UKC

Got an email from Ride London, asking me if I wanted to join their 200 Club, the benefits, and the cost below

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Club 200 package includes:

• The chance to ride with a friend, starting in the same Start Wave from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
• Pre-ride hospitality with celebrities and VIPs in the famous Velodrome in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with a hot breakfast including porridge, bacon rolls, sausages, vegan sausages, bananas, tea, coffee and juices
• A bag drop service and a mechanic for last minute adjustments at the Velodrome
• Fast-track loading at the start as you and your companion rider are escorted to the front of your Start Wave ten minutes before you start (no queuing!)
• VIP hospitality adjacent to the Finish where your kit bag will be waiting for you. Changing facilities will be available as well as plenty of food and drink and the chance to watch the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic on TV and then cheer the riders on the final sprint down The Mall.

The price of the Prudential Ride London-Surrey Club 200 package is £500 for each pair of riders.

£500 for a pair to get entry into a £69.00 sportive, with the chance to have a bag drop nearer the finish, and to skip into line 10 minutes before the start as opposed to what, an hour beforehand?

They are surely havin a laugh with this - or will there be folk daft enough to pay this?

In reply to subtle:

How is it a ‘free sportive’ ?

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

Yes, just checked, its £69.00 for the sportive, per person, so for the "special 200 package" you get to spend an additional £181.00 per person for the "benefits" above - value for money?

 

In reply to subtle:

Firstly as pointed out above it's not a free sportive... from memory it's around £100 entry (been a while since I entered).

If you've ever done it the advantages above would make a massive difference - I entered the first one, but in the end didn't ride as the organisation made it impossible for me to get to the start line without paying £200 for a hotel room the night before (they are all loads that weekend because of the problem)) - You cant get to the start with your bike by tube, you can't drive anywhere near the capital from my area (surrey) the trains helpfully ban bikes for the weekend, not to mention the start time means even the earliest train into London would leave you late to get to the start.

If I'd actually been able to ride it with a friend the logistics may have been easier but this option wasn't there when I entered.

So it looks expensive, but when you are splurging money on expensive hotel rooms, I suspect it will appeal

In reply to subtle:

There's plenty of well paid people in London and elsewhere who cycle that will pay that for an event that's pretty hard to get an entry for and happens only once a year. It's a lot of money to some people but sweet FA to others as are lots of things in life. 

Are they marketing themselves as value for money anyway? 

In reply to subtle:

Surrey is easy - drive to one of the car parks south of the river.  The first year, we parked near Southwark St (close to finish), the second time we parked in Greenwich and got the Gondola (free) over the river  at dawn which was spectacular.  (Close to the start).

There's a bit of a queue to start but it's hardly the end of the world (take a bin bag as a wind jacket for the start if it otherwise looks to be a hot day.  There are coffee/pastry places all over (take cash)

The first time, was the one with the shocking weather, the second time it was roasting.  There was a Chinese takeaway very close to the car park in Southwark St (other diets are available) for food afterwards and a KFC did the trick in bandit country somewhere south of the river on the way back to Greenwich.

The real PITA is getting to the Excel centre to register beforehand.  The  first time, I didn't get the crucial email.  I took  my bike around to a friend to load into his car at about 3pm on the Saturday.  He asked where my numbers were.  What numbers?  I got there by the skin of my teeth to register.  That requirement must really annoy people who live a long way out of London

In reply to subtle:

Living and cycling in and around London for the past 20 years, this ride has never appealed to me. Give me a sportive in Wales any day!

In reply to subtle:

Nevermind that, I'd be querying who'd be daft enough to pay £69.00 to ride round London with a load of other nobbers on bikes.

In reply to subtle:

As a cyclist, this really saddens me, but cycling is the new golf.

In reply to RX-78:

But when else can you blast down Putney High Street, at over 30 mph,  on the wrong side of the road, to cheering crowds?! 

In reply to The New NickB:

I think it's brilliant. 20,000 cyclists having traffic free roads through London and Surrey for one day out of 365. Anything that promotes cycling in London or anywhere really is good in my book.

I'm really not sure why it would sadden you 'as a cyclist'

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

I can see the appeal for some, but its definitely not my idea of fun !

In reply to GrahamD:

I do know what you mean, but one of my cycling highlights was leading a pace line down through Piccadilly underpass at 30mph.  I also live near Box Hill, so being able to go down through the bends in Headley flat out and using all of the road is a pleasure not otherwise available.   It's usually flat out, but with a little frisson of worry about some gravel in the wrong place or a car coming up the road too far over.

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

I used to do cycle racing, the thought of blasting down any street with other cyclists who might have no idea of bike racing apart from TV feels me with dread!

In reply to subtleuckily you're not forced to entre then.   Some of the above who object to 'nobbers' might want to remember different people like different things,

to be blunt for a lot of people £500 is a day or twos wages, and that sort of money is easily spent on your hobby

 

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

I haven’t commented on Ride London, or any other event.

In reply to subtle:

This is one of the reasons I have a growing dislike for organised events of this nature; they are increasingly a means to make money. And, in the area where my parents live, these commercial events are causing increasing disruption on the roads.

If I want to go for a ride, I call up my mates and we pick a route and go for a ride. We don't need to have someone organise things for us.

In reply to subtle:

I don’t get why people pay to ride in sportives (although I understand it more if the roads are closed). If you want to ride 50 or 100 miles on your bike, just do it!

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Because some people aren't confident enough to do it without knowing there is some help available if they do run into difficulties. 50 miles let alone 100 miles is a long way to most new cyclists.

I totally understand why some cyclists don't want to ride sportives (me included) but the snobbery from experienced cyclists who look down with disdain on them isn't justified at all.

 

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

Why would anyone want to wait for hours to cheer at a load of lardy MAMILs for a few seconds?

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

I don’t look on people who do them with disdain; I just can’t see the point. Horses for courses though. 

In reply to subtle:

£500.....buys you a good weekend away for 2, nice hotel, good food, beers and take your bikes for some rides down quiet country lanes somewhere like Shropshire or Herefordshire.....that's where my ££ would go! Each to their own, though.....I agree with the OP I do think someone is having a laugh but obviously somebody must pay it!

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

Most difficulties are probably punctures which any cyclist planning on riding 50 or more miles should know how to deal with. Mostly I think people can't seem to plan their own routes. Some will obviously use the event to set themselves a challenge and maybe even raise money for charity, good on them, but I don't think the package is meant for them.

In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

Most of the people I know doing Ride London are experienced cyclists, usually aiming for reasonably fast times. I suspect that is the appeal for some. Riding fast without worrying about traffic and not slowed down by traffic lights.

In reply to subtle:

One of the things I like about cycling is getting away from other people Just set off on my own and enjoy my own ride. If someone wants to organize an event to get a load of mugs to part with huge quantities of cash to ride with a squad (what's the collective noun for a large group of cycling mugs, let them get on with it. 

In reply to subtle:

Sorry for the thread hijack, but could someone explain what Ride London is and what are the options for getting involved?

A friend is doing it and asked if I'd join him, he sent me a link to the bloodwise site for info. I'd be up for a ride but after doing London to Brighton I've decided that I can't face asking people for money, so I'm not doing another charity ride. I'd be happy to pay and donate myself, but I assumed that wasn't an option. Your thread suggests otherwise? A quick Google took me to the Prudential site that mentions a ballot - now closed. Is it too late then?

In reply to Hooo:

Yes. You'll need to enter in September time for 2019 entry, or pay, sorry, "raise money" for a charity place.

 

Edit: HTML strikethrough tag not working (mods?)

In reply to wilkesley:

A simpeloton 

 

In reply to Lusk:

They are trapped by the road closures! (With 20,000 plus cyclists they can wander down anytime to take a look, then perhaps coffee and a bit of shopping).  

In reply to ianstevens:

Thanks for the info. After a bit more research I don't think I'm that keen anyway.

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

They are not cheering, they are laughing.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

I can see the appeal to a lot of people with different levels of experience. For the seasoned/serious cyclist the early season sportives can help keep focus through the winter months and for complete novices they can provide something to aim for, getting them off the couch.

Personally I use the odd sportives to tie into training plans. From time to time I'll partake in a sportive just to see a different part of the country and enjoy cycling without the hassle of having to route plan or navigate.

In reply to Weekend Punter:

I agree, sportives shouldn't be dismissed altogether. As an alternative to early season reliability rides they have a place, and trying to get fast times on sportives is often a pretty good challenge. Under x hours for the Fred Whitton, Etape du Dales, White Rose Classic etc are excellent challenges for even the strongest riders.

In reply to subtle:

This seems like a good option to me. £250 per person with the added benefit of no long queues waiting for your allotted start time. It should also make the trip up to the event less stressful with the knowledge of a fast tracked place to the front of your wave time. I have never received a ballot place in the last 3 years and have therefore been forced to take a Charity place at a cost of between £250 - £1000 depending on whether I have applied for the 46 or 100 mile ride. I'm more than happy to give money to charity but on the basis that you cant keep asking for donations a guaranteed place with all the extras seems excellent value for money and one I'm happy to pay for.

In reply to Weekend Punter:

Same here. I like to do the odd sportive to "benchmark" my fitness against other cyclists and as an opportunity to get in a nice, long ride without the hassle of navigating (I haven't got round to getting a Garmin yet).

I do agree that they're getting out of hand price-wise, as they've become less run by local cycling clubs and more and more taken over by commercial ventures.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

The navigation requirement is the only downside to doing Audax rides instead of these commercial sportives. But many of these are now providing routes in GPS Sat Nav format, so there's less difference to way-marked routes. And if you do hilly events in the Dales, etc, there are fewer road junctions and pretty much memorising a 200km route is not impossible. Eight quid or so gets you a 200 to 300km route including food at some controls. You also get hooked into doing much longer events which become increasingly good value.

Finally, entering continental rides via the local clubs is also very cheap. There were lots of London based riders on Paris Roubaix, who rode over and made a full weekend of it. This is the club event organised by the Velo Club de Roubaix and not the 'sportive' run on the same weekend as the pro event, which is both a shortened vestige of the real thing and very expensive. The club event in June is only €20 (just put your entry with a bank note in an envelope via the post), plus coach transfer if you're not up to riding home at the finish. And if you want a good hit of rides, then the Semaine Fédérale Internationale de Cyclotourism lets you do some 5 or 6 sportives in a week. It's in a different place in France in each year and when based in the mountains it's quite a tough week. This year is the Vosges. Good food, good company and good value.

In reply to Darren Welch:

I'm glad you registered on this site to make that point!

Well done to you.