Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle 2018

HugoMyBoss

mamax wrote: »

Too expensive for a lot of people if you add in hotel/B&B and travel etc
I asked a few friends last year and they said No
Big events like Ring of Clare, Tour de Burren, Tour de Conamara are all €40 and lots of smaller events with good routes are just €25
Are the kerrymen just milking it ?

Is there a website listing all the available cycles?

magicbastarder

i think someone started a thread here a few months ago listing them.

Grassey

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

Is there a website listing all the available cycles?

http://irishsportives.ie/

Takca

magicbastarder wrote: »

i think someone started a thread here a few months ago listing them.

Here https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057841840

It was long list of everything on the cyclingireland calendar
http://www.cyclingireland.ie/page/events/events-calendar/leisure-sportive-events

Amprodude

Is accomdation hard to get in Killarney for that weekend?

funnights74

Amprodude wrote: »

Is accomdation hard to get in Killarney for that weekend?

Can be, apart from the RoK its the height of the tourist season. The laws of supply and demand means it's also quite pricey. Air b and b might be a good option.

HugoMyBoss

How will you lads from Dublin get your bikes down?, train?

Wishbone Ash

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

How will you lads from Dublin get your bikes down?, train?

Cycle down of course!

ORBY73

Ring of Kerry regustration going spare. DM for info

AxleAddict

I travelled to Kerry last weekend to do the Ring of Beara, and did the Ring of Kerry route the day after, just to see what it was like. Good road surfaces for the most part. Initially the scenery was a little uninspiring leaving Killarney, but this gradually improved as the day went on to the point where I was regularly hopping off the bike to grab a photo or two. No really killer hills, just some long(ish), steady climbs (I appreciate they will still be tough for people who don't regularly cycle). I also took a little detour via the ferry to Valentia Island and did a bit of the Skellig Ring after Portmagee - not realising that the sharp climb up Coomanaspic Pass lay ahead - that'll teach me!

To sum it up, its a decent route with some great views, especially in the latter stages, but I still don't know if I'd want to be paying EUR100 for the privilege of doing it when there are thousands of others on the road with you (and I say that as someone who really enjoys sportives) - I actually quite enjoyed cycling the route on my own with only my thoughts to keep me company

AxleAddict

AxleAddict wrote: »

I travelled to Kerry last weekend to do the Ring of Beara, and did the Ring of Kerry route the day after, just to see what it was like. Good road surfaces for the most part. Initially the scenery was a little uninspiring leaving Killarney, but this gradually improved as the day went on to the point where I was regularly hopping off the bike to grab a photo or two. No really killer hills, just some long(ish), steady climbs (I appreciate they will still be tough for people who don't regularly cycle). I also took a little detour via the ferry to Valentia Island and did a bit of the Skellig Ring after Portmagee - not realising that the sharp climb up Coomanaspic Pass lay ahead - that'll teach me!

To sum it up, its a decent route with some great views, especially in the latter stages, but I still don't know if I'd want to be paying EUR100 for the privilege of doing it when there are thousands of others on the road with you (and I say that as someone who really enjoys sportives) - I actually quite enjoyed cycling the route on my own with only my thoughts to keep me company

Also did the Ring of Beara last weekend, lots of negativity among Kerry people I was talking to about the ROK, feeling was that they had killed the goose

Roger Hassenforder

ORBY73 wrote: »

Ring of Kerry regustration going spare. DM for info

Two days later, Its tragic that this hasnt been snapped up...

ORBY73

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Two days later, Its tragic that this hasnt been snapped up...

Spead the word please cant do it due to family circumstances. Hate to see it goin to waste

Eamonnator

ORBY73 wrote: »

Spead the word please cant do it due to family circumstances. Hate to see it goin to waste

A few years ago, we had a waiting list in double digits for RoK
What has happened?

iwillhtfu

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Two days later, Its tragic that this hasnt been snapped up...

It hasn't sold out you can still register on line.

Entry should never have went passed €50 imo.

funnights74

The nominated Charities haven't sold their allocations either. I was at the Ring of Beara last week and representatives of 3 charities were there asking for cyclists to sign up on their behalf. A fair few lads simply said they weren't doing the cycle on the grounds of overall cost. It can be a pricey weekend.

Boscoirl

funnights74 wrote: »

The nominated Charities haven't sold their allocations either. I was at the Ring of Beara last week and representatives of 3 charities were there asking for cyclists to sign up on their behalf. A fair few lads simply said they weren't doing the cycle on the grounds of overall cost. It can be a pricey weekend.

Definitely a pricey weekend, I am bringing the wife and she plans to spend the day in the spa so we are staying in a fancy weekend.

So I have motivation to get around quickly to stop her spending money

Wishbone Ash

ORBY73 wrote: »

.... Hate to see it goin to waste

People generally don't buy off others if the event isn't sold out.

(Unless you're giving it away - if so, perhaps you should state that.)

Olsky

Eamonnator wrote: »

A few years ago, we had a waiting list in double digits for RoK
What has happened?

Cute kerry hoores killed the goose by getting greedy.

In 2014 they did a very nasty scam with lotteries with non refundable entry fees, two tier pricing with premium places, dodgy registration processes to generate interest etc And they hypocritically excused it all by saying they were scamming people for "charity" so it was justified.

It made a lot of people very annoyed and angry.A lot of bad feeling.
The following year numbers collapsed. Karma
.

circular flexing

Olsky wrote: »

Cute kerry hoores killed the goose by getting greedy.

In 2014 they did a very nasty scam with lotteries with non refundable entry fees, two tier pricing with premium places, dodgy registration processes to generate interest etc And they hypocritically excused it all by saying they were scamming people for "charity" so it was justified.

It made a lot of people very annoyed and angry.A lot of bad feeling.
The following year numbers collapsed. Karma
.

I last did this in 2008 or 2009 and you could just throw whatever you wanted into the bucket (I gave 50 euro). Of course, the problem was then there were a bunch of freeloaders who did the cycle but didn't contribute anything. I do feel like they want too far to the other extreme though and are probably paying the price now. I'm not sure if it was incompetence or greed though.

ORBY73

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

People generally don't buy off others if the event isn't sold out.

(Unless you're giving it away - if so, perhaps you should state that.)

It is for free just dont want it goin to waste as i said

Michael_Myers

ORBY73 wrote: »

It is for free just dont want it goin to waste as i said

PM sent

harringtonp

circular flexing wrote: »

I last did this in 2008 or 2009 and you could just throw whatever you wanted into the bucket (I gave 50 euro). Of course, the problem was then there were a bunch of freeloaders who did the cycle but didn't contribute anything. I do feel like they want too far to the other extreme though and are probably paying the price now. I'm not sure if it was incompetence or greed though.

Charity and goodwill go together. I did it around this time too and at sign on showed a card with a single sponsor..... myself and also for 50 euro. And so what if a few people freeload, most won't and those that do are just eating a bit of food.

Olsky

They set up checkpoints from 2012 to stop the freeloaders. They also changed the voluntary contribution to a compulsory fee. To be frank most people didn't have a great issue with this.
It was the despicable behavior in 2014 that destroyed all Goodwill and ruined it as an event.

Olsky

For comparison. Say a band called ROK that was becoming popular was playing a venue with 10,000 capacity.

Instead of selling tickets at face value of €100 each they instead announce that they will have a lottery because demand exceeds supply.

They also announce that there is a €10 non refundable entry fee to enter this lottery.

13,000 people enter this lottery each paying €10. 2000 of those that enter are told that they are successful and then have to pay an additional €100 each to claim their tickets

The other 11,000 are told that they were unsuccessful but that there is a reseller site where they can buy tickets.

The reseller site is then told that they have to charge a minimum of €200 each per ticket. They sell 6000 tickets for this price.

Those that entered the lottery and were unsuccessful and lost their money are sent multiple e-mails up to the gig encouraging them to buy from the reseller site at the exorbitant mark up.

The gig goes ahead with only 8000 there.

The Noble Nudge

Olsky wrote: »

For comparison. Say a band called ROK that was becoming popular was playing a venue with 10,000 capacity.

Instead of selling tickets at face value of €100 each they instead announce that they will have a lottery because demand exceeds supply.

They also announce that there is a €10 non refundable entry fee to enter this lottery.

13,000 people enter this lottery each paying €10. 2000 of those that enter are told that they are successful and then have to pay an additional €100 each to claim their tickets

The other 11,000 are told that they were unsuccessful but that there is a reseller site where they can buy tickets.

The reseller site is then told that they have to charge a minimum of €200 each per ticket. They sell 6000 tickets for this price.

Those that entered the lottery and were unsuccessful and lost their money are sent multiple e-mails up to the gig encouraging them to buy from the reseller site at the exorbitant mark up.

The gig goes ahead with only 8000 there.

Sounds like someone from Ticketmaster is on the ROK committee to me...

terrydel

Olsky wrote: »

They set up checkpoints from 2012 to stop the freeloaders. They also changed the voluntary contribution to a compulsory fee. To be frank most people didn't have a great issue with this.
It was the despicable behavior in 2014 that destroyed all Goodwill and ruined it as an event.

Taking and keeping money for a lottery was beyond a joke.
May as well have called themselves a bookies and be done with it.

Its on in peak season in Killarney so even if you get somewhere to stay its gonna cost a fortune. There wouldnt be enough people coming from a distance where they dont have to stay over, to fill the numbers they seem to want.
You're dead right, they behaved disgracefully thru out and out greed, and got what they deserved.

Eamonnator

I did RoK 5 or 6 times.
I got fed up up with cost of Cycle and the rates B&Bs were charging in Killarney.

Last weekend, I did The Skoda Tour de Connamara in Clifden. I reckon, I had my weekend for less than half the cost of RoK. Entry fee was less than half the entry to RoK and B&B was €35 per night.
And the event itself was great, well organised and marshalled. There was a great buzz in Clifden after the event, apart from some Soccer, that seemed to be on every TV in town.

DeepBlue

Eamonnator wrote: »

I did RoK 5 or 6 times.
I got fed up up with cost of Cycle and the rates B&Bs were charging in Killarney.

Last weekend, I did The Skoda Tour de Connamara in Clifden. I reckon, I had my weekend for less than half the cost of RoK. Entry fee was less than half the entry to RoK and B&B was €35 per night.
And the event itself was great, well organised and marshalled. There was a great buzz in Clifden after the event, apart from some Soccer, that seemed to be on every TV in town.

I largely agree with you but, to be fair, there's a bit of apples vs oranges in the comparison.

I enjoyed Connemara as well but clearly Skoda invested heavily in it (judging by their brand being everywhere). So you're comparing a corporate sponsored event vs a charity one. Then there's also 2500 cyclists vs 9,000 approx in ROK.
The ROK would be a lot more pleasant with just 2500 riders to share the road with.

However I think the ROK has lost focus on the participants. Personally I find a sense of anti-climax when I finish the cycle. If I remember correctly there used to be cars/vans blasting music along the route several years ago and that's gone now. Probably because the increase in numbers made it less safe or maybe there's an issue of paying royalties for the music or something. The "on-the-road" feel of the sportive is not as much craic as it used to be. The atmosphere and roadside support is much less than it used to be. There used to be lots of people sitting outside their houses cheering on the cyclists but that's much less now. Having done it maybe 9 times (I've lost count) it does have the feel of diminishing returns as a participant.

Also 103 euros is clearly too much. And then another 30 euro if you want to get the souvenir jersey. 70 euro would be plenty and even that's pushing it. The ROK have work to do and have to exercise some imagination to make this a "must-do" event again and a "must-repeat" event. Arguably they've led the way in becoming the most successful sportive in the country but they've lost focus on the cyclist in the pursuit of fund raising.

Grassey

DeepBlue wrote:

I enjoyed Connemara as well but clearly Skoda invested heavily in it (judging by their brand being everywhere). So you're comparing a corporate sponsored event vs a charity one. Then there's also 2500 cyclists vs 9,000 approx in ROK. The ROK would be a lot more pleasant with just 2500 riders to share the road with.

I remember doing ROK the first time when it was 2500 and it was great, 6k the year after, and more again by the 4th year so I stopped as there were too many on the road to enjoy it. TdC has been a staple since the first year and I'd pick it any time over Rok