Reluctance to do Advance Registration

[Geonz]

.... I'm wondering how universal it is.

A local charitable org talked to some of us bikers about doing a fundraising ride. We planned it... lots of us put in some serious time going out and mapping the route, making a web page wiht photos, cue sheets, "how to get over this interstate" guide... and we explained that most people didn't decide to go 'til Day Of (the Lions Club does a ride earlier that they don't even *offer* advance registration for).

Welp, 10 days before the ride, we met and had everything laid out, but the next day we were informed that due to lack of support, the ride was canceled.
... I'm out of town for it *anyway* but the folks who did hte work are going to try to put it on anyway and give them the money...

... but I'm curious - are people everywhere usually "day of" riders - with a whole lot fewer advance registrations? I know it's true for our annual ride, too. (We just buy less food if fewer people are there; we've sometimes only made a little dough with bad weather, but never lost.)

[Kalidurga]

I haven't done many organized rides so far, but I've registered in advance for the ones I have done. Two reasons: I know that one of them sells out quickly, and the other one offers a substantially discounted rate for advance reg. Plus, if I've shelled out $$ in advance that ensures that I'll actually go ;)

[Mr. SR500]

We often pre-register for rides we want to do. Usually get a discount, plus t-shirt, meal, motivation, etc... Makes planning much easier for those running the event. But we have had several recent rides were the weather was terrible, so we looked at the registration as a donation and skipped the ride. Sort of depends on the ride, but I an see it being a problem. No good answer, just seems to be the trend for people to not pre-register.

[shootingstar]

I was only involved in leading/sweeping small group rides where the amount of money per person per ride was quite low. (under $10.00CAN). We collected on day of ride and had people sign the waivers.

Advance registration with a discount is helpful if the ride is large enough.

[Pedal Wench]

I do a LOT of organized rides. I only pre-register if there's a chance it will sell out. With weather issues, work stuff, etc., I would just rather wait.

[Thorn]

Almost always do day-of. We ride a half dozen rides a year and, with the exception of one ride we do day of. Work, weather, legs...all are a factor.

Fear of sell out; known really long lines on day-of can make me register ahead. But one ride that is just really well run, yet small and for a really good cause gets my pre-registration. We've never been rained out and their T-Shirts are really neat -- a local artist does them.

[indysteel]

I do a LOT of organized rides. I only pre-register if there's a chance it will sell out. With weather issues, work stuff, etc., I would just rather wait.

What she said. Generally, I will pregister only if have to and/or there's a decent discount for registering early.

As far as charity events, I'd add that it usually takes more than one year to break even or make a substantial money. It's too bad the Lion's Club threw in the towel without at least giving it a couple of years.

[OakLeaf]

I usually pre-register for foot races, just because the commitment gives me motivation to train and run.

For overnight cycling tours, usually pre-registration is required.

Not so much for day rides. If the weather's crummy, I won't ride, I'm a wuss, I'm only riding for fun and nasty grit is not my idea of fun. So I'll eat the $5 or whatever pre-registration discount and just show up on the day-of.

But a charity ride, I would think that (1) most of the financial support should come from corporate sponsors, not riders, so the "lack of support" probably has more to do with the organizers not doing their job, not you; and (2) pre-registration is usually required so that people can donate online, riders can meet their minimum donations, etc.


ETA: Now that that much of the work's been done, why not turn this into a fundraiser for YOUR club, on a later date? I get that there's still a LOT of work involved - marking the route, arranging insurance, sag service, etc. - but it would be better than letting your planning go to waste, n'est-ce pas?

[Pedal Wench]

I usually pre-register for foot races, just because the commitment gives me motivation to train and run.

For overnight cycling tours, usually pre-registration is required.


Oh yeah - for my big goal rides, I absolutely sign up - I'll probably ride them rain or shine, so the big rides I sign up for early.

I also figure the day-off extra money goes to the cause, so that's not bad, right?

[maryellen]

In the past, I've sometimes waited until the "day of" the event if:

--it was a ride I would only do if the weather was nice
--the ride was run by a charity (not a bike club)
--it was a ride where I was making the charitable contribution myself (rather than collecting money)

[Geonz]

What she said. Generally, I will pregister only if have to and/or there's a decent discount for registering early.

As far as charity events, I'd add that it usually takes more than one year to break even or make a substantial money. It's too bad the Lion's Club threw in the towel without at least giving it a couple of years.

Naw, the Lions Club has been doing a ride for years and doesn't even *try* to have advanced registration - they just do day of.
There weren't pledges... I suspect there were other politics (like, maybe other people who thought they should have done the pledge thing, and almost certainly expectations that more corporate sponsors would donate stuff).

From what I'm hearing, well, maybe people will show up for the "gonna do it anyway" thing and maybe not... just wish I could!

[Jiffer]

I usually register in advance. The one I just did this weekend was last minute, because I didn't convince myself to do it until then. But the one's I know I for sure want to do, I'll try to register in time to get the cheaper registration and/or make sure it doesn't fill up.

[Geonz]

I usually pre-register for foot races, just because the commitment gives me motivation to train and run.

For overnight cycling tours, usually pre-registration is required.

Not so much for day rides. If the weather's crummy, I won't ride, I'm a wuss, I'm only riding for fun and nasty grit is not my idea of fun. So I'll eat the $5 or whatever pre-registration discount and just show up on the day-of.

But a charity ride, I would think that (1) most of the financial support should come from corporate sponsors, not riders, so the "lack of support" probably has more to do with the organizers not doing their job, not you; and (2) pre-registration is usually required so that people can donate online, riders can meet their minimum donations, etc.


ETA: Now that that much of the work's been done, why not turn this into a fundraiser for YOUR club, on a later date? I get that there's still a LOT of work involved - marking the route, arranging insurance, sag service, etc. - but it would be better than letting your planning go to waste, n'est-ce pas?

I'm thinking that even though we weren't set up for pledges and all that... that if that's the model they were thinking of, then our model would be very nervous-making, since they don't see any real inflow until they've done most of the outflow and they're not deailing with their ongoing relationships with corporate sponsors, but the vagaries of the general public. Doesn't mean I like it, but it makes more sense.

The folks in town were going to hold the ride, take donations and give it to the charity; two of the folks generally go for a fund-raising ride for them (but raise the funds for our local branch), so it might go into their pledges... I don't know. I do know that they were worried that cyclists might be reluctant to pledge for them after this happened (The route was directly connected to the charity's work, too, but that we could work with.)

[Irulan]

as someone who helps to put on events. I really hate the last minute thing. It really screws up the planning. How many Tshirts to order, how much food etc.

I like the model where there is a cut off date to get in. While I do understand the spontaneity thing, I think that registering ahead is the courteous thing to do.

[Geonz]

Yea, and I think that is where the whole communication thing completely broke down. The folks who have tossed together cycling events (not the big fundraising kind... just the "bring in enough to pay for the stuff we do" kind) didn't realize that lots of pre-registration was, simply, expected, period, thank you. There were also people who they thought would donate food and stuff who didn't. Now, unfortunately, they're emailing telling us to let it rest and that gosh, *they* knew it might not come off, so *what* is our problem, because it's for a good cause? Thing is, it's been four days since anybody said anything, so far as I know it *was *resting 'til this last little jab. I can't tell if they're annoyed that folks are going to do the ride anyway... if they were *actually* concerned with the cause in question, then you'd think an independent fundraiser for htem would be appreciated and they'd be glad we were expressing our frustrations in a positive way instead of talking about them at all. Now things are stirred up again...

[ILBikeGirl]

I almost always do advance registration now. I've had events close on me and that's a bummer.

Often times my husband and I are both doing the ride and it's definitely worth it to get the advance discount.

I registered us for 4 events at one time this spring. Got our spring and early summer taken care of and the events are blocked out on our calendars.

That's too bad it was cancelled like this.

[Geonz]

I think I'm glad I'm not there ;) It's probably going to happen in one form or another...

[TrekTheKaty]

We pre-registered for our century--we trained all summer and were going to ride rain or shine. (I believe approx 50% or the riders registered day of-based on the numbers from when we showed, to when the ride finished). However, there are numerous local "fun" rides that we drop in to, if we don't have to work and the weather is good. I wonder how many riders showed up unaware that the ride was cancelled? They probably benefited from your maps and the charity didn't get any money.

I always preregistered for 5K's, marathons and half marathons because I wanted a t-shirt and there was a chance of a sell-out. Doesn't seem to be a problem in cycling though.