I’ll admit that I live in a bubble, but when did everything get so damn expensive!? I know cause I got it all; health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, home owners insurance. We pay the gas, internet, and electric, We pay the mortgage and the grocery bills and all the taxes that go with it all. So much money goes out of our wallets and bank accounts and into the world every month, month after month. Sometimes its seems impossible, but we pay our way and on time, every month.
Thing is I’m not a robot and I enjoy doing things besides working, and recovering so I can go back to working. I love riding and racing bicycles, oh my I really do get so much joy from pedaling! Bikes are not cheap, and after all the money goes out every month, there really isn’t much left. I can scratch together a bit here and there to keep the bike rolling, but have you seen the price of entry into bike races these days? Holy smokes, there’s barely any races and rides that are under 100$. I used to have a $1 to mile ratio that I tried to keep, basically I wanted more than a mile for every dollar I spent. Not possible anymore, 50 milers cost 100+$!!! And an ultra entry is 325$ and doesn’t include tracking!
Hate to say it, but cycling and racing has gone from elitist to untouchable. No wonder so many race events and formats are going away, no one can afford it! I’ve never expected to race every weekend, or even once a month, but I’m gonna have to pass on all of it. Truly a bummer as I love to travel to these events, see the endurance tribe, push myself and get inspired. Its hard to see all the things happening and realizing that I simply don’t have the resources to participate. Damn shame as there are many of us, true working class folks that would love to race bikes, but guess you got to have a great job with lots of flexibility, a trust fund, or be sponsored to even sign up. In the grand scheme of things, really not a big deal, but my heart and soul are missing it greatly!
jwookieone 
+1 CTR (fill in free race of your choice here)
The principle of paying to ride bikes has always killed me.
Thank goodness for all the free bikepack races! Kept me going for over a decade, and it makes it even harder to fork out money to race. I’m working on a winter ultra, but route is very very key for it to work. I want to race these winter ultras, but they require lots of resources that I don’t have access to, mainly money and time! Seriously tho free racing is the shit!
I’ve done a few local gravel rides here in the greater Denver area (and I’m a slow rider, plodder if you will) and as much as it’s cool to ride with others, I’ve come to the realization that paying to ride isn’t for me (nor is racing). I ride to get centered in life and decompress from the stupidity of Corporate America. It’s my way of reconnecting with nature and myself, and paying $50-$100 to pedal 30-40 miles is counterintuitive to what biking means to me.
Don’t get me wrong – I totally support the biking community and efforts to promote it. Sadly, much like the cost of bikes, cycling is becoming very expensive all-the-way around.
So, I’ll just pedal by myself, on my own routes, continuing to seek balance and serenity in this crazy-ass world.
Thanks for the post.
Thanks for reading and the response. When we knew our daughter was on the way, I really thought I could let go of that need to compete and just ride for and by myself. I keep trying to find contentment with what accessible, but I really miss it. Im trying to find a balance with it all, but so far it is kicking my ass. So much to learn still in this life!
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