Great Lakes - RAIN entry fee increase?

I am affiliated with Bloomington Bicycle Club. The club is considering a rate increase for the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN); www.rainride.org (http://www.rainride.org) . I'm trying to get an idea of how potential RAIN riders feel about a rate increase.

The current rate is $35 for early, online registration. Our club is considering a $10 fee increase, phased in over two years ($5 increase per year). The fee increase would allow us to hire extra staff at the rest stops and lunch stop and to offset some rising costs, however, existing RAIN proceeds are quite good and support a variety of cycling-based grants.

The Bloomington Bicycle Club is a 501c nonprofit organization and is required to use proceeds of the RAIN ride to support basic club operations and to support charitable activities. At present, the vast majority of RAIN proceeds support community-based cycling-related grants.

Thank you for your comments.

$35 for a 160 mile ride like RAIN is a relative bargain, given stops, T-shirt, finishing medal, etc. The lack of ride-provided SAG is the only drawback compared to most supported rides. And extra $5 would not be a burden on most riders, IMO.

Hey, if the BBC is a 501c3, can an entry be considered as a donation, thus tax deductible? I'm not sure if that's feasible or legal. ???

$35 for a 160 mile ride like RAIN is a relative bargain, given stops, T-shirt, finishing medal, etc. The lack of ride-provided SAG is the only drawback compared to most supported rides. And extra $5 would not be a burden on most riders, IMO.

Hey, if the BBC is a 501c3, can an entry be considered as a donation, thus tax deductible? I'm not sure if that's feasible or legal. ???

Thanks for your comments. I don't know whether the entry fee is tax deductible, but I doubt that it is. When you register for RAIN, you are buying a service, not making a donation. However, in the end, almost all the proceeds end up being a donation (and there is a great deal of transparency in where the money goes, since we're a 501c3). There's no way our club could come close to using all the funds from RAIN, and we want to see these funds go to projects that advocate cycling.

I don't think it would be a problem. Another $10 has little impact considering all the other expenses, hotel, gas, food, jersey, etc... $50 is fair. Don't ask me why, but $50 for the Hilly seems a tad high

I don't think it would be a problem. Another $10 has little impact considering all the other expenses, hotel, gas, food, jersey, etc... $50 is fair. Don't ask me why, but $50 for the Hilly seems a tad high

Well -- You get a lot more from the Hilly and and it requires a lot more planning and staff. The music, the school, the Saturday night show. I've ridden the Hilly 15 times and RAIN only once, but it seems to me you are trying to justify a price increase just for the heck of it. I rode without a SAG and so relied on the rest stops. It didn't seem as though you were short handed. Actually I thought $35 was kind of a lot for a cheese sandwich and some Gatorade. Don't get me wrong. I really liked the ride, but really in terms of resources required it doesn't require a lot more than a local century. I don't mean to rag on you. If I've missed something please set the record straight.

Frank

Well -- You get a lot more from the Hilly and and it requires a lot more planning and staff. The music, the school, the Saturday night show. I've ridden the Hilly 15 times and RAIN only once, but it seems to me you are trying to justify a price increase just for the heck of it. I rode without a SAG and so relied on the rest stops. It didn't seem as though you were short handed. Actually I thought $35 was kind of a lot for a cheese sandwich and some Gatorade. Don't get me wrong. I really liked the ride, but really in terms of resources required it doesn't require a lot more than a local century. I don't mean to rag on you. If I've missed something please set the record straight.

Frank

Actually, this is exactly the sort of input I was looking for. I think our club needs honest opinions from the community before enacting a price increase.

I'd support an increase if it made the ride better. I agree that $35 is a killer deal when you consider 160 miles, rest stops, shirt, etc. I've seen regular centuries for more than $35. Calvin's Challenge (http://www.calvinschallenge.com/) is a 12-hour ride and it's $50, so $45 for RAIN seems fair to me.

Maybe I'm crazy, but doing $5 two years in a row might turn people off. People will start talking about how the price of RAIN goes up every year. Then again, a $10 increase may be too much of a shock all at once. Maybe you could do $5 in 2009, nothing in 2010, then $5 more in $2011. That or increase the price of jerseys a little along with the entry fee.

Obviously there are pros and cons. I'm typically one of the guys off the front, utilize my own SAG, and don't stop. That said, I think the people who fall into this group will react in one of three ways.

1) Won't care because they will want to do it for the challenge.
2) Will register early, but won't ride in bad weather, and might not register the following year after taking a bigger "hit" from the increase in the entry fee.
3) Might not do the ride as they probably don't register until the last minute, trying to guage the weather.

What I would recommend is getting some info from riders this year concerning if they've ridden RAIN before. From that info I would try to develop an analysis that would factor in percentages of when people enter, factor in past weather (like '06 was torture; last year was perfect), etc. This might give a baseline that you can use to determine how many people won't enter as a result of the increase, and whether the extra $5/$10 will increase or decrease revenue.

Well -- You get a lot more from the Hilly and and it requires a lot more planning and staff. The music, the school, the Saturday night show. I've ridden the Hilly 15 times and RAIN only once, but it seems to me you are trying to justify a price increase just for the heck of it. I rode without a SAG and so relied on the rest stops. It didn't seem as though you were short handed. Actually I thought $35 was kind of a lot for a cheese sandwich and some Gatorade. Don't get me wrong. I really liked the ride, but really in terms of resources required it doesn't require a lot more than a local century. I don't mean to rag on you. If I've missed something please set the record straight.

Frank

What I like about the Hilly is riding with friends and the vendor tent. We don't go early on Friday and so miss those activities, and usually just hang out Saturday. I don't care for the fried chicken, and the music is fun, I could give or take it. So I guess it seems I'm paying for a lot of stuff I don't participate in. The Hilly is a great ride, just not my absolute favorite.

As for the RAIN, I would love to see more stuff at the finish. Pre-ride at the hotel is exciting, and it would be cool to have some vendors, food, music etc... at the finish.

Hmmm...I thought it already was $45....:(

$5 a year is reasonable. There are a ton of logistics involved with getting 1000-1300 riders across 160 miles even if you aren't providing SAG. We pay much more than that to do loops in WI and have stops that run out of food. *zing*

If you do $5 a year then do it one right after the other, but put on every piece of literature that the fee will increase $5/year for the next 2 years so that everyone understands what is going on.

Keep in mind though that cyclists tend to be a pretty tight bunch in general. That combined withthe fact that many know the perfect storm of perfect weather happened last year...and that it's pretty much a no brainer to say the weather will be worse this year....bad weather, suffering, increased fees could lead to some not returning.

IIRC there was a smaller turnout this year most likely due to the killer heat we had the previous year.

Whatever you do I don't think you will be effected this year, but rather the following one. Your numbers will most likely be higher this year.

Also...CyLowe...you can not claim anything as a donation if you received anything in return. During the ride you receive food, water, support at stops, t-shirt, maps, marked routes, finisher's medal, showers, etc. You can't claim it.

Also...haevn't ridden the Hilly in 15 years, but surprised to hear the fried chicken is still around. Saved me from a bonk the last time, but really not what I would prefer now days.

I used to volunteer as a kid for the hilly when my parents would haul me in to work the kitchen at North for Band Boosters (damn siblings) in the early/mid 80's. I love the ride for the nostaglia - takes me back to the place and feel of my childhood. Vendor fair thingy on Friday rocked. I still have stuff in my workshop that I picked up there the last time I rode (Avocet computer and Team Shimano jersey).

Also...haevn't ridden the Hilly in 15 years, but surprised to hear the fried chicken is still around. Saved me from a bonk the last time, but really not what I would prefer now days.

I used to volunteer as a kid for the hilly when my parents would haul me in to work the kitchen at North for Band Boosters (damn siblings) in the early/mid 80's. I love the ride for the nostaglia - takes me back to the place and feel of my childhood. Vendor fair thingy on Friday rocked. I still have stuff in my workshop that I picked up there the last time I rode (Avocet computer and Team Shimano jersey).


Yes, they still serve the chicken, but they do offer a vegetarian option now. This year they were well staffed but ran out of most varieties of food early.
I didn't think the ride was worth $50... I'm not sure I'll be back next year.