund raising commitments of $1000 or more.


The non-charity centuries and similar length rides cost anywhere from $35 to $100. I don't have any problem with that depending on what you get for the money. If you're getting a well organized ride, with plenty of food and drink, a nice t-shirt, maybe some entertainment at the end of the ride, a few sponsor giveaways/coupons/etc. then $100 is not bad for a days worth of activity. If all you get for your money is a generic granola bar and a Google map, then not so much. Even the free club rides around here usually involve snacks, in store discounts, some form of award at given mileages or numbers of rides, etc. As well as competent ride leaders and well planned routes.

cks

Gran Fondo NY's registration fee is $240. You get some freebies including a jersey but the biggest perk is that there are cops at the busier intersections in towns in NJ and NY to handle the traffic.

I'm a little wary of signing up for charity rides because 1) I'm not fond of bothering my friends, acquaintances, and co-wokers to give $$ to causes they may have very little interest in and 2) some have just turned into mini industries with administrative and advertisement costs taking up a significant amt of "contributions". What I love is their "If you don't come up with the money (usually north of $250 around here + registration costs) you can't ride" policy- very charitable.

Commodus

Dunno about basic but I paid like $250 for an event one time. The food was good and the roads were closed. Dunno if it's worth it, really, but I enjoyed it.

MegaTom

I don't think I could ever pay to participate in a bicycle ride, charity or not... I'd rather put that money towards a hotel & gas money for a cycling vacation somewhere. Maybe if it was for a charity that I support anyway, but as of yet none of those have bike rides.

bianchi10

depends on if you are including donations or not. the century ride I'm doing in 3 weeks is a $25 registration fee and $125 dontation fee, meaning I have to have friends and family donate that amount or cough it up myself. luckily I had good support this year and got it easily.

MajorMantra

Want to ride a century? Get on your bike and ride for 100 miles. You should be able to do it on $10 (or less) worth of food and drink.

Machka 

I'm not all that interested in the charity rides, but I am a member of Audax Australia (and have been a member of other clubs in the past), and there's usually a fee for the events. I don't mind because I want to participate in something ... be part of something bigger ... take on this sort of challenge.

In Audax Australia, a basic event is one where the organiser chooses an appropriate start/finish area that has some facilities, the organiser or another volunteer turns up at the start, and possibly at the finish, checking lights, helping with registration, and possibly providing a bowl of bananas or something, but the ride is unsupported. Those rides are quite inexpensive.

If the organiser provides support, the cost of the ride goes up.

mprelaw

My club (Narragansett Bay Wheelmen) does "The Flattest Century in the East" every September. Costs $25 for members, $35 for non-members. I think we have a 2000 rider limit.

Entry fee for my BikeMS ride (Cape Cod Getaway, 100 miles day 1 and 75 day 2) was $50, with a $500 fund raising commitment. I raised that in less than an hour. I'm fortunate because I live 5 miles from where day 1 ends. No need for a motel.

c_bake

+1
These types of rides have become too expensive plus too many inexperienced riders. I pay $25 a year for a cycling club membership plus another $20? a year for a RUSA membership and enjoy riding centuries on up to 600k with them any weekend of the year.

I've always wondered how much money paid to the organization actually goes to the cause.

banerjek

If you have to travel to get to the ride, spending many hundreds or even over a grand is certainly possible once you count in all your costs. I wouldn't do it if it weren't worth it.

The good rides are run by local clubs that tell you what they give to the causes. One of the things I like about more challenging courses and crappy weather is you don't have to play dodge 'em with people who are unaccustomed to riding with others.

KevinF

It's not a century ride, but the "winner" in terms of dollars / mile has got to be the Mt. Washington Hill Climb.

Current entry fee is $350.00 for a 7.6 mile ride, which comes out to $46.05 / mile -- or, if you prefer -- $0.87 / foot.

The ride does benefit the Tin Mountain Foundation, so technically it's a charity ride, you're allowed to tax-deduct the contribution, etc.