Kabuki12

Bartly, so what you’re saying is that the light house will not be available for the short ride? I guess if the organizers get their act together soon it could work , otherwise….? I like the idea of a Cayucos ride or even an unsupported ride to the light house and back on our own. To me , it seems they have already bailed out on this event , I sure hope I’m wrong. We probably won’t even get our out dated espresso this year, which was actually pretty good , along with the cup and Vitoria cycling cap.

repechage

The implications that @mech986 mentioned point to that the top level organizers had no plan for a “festival” - swap, concourse and ? From the time of the opening of registration.
‘The missing puzzle parts could have indicated what has happened, one might get the ride event, but that might be it, then withdrawal from the American experiment, or at least the West Coast.

mech986 

Hi Joe, I do not know, I’m not in the loop. I know I checked May 2022 after the snafu at PBL for the 2022 event. When speaking to the BLM manager then, he said permitting should start ASAP to work out all details, get plans and cooperation in place, etc. I sent emails and phone messages to Italy and Amadeo trying to alert them (PBL said they also told Amadeo) After the 2023 event was postponed, I figured something should have happened with PBL, but checking after my April Paso Touroica trip, nothing from Eroica had been done with PBL. Very disappointing.

Also, because of the past problems with Eroica, plus reduced staffing at PBL, all events there are treated as a commercial event, with expanded insurance, staffing, costs, and requirements, no allowances for any type of community hedges or discounts. Done “all by the book” and needing complete permitting, planning, and complete approval by PBL BLM and their event staff, or it’s a NO GO.

You and I, and the vast majority of US based folks / cyclists can understand and appreciate the PBL stance, it’s State and Federal land, a wildlife and environmental sanctuary, and has its own requirements for use. It even requires payment coverage of any lost revenue for not giving tours that day! If that sounds like a lot of bother, planning, cost, and hassle, it is! But also for them. It’s worth it though for the beauty, the wonder, and the experience, especially for say 600-700 riders on the short route, paying Avg $120 per meaning $72,000-$84,000 for the privilege.

So I do not know if PBL will be included in the Shoet route as a stop destination or not. I’d bet that as of June 1, if I call, the permitting situation may not be any different or completed.

Kabuki12

Thank you for your insight on this. Not sure what to make of it

Bad Lag

I've read or skimmed all 2-4 posts in this thread. My impression is very negative.

Did I misread or misinterpret the current status? It sounds like this event is crashing and burning,

Classtime 

Thank you for your email. Your request (20613) has been received and our staff are dealing with it. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you.
Should you wish to add further comments, please reply to this email.

gugie 

If you're starting from Paso Robles, do the Kiler and Cypress climbs, then ride down to Cambria and Cayucos, that spread is fantastic, a good place to stop and rest before the last climb up Santa Rita. Riding down Hwy 1 next to the Pacific Ocean in the early afternoon is California Dreamin'. The Cayucos stop when we started in Paso was a natural. Riding from Cambria and stopping in Cayucos is just way too early.

Now start at 7 or 8 am after eating some breakfast, you get to Cayucos and it's still early in the morning, no time to fill one's belly with all these goodies. Lunch should be at a lunch stop for an event like Eroica. No water at the top of Santa Rita kinda wrecked the next couple of hours for me last year. I stayed at the Halter Ranch stop for 1-1/2 hours to make sure I was hydrated enough for the Cypress climb.

Bad Lag

It would be a real shame to have this be anything but a raging success.

Whether in April or September, we can never make either due to looming tax deadlines. Maybe when we retire,...

Brad L 

I mixed up the start time for Santa Rita and got a late start. I spent the day chasing, never to catch up. Yes, water at the top of Santa Rita "should" have been a no-brainer. Fortunately, I'd added a second bottle cage to the bike. I expected some kind of rest stop in the Templeton area, but there wasn't one there either. I was ready to pack it in when I chanced upon tmnguuyen and a few others at Turley Wine Cellars at the turn onto Vinyard Drive. Turley's allowed us to refill bottles and, with the cheerleading of tmnguuyen , I managed to start enjoying the ride again. We made it the Halter Ranch to find the only food left was the soup. After a bowl or two and more filling of bottles, it was off to tackle Cypress Mountain. I had to walk a few of the steep bits, but I made it to the finish, completely exhausted. I hated it so much I signed up for it again.

repechage

“We will get back to you as soon as possible”
an interesting summation

Gary12000 

Last year was my First E'roica event, i really enjoyed it, but i found the Italian contingent to be elusive and also not inclusive either, it was my observation that they were not in the spirit nor trying to engage with the populous, they have totally screwed up the Britannia ride and i dont think anything else is planned for the UK.. maybe they are pulling back on trying to expand to new markets and focusing on the core home event, which i was told is amazing and had planned on going at some point, however the interactions with the italian website, the apparent lack of communication does not bode well for the future, if you read the hurdles to using the lighthouse in this stream of posts i get that its a bit heavy to keep that in the ride, but whats wrong with a new written plan.. once the E'roica California fails and it seems like its destined to do that, perhaps a USA replacement vintage ride with good organization would really take off...

Bad Lag

Please explain because I really do not understand. I do have a lot of experience running clubs and organizing events (~10 years). These questions derive from those experiences.

What is the benefit of having an "official", organized ride and of having an organization to host it?

Is there actually a benefit? If so, what benefit(s)?

I am asking after reading of all the troubles and what seems to be an event and organization that is "crashing and burning".

As an alternative, how about a "flash mob" approach to vintage ride - individuals gathering in an area with a common purpose. The key is "individuals",... no insurance, no fees, no government involvement,... If you want food? Bring it in your pack. This is the antithesis of what I am reading about above. You tell two people, and they tell two people, and they tell two people,...

Heck, maybe not even that. Just go. We go to Cambria every now and then and we enjoy ourselves.

Kabuki12

I have done rides with folks just showing up , self supporting type rides. I enjoy riding with others and small group rides once in a while but prefer riding alone most of the time. The organized event that you are asking about is just that ... an event. This is a festival , or was when it first started in Paso Robles. I got a chance to meet new people , sponsors showed products , swap meet to buy or sell vintage bikes and accessories, and the concourse which was always a bonus . They even had an outside "display only " event that was nice. It was , in a sense , a festival of classic and vintage road bikes. The ride was only a part of the "event." There were pre rides on Saturday , before the Eroica Nova came to be. One year we saw a movie at a theater in San Luis Obispo , "Breaking Away" and got a meet and greet with the lead actor as well as the bike from the movie . It was a real cool thing for me and my wife ( she is not a vintage bike fanatic like me) . The food was good , the folks at our stops Cass Winery and Olea Farm always generous with plenty to keep us going , who could forget those french fries eh?
I get what you are saying , but it would not be the same......for me.

iab

The L'Eroica brand brings in people. Just that simple. And it seems a major factor of the "success" of an event is based on the number of people attending. Odd metric, but its America, bigger is better.

I don't know exact numbers, but from the chatter I hear, the CA event is 700-800 people, or perhaps up to 1,000. Get rid of the L'Eroica name, advertise a vintage event, exactly the same ride, show, swap, location, time of year, and at best you will get 150-200 people to show. And I think that is a bit high. I think 125 is realistic. When event attendance dwindles, you have more buffer at 1,000 than 150 before the final nail is in the coffin.

davester

We already did that: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-t-rise-4.html

The benefit of organized rides is that you can go someplace that you might not otherwise go, meet up with like-minded enthusiasts, and do a big ride without having to worry about food, drink, mechanical difficulties, or getting a ride back to the start when your freewheel blows up in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the Eroica CA overseers has decided through neglect to omit those last few important items so has become what I would call a dis-organized ride.

Bad Lag

Are you referring to financial "buffer" or what?

Bad Lag

I do not understand this reference, please explain. Are you implying you've already done a self-planned event?

davester

Yes. If you read through the thread you will see that about 13 of us from this forum and elsewhere rode a five day tour down to Paso Robles area that we called Touroica. Then several others drove down and joined us for the weekend which is when we rode parts of the Eroica CA routes (we couldn't ride most of the Eroica CA routes because of weather-caused road closures). We called this Fauxroica and the invites were posted to this forum. There was also a similar BF-based Touroica/Fauxroica combo two years ago when Eroica CA was cancelled due to Covid.

iab

Yes. There is typically a number of attendants will put you in the black. Bigger events events tend to have bigger buffers. See thread on Cino.

rccardr 

I think that the L’Eroica organizers figured they had a good thing going with the Italian event and thought it might spread to other parts of the world. None of the non-Italian events has done as well as the Italian event, and since the home event is self-generating after 20 years, they really don’t know how to promote, market, and deliver an event off-site that is satisfatory to local riders, wherever they may be. UK is gone, Japan was very small, the US weekend has been a joke for years. Most of us know organizers who put on 1000 rider events year after year and do it well. It takes time, effort, sweat, knowledge of local laws, and a zillion other things to put on a Big Ride. Yet the Eroica organizers don’t seem to be doing…any of that.

As Kurt Vonnegut used to say: so it goes.

Brad L 

I did that as well. We had a great time riding around the hills between Austin and Houston and I'm planning on doing it again next year. We even had a few attendees from the far reaches of the USA. There are no gravel roads (unless you really want them) or long, beastly climbs. Just a nice day out on vintage bikes.

Vintage Bike Tour in Texas

gugie 

For me, I've done enough rides with a thousand of my best friends. The ones that people go back to are locally organized, home grown affairs. Think RAGBRAI, Cino, Cycle Oregon, and the once a month rides that take place in Pasadena, Sacramento, and other locales that are posted on this forum.

rccardr 

Not to mention the numerous rides organized by what Mrs. Doc calls “The Boys”. PNW, Tourica, Seattle, VA, eastern WA, etc. Always fun.

tmnguuyen 

Crater Lake is a must do. I was going to do STP this year but decided not to due to Eroica Japan. I’m about done with Eroica. The appeal of the Eroica ethos is wearing off and the poor response from the organization is becoming a turn off. YMMV.

PS - I’m fortunate enough to travel and what I’ve learned from all the travels is that the US has everything to offer and more, be it National parks, bicycle tours you name it.

Oldairhead 

There may be more going on here than Eroica not supporting their Non-Euro events very well. Cino is struggling with numbers as well, and this is Cycle Oregons last year!

On a side note, a ride that I thought could be the next local Eroica style vintage event was the Dalles Mtn 60. It was held in March or April in the Gorge with a mix of gravel and paved roads, no entry fee, no support and several hundred riders participated. That one too seems to have gone away. Too bad! It was a great event.