Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Race Entries

A preview of the Crested Butte EWS.

A whole bunch of people just registered for the Crested Butte and Whistler EWS races. I was one of them. Together my two race entries totaled $415. $110 for the Whistler race, and $305 for the Colorado race.


And then everyone on the internet started complaining about the price. Yes, $305 is expensive for a race. $105 is expensive for a race. But let's review for a second:

Whistler and Colorado sold out in under 4 minutes this morning.


This situation is akin to the common Pinkbike "why do new bikes cost $8,000, I could buy a new moto for $8,000."


Please, please buy a moto instead. And if $305 seems too steep for a race entry, don't register. Please. The ROBOTS would prefer you just kill yourself but, in lieu of that, you quitting mountain bikes to ride dirt bikes poorly or having you skip the race so I don't have to see you or talk to you there would be acceptable solutions as well.

Guess what Pinkbike guy: you don't have $8000, and if you did you wouldn't buy a moto with it. You wouldn't buy a moto because you and I both know you already suck at mountain bikes, so picking up an even more competitive and difficult sport will not help you justify or make peace with your short existence on this earth. Better to be a medium to smallish fish in a really small pond, right?


Me Enduro-ing at Whistler last year. I read on a list of blogging tips that photos help to break up long prose into more palatable sections.




As for complains-about-the price-race-entry guy, the fact that we're even having this discussion means that you already bought your race entry. So kill yourself. Either that, or you never planned on racing but you just wanted to complain about the price of the race entry as a guise for why you skip the part of bike riding where we measure you and see how you stack up against your friends- you know, the part where you don't have excuses anymore and you have to account for how much you suck at mountain biking.

This is similar to "why would I pay $150 to race on trails I can ride for free" guy. Kill yourself.


If you chose not to race, the price of the race entry had nothing to do with your decision.

If you chose to race, the price of the race 
entry had nothing to do with your decision.


You know what addicts do when the price of meth goes up? They hustle. They makes moves. And they keep buying meth. No one wants to know how or where they got that money, but they found it somewhere. I would probably pay $1000 for a race entry if I had to. Every year for the last four years I've paid somewhere between $2500 and $3000 to travel to one World Cup round and be embarrassed on an international stage. That seems pretty stupid when you put it in perspective.

If you want to race, you just find the money somehow. Maybe you sell a kidney or kill someone for money or work on "Deadliest Catch" or whatever. Maybe you ask the meth people where they get their money. Maybe you start stealing outdoor AC units or start a chop shop in the garage. Maybe you start a "massage" booth in your van at the next race. You hustle.





And one more thing: the Crested Butte and Whistler races are going to suck again this year and I'm going to hate it.

I'll obviously be there.

26 comments:

  1. 420bonerstud69@hotmail.comFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:25 AM

    Your enduro kit doesn't match.

    Are those shorts factory length?

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  2. home run on this post, nearly verbatim what i tell people who bitch and whine about bike prices/entry fees etc. you can sit around and complain to the internet, or you can get out there and work hard to make it happen.

    also, anyone who plans on killing themselves as per Team Robot's request but has entered said EWS races; holla at your boy I didn't hustle hard enough to afford registration

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  3. hey, soon we'll all be dead or lying in a bed waiting to die. may as well do stuff that makes not suck at life so much

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  4. Strava is free tho and I have all the local KOM's meaning i would clean up at that ews nonsense on my demo 8. Plus I use a watch to record my stravateering so we know its accurate.

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  5. Anyone complaining about the cost that actually got a spot for Whistler should go straight to the top of the Kill List. It sold out in about 45 seconds, TONS of people didn't get in that really want to ride/race.

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  6. At least with World Cup DH you are paying to be involved with something that is interesting and that people actually pay attention to.

    With the Colorado ews you are basically paying $300 to race on lame trails and achieve results that are irrelevant. But it's fun I'm sure. There is a sucker born every day, and most likely he ends up racing enduro.

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  7. There is something wrong with the system if a race sells out as fast as it did. I'm pissed I did't get a spot.

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  8. I bought an entry. Its for sale for $36,000 (approx price of a slightly used Sprinter van)

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. ECO101 Price = Supply / demand

    400 or so spots sold in .02 seconds

    /argument

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  11. Wil White spent $300 in wood just for that bridge. That 3x what he got for a sweet kickout in that lizards face.

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  12. Only people who pay any attention to enduro are enduro racers. It was sorta interesting the first year but now It's just a sideshow to DH, like 4X was until it died of boredom.

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  13. Well, there are people out there who love to race but just can't afford it.
    I myself am a studend, so it's hard for me to do more than one race a month, but recently they have increased the entry fee at the European Enduro races, it's sometimes more than the DH series now, but a day less and no lift (or if there is one it costs extra).
    Obviously I'll still spend all the money I have on bikes and races, but I'll do a lot less races than before.

    I'ld like to know the reason for the higher fees though, maybe the events and insurance got more expensive, that I would totally understand, but I think they make the enduro races more expensive, because there are more middle aged people, or people who already earn money and don't care if its 20-30€ more or less, than in DH racing.
    At the DH races most of the racers are 18-30 years old, so if the increased the fees, half of them would do less races I guess ^^

    With the EWS it's just like any other product, obviously there are enough people out there who want to pay that price to race there (I would if I had the money and a car/plane ticket to get there), so there is no reason to lower the price, welcome to capitalism!

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  14. Enduro races are expensive because:

    1. They build all new tracks for every stage
    2. you get to use a chairlift/shuttle/helicopter to get to the top of every stage
    3. organization and timing are run to perfection


    In any case I'll see you suckers in Crested Butte.

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  15. The cheapest enduro race: sitting in your ass watching the video. Suck it up.

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  16. oldguywhocantaffordracingbecausehehadtobuyshitatbedbathandbeyond@domesticated.comFebruary 5, 2015 at 9:03 AM

    I don't race anymore because I'm slow. I'm slow because I don't race anymore. Shit.

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  17. Here I am reading a blog post about my Facebook post, so meta.

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  18. At least you got the first picture right.

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  19. If you need cash, maybe you could be tha Juiceman for the whole EWS? The Lithuanian Zumo is at a good price now cuz of the falling Ruble.
    #dopestrong

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  20. hey i've seen that jersey before! the guy on the ground directing the pilot where to park the plane had it on. do you have those glow cone flashlights too?

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  21. Uh...there's a shit ton of climbing required for the Crested Butte stop. Good luck.

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  22. Can you PLEASE talk about woman sponsorships and the direct correlation between: 1) willingness to take seductive amateur photos with said sponsors product, and 2) breast size. Clearly results don't matter when there is only 1-3 woman that race downhill "professionally" in California.

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  23. Your gonna get smoked like a joint if you show up for the North Shore Enduro on May 10, 2015.

    Oregon trails got nothin on Canada.

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  24. More like Team Chicken Legs

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  25. i say, ROBOTS have to come to Chillán, Chile, to beat the best of the best, come to the REAL enduroland, don´t waste yourself on that prepared track.... come on. get real...

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  26. $18 a day at the moto track. see you fucking never.

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