Expense of racing

[mottmcfly]

I've been talking to a few fellow DH racers and some of them are skipping quite a few races due not only to entrance fees and raised shuttle fees but for the most part the expense of gas. Not to say this only affects DH racers. I'm wondering if anyone else is feeling the same pinch and what you're doing about it.

[6packguywith5spot]

Man, talking about gas prices, it is not only hurting DH racers, it is now hurting everyone.

At $4.00 per gallon, it is taking a big chunk of change out of pocket everytime we go near a gas station.

The sad thing is that no one " I am talking about Government officials " is doing anything about it.

But once closer to election time, everything becomes better including the price of the gas.

How come they can't do it now, but they can right before the elections?

Can someone come up with an answer please?

Originally Posted by mottmcfly

I've been talking to a few fellow DH racers and some of them are skipping quite a few races due not only to entrance fees and raised shuttle fees but for the most part the expense of gas. Not to say this only affects DH racers. I'm wondering if anyone else is feeling the same pinch and what you're doing about it.

[CPATCRASH]

If the government would let us drill for oil in Alaska that would solve a lot of problems.

[sdyeti]

Ugh...I gave up calculating the $$ spent on racing long, long ago

[wrxkid]

not only that, I end up buying more stuff like extra tubes, food, etc. It is no bueno.

[Foesnasty]

It cost $$$$$ but well worth it...

[evdog]

Originally Posted by CPATCRASH

If the government would let us drill for oil in Alaska that would solve a lot of problems.

At the risk of completely derailing the thread:


What problems would that solve??

Drilling for oil in Alaska would not reduce the price of oil. Lets assume the cost to produce oil in Alaska is $50/barrel and oil futures are $130/barrel. Do you honestly think Exxon or Shell is going to drill for oil in Alaska and pass the $80/barrel savings over to consumers? No f'ing way- they are a business not a charity. They will sell the oil to a refinery at the current market price, who then produces gas which is sold to a wholesaler, is then sold to retailers, who in turn sells to the public at the market gas price. The result: the price of gas will still reflect the market price of oil and the difference goes into the pocket of the oil industry as profit, rather than to consumers.

The only way Alaskan drilling could reduce oil prices would be to create so much supply and in such short a time period as to overcome BOTH the demand side of the market AND OPEC's influence. I doubt Alaska has that much oil. The only other way would be for the US to become self-sufficient on oil, nationalize all oil production and withdraw from world oil markets. Yeah right. You can talk about becoming self-sufficient on oil but unless you take corporate profit out of the equation we are still going to be buying gas based on market rates of $130/barrel.

[CPATCRASH]

Originally Posted by evdog

At the risk of completely derailing the thread:


What problems would that solve??

Drilling for oil in Alaska would not reduce the price of oil. Lets assume the cost to produce oil in Alaska is $50/barrel and oil futures are $130/barrel. Do you honestly think Exxon or Shell is going to drill for oil in Alaska and pass the $80/barrel savings over to consumers? No f'ing way- they are a business not a charity. They will sell the oil to a refinery at the current market price, who then produces gas which is sold to a wholesaler, is then sold to retailers, who in turn sells to the public at the market gas price. The result: the price of gas will still reflect the market price of oil and the difference goes into the pocket of the oil industry as profit, rather than to consumers.

The only way Alaskan drilling could reduce oil prices would be to create so much supply and in such short a time period as to overcome BOTH the demand side of the market AND OPEC's influence. I doubt Alaska has that much oil. The only other way would be for the US to become self-sufficient on oil, nationalize all oil production and withdraw from world oil markets. Yeah right. You can talk about becoming self-sufficient on oil but unless you take corporate profit out of the equation we are still going to be buying gas based on market rates of $130/barrel.

Reduce our dependancy on foreign oil.

[mottmcfly]

Originally Posted by evdog

At the risk of completely derailing the thread:


What problems would that solve??

Drilling for oil in Alaska would not reduce the price of oil. Lets assume the cost to produce oil in Alaska is $50/barrel and oil futures are $130/barrel. Do you honestly think Exxon or Shell is going to drill for oil in Alaska and pass the $80/barrel savings over to consumers? No f'ing way- they are a business not a charity. They will sell the oil to a refinery at the current market price, who then produces gas which is sold to a wholesaler, is then sold to retailers, who in turn sells to the public at the market gas price. The result: the price of gas will still reflect the market price of oil and the difference goes into the pocket of the oil industry as profit, rather than to consumers.

The only way Alaskan drilling could reduce oil prices would be to create so much supply and in such short a time period as to overcome BOTH the demand side of the market AND OPEC's influence. I doubt Alaska has that much oil. The only other way would be for the US to become self-sufficient on oil, nationalize all oil production and withdraw from world oil markets. Yeah right. You can talk about becoming self-sufficient on oil but unless you take corporate profit out of the equation we are still going to be buying gas based on market rates of $130/barrel.

I would have to agree. Not only that, any oil found here couldn't be refined with our current abilities, it would have to be shipped out and then back in.

[denmother]

I just spend less doing other things!!! Oh, and we carpool more and share hotel rooms, stay in condos, cook our own food, camp, etc. In other words, whatever it takes!!!!

[drclark]

I pretty much quit racing due to the costs involved about 2 yrs ago. Getting hurt and also trying to save up for a house downpayment didn't help either. Increasing responsibilities at work, and other life changes and interests don't/won't leave nearly as much time as I used to have to train to stay competitive as well. So rising fuel prices plus all those other factors pretty much sealed the decision.

On the local scene, its hard to justify driving out to fontana both sat & sun when its going to cost me $100 to fill up on top of race fees, food, and replacing broken/worn parts. I still like to go out for practice on saturdays and pay my $5 to push up the hill though.

I was frustrated with national level racing long before that. To take vacation from work, travel to the race venue, incur hotel, food, and miscellaneous expenses just to get maybe 8 practice runs plus your race run in 3-4 days wasn't really worth it in the end. I'd much rather go somewhere for the day/weekend where I can literally ride til I pass out from exhaustion getting as many runs/miles in as possible.

I decided that the fun vs. $$ ratio wasn't worth it. I have more fun just riding locally and I am not spending nearly the $$ that I used to. Since I quit racing, I've found that I haven't felt the need to buy a new bike. My old rides still get the job done for recreational duties.

drc

As for gas prices, I feel there are some things that could be done to lower the prices; however, I don't think this is the right thread/forum to discuss them.

[BFloFoxRider.]

It does cost alot, but as long as it is well organized, its well worth it... Granted the course should be fun, and also, Raffles make the moeny even more worth it. LOL

[OffRoadie]

Originally Posted by CPATCRASH

Reduce our dependancy on foreign oil.

That's a nice catch phrase, but drilling for oil in Alaska is not the way to do it. OPEC commands SO much production capacity that it would dwarf anything we can pull out of Alaska. It's also a lot cheaper for the OPEC countries to extract the oil and the oil they get is easier to refine. The stuff we get elsewhere is both more difficult to extract and more difficult to refine. This means that the oil we hypothetically got from Alaska will be more expensive from the get go, so in fact it will still be cheaper to buy from OPEC.

On topic:
I race at the San Diego Velodrome. $10 per race nice every week. Located right in the city. Cheap! One guy racing down there said he used to race DH, but now races track. I don't think cost had anything to do with it, but you can get your competition jones elsewhere (other than racing DH I mean).

[dutch]

I haven't done much racing, but I've noticed that I'll ride closer to home and ride to the trail head whenever I have enough time. 10 miles there and 10 miles back on the road??? sounds like more fitness miles to me!

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by drclark

I pretty much quit racing due to the costs involved about 2 yrs ago. Getting hurt and also trying to save up for a house downpayment didn't help either. Increasing responsibilities at work, and other life changes and interests don't/won't leave nearly as much time as I used to have to train to stay competitive as well. So rising fuel prices plus all those other factors pretty much sealed the decision.

On the local scene, its hard to justify driving out to fontana both sat & sun when its going to cost me $100 to fill up on top of race fees, food, and replacing broken/worn parts. I still like to go out for practice on saturdays and pay my $5 to push up the hill though.

I was frustrated with national level racing long before that. To take vacation from work, travel to the race venue, incur hotel, food, and miscellaneous expenses just to get maybe 8 practice runs plus your race run in 3-4 days wasn't really worth it in the end. I'd much rather go somewhere for the day/weekend where I can literally ride til I pass out from exhaustion getting as many runs/miles in as possible.

I decided that the fun vs. $$ ratio wasn't worth it. I have more fun just riding locally and I am not spending nearly the $$ that I used to. Since I quit racing, I've found that I haven't felt the need to buy a new bike. My old rides still get the job done for recreational duties.

drc

As for gas prices, I feel there are some things that could be done to lower the prices; however, I don't think this is the right thread/forum to discuss them.

I've done a similar cost/benefit analysis, for MTB and dirtbikes, and reached a similar conclusion. Racing makes no sense for me, regardless of gas prices. I ride to have fun and my scarcest commodity is time. In a racing framework, the ratio of pedaling time to travel/preparation/wait time is ridiculously low. Much better to just trail ride for fun.
R

[thephat]

Originally Posted by CPATCRASH

If the government would let us drill for oil in Alaska that would solve a lot of problems.

If I could have your house, that would solve some of my problems.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic.

I think drilling in Alaska would be like wrapping a dirty t shirt around a gushing foot long gash in ones abdomen.

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by denmother

I just spend less doing other things!!! Oh, and we carpool more and share hotel rooms, stay in condos, cook our own food, camp, etc. In other words, whatever it takes!!!!

She's got the right idea! The gas prices have helped me realize other places I "wasted" my money before. So by changing a few spending habits, I'm not really spending any more money (total) I was before gas prices went up...I'm just spending more of it on gas rather than other things.

Although, still being unemployed and broke makes it rough.

If you already have all of your gear and equipment, then what other costs are involved?

Entry fees ($100?), gas to get to event (but you'd be driving to a trail to go riding anyway, even if you weren't racing...right?!)...

Then for XC/endurance, you have consumables like energy drinks, gel, etc. I spend maybe $20 per race on that stuff.

I know it's tempting to tell yourself "Oh, I really need those new tires/bars/pedals/etc because they will help me in the race...". But I try to tell myself a race is not much different than a normal ride...it's just faster. Run what you brung. You don't NEED new parts. This is where I find it can get expensive...buying crap you don't really need because it's "for a race."

Originally Posted by EMrider

I've done a similar cost/benefit analysis, for MTB and dirtbikes, and reached a similar conclusion. Racing makes no sense for me, regardless of gas prices. I ride to have fun and my scarcest commodity is time. In a racing framework, the ratio of pedaling time to travel/preparation/wait time is ridiculously low. Much better to just trail ride for fun.
R

Still though...there's something to be said for the experience, just to try it once. You won't get that same experience joyriding with buddies. It's fun to push yourself and be pushed by others, just to see where you're at!