Of the 4 or 5 triathlons that are local to me (Hérault, France) then numbers are generally down. The “big” local race that was a few weeks ago had 250 people on the M course, compared to previous years when it’s been more like 600 - the bike park was only half full! A couple of small local races have had slightly higher numbers, but not all - I’m signed up for a cross triathlon this Sunday where the field in both M and S distances is around 50 instead of around 200.
I think it’s rising fuel prices and less willingness to travel - a quick look at the clubs listed in results between 2022/2019 shows most participants are from local clubs this year. Which would also explain why some of the small local races are seeing the same or more entries.
We are seeing groups of new Audaxers wearing the same club tops. It’s a bit of a mix really, but what often happens is one tries it, they tell their club mates, and next time they ride one there’s a few more and so on.
I’ve pretty much stopped registering for any events for a variety of reasons. I used to road race quite a bit, but many events are gone, and we don’t even have a weekly crit series anymore. I was racing gravel 5 or 6 years ago when it was “new”, but even that has lost it’s appeal due to the size, logistics, and cost of events. My club mates and I have been doing weekend trips and just downloading awesome gravel routes in different places and getting our ‘fix’ that way. This seems to be our path forward - get a group of guys and rent an airbnb, and do an awesome weekend of riding on validated routes. You get to ride with your friends do it on your own schedule with less cost and hassle.
I’m echoing a lot from above, gravel races are everywhere. In Florida we have 3 different people hosting series’s. They’ll have multiple races on the weekend, same day as other races going on. I mostly don’t see the value in spending 50+ dollars to go ride somewhere I can ride for free. All of the roadies down here are turning the gravel because of less road races. Criteriums are big, XC races are doing well and CX isn’t as popular. I also agree the cost of everything these days makes it hard to want to spend X amount of dollars.
I like doing some of the bigger gravel races, they are expensive but I make a whole vacation trip out of it, consisting of other activities like hiking, sightseeing and food touring.
One of my favorite things is whatever state I go to I try to eat whatever food that they are known for. I’ll be in North Carolina this weekend so I’ll be having lots BBQ and Carolina style hot dogs.
In addition to all the reasons already stated, two other factors could be illness (covid, flu or others), and also parts shortages.
In Australia, we’re experiencing high rates of covid and flu infections, with events having low attendance or even being cancelled as organisers have been understaffed due to illness.
Parts are also hard to come by, so people just may not have optimal setups to race.
We’ve also had incredible rain events in some areas , so a number of races have been postponed or cancelled all together as the courses are unsafe. I gave up on one event after it was postponed 4 times .
However, bmx seems to rocketing along. My kids had a champs event with over 500 racers a few weeks ago. Bmx is very accessible to a wider range of the community with low entry and start up costs, and always plenty of gear to borrow on race nights, which contributes to healthy numbers.
In my area most of the gravel events are not suited for me to be successful in the race. Rather then make a good course for racers they make everything EPIC. This ruins the appeal of the event as it turns it into a time trial and not a race. Which makes me say, I can just ride from my house if im going to end doing this event solo with no real race tactics being involved. Which brings me back to gravel racing is not really a race its more of a ride and this is evident by the people doing the event, 5% are racing the rest are there for fun.
Everything appears to be selling out in the DC/MD/VA area. I’ve mostly been doing gravel events and those are all sold out weeks/months in advance. I think the local training crit is doing fairly well for participation and the month long week night xc race was selling out the last few weeks. The costs are certainly higher for gravel events but the organizing has been well done and I’m capable of supporting it. I hope we see more reduced entries for juniors in gravel.
Crits around here don’t feel approachable but perhaps my appetite for cat 5 nonsense just isn’t there.
Ditto. I don’t mention it a much around here since few follow it, but I got back into BMX racing last year. BMX on the whole in the US has seen a resurgence in the last 2 years or so with record attendance and growth.
The fact that it’s family focused with kids in the center is notable compared to the other cycling we typically consider. There are also plenty of BMX racing parents on track and the whole experience is something partly unique in the sphere. Those people lucky enough to have a local track can race weekly and really have a good time for an entire summer if the track is active and well run.
I have to travel 2+ hours to hit any racing, but have a local pump track for some practice at least. As of now, I am planning to hit the state qualifier & finals events (3 weekends in total). I previously planned to do a few practice days too, but the cost of gas has put a damper on that for me.
I think we are beginning to see the pendulum swing back the other direction on this front…many are starting to realize that events like Unbound 200 are largely just sufferfests for most and they are now looking at the shorter distances at the same event.
I have anecdotally heard many people advocate for doing the 100 mile (or less) option for SBT GRVL, for example.
Personally, I welcome that mentality / approach. You can only do so many ridiculously long races / events every year.
Yeah, the apparent 100+ mile gravel emphasis has never sat well with me. I get having options with mega distance for those that want it, but think there is a largely untapped market in the 50- mile range.
We did a small scale gravel race as part of our state games last year. We had 12 mile and 38 mile options and the reception was quite good. The short had plenty of people who never raced and just wanted to see what it was about. Overall, these shorter events seemed to be well liked and something I think warrants more consideration in the future.
I even considered the option of stuff like a gravel crit or other short lap type event that might include some non-race elements just to offer something different than the typical event.
I purposely choose shorter gravel events to feel more like a race, IMO anyone can survive riding a long bike ride. 7+hour races just aren’t my cup of tea.
I think cycling has a demographic problem where people are aging out or quitting competition for family reasons etc… And they aren’t being replaced by young people. Road races like TOC are going away and things are pretty sad looking.
Those two events are a destination vacation for a multi-state (and Canada) audience. Amazing scenery, GREAT race director, party atmosphere and plenty of tourist attractions. I am signed up for both and have a couple observations.
The Five-O MTB race did sell out very quickly but I noticed it took closer to 20-30 minutes compared to as little as 5 minutes in the past. Not a huge difference but I would bet in 2019 their numbers would have been double or triple if they wouldn’t have a participant limit.
PIG-O gravel race (first time seeing that acronym and love it!) - This relates to TheOtherChad talking about the growing length of events. The PIG-O offers 45 up to 210 mile distances. I would typically limit my gravel “racing” to under 50 miles. Unfortunately they advertise the 45 as a fun ride and are not providing places, just finisher awards. So I signed up for the 70. How far have we progressed where 45 miles up into the Black Hills is only a “fun ride”? Maybe 3-5 percent of the population is even capable of riding 45 miles in a day. Since I weigh 220 lbs (100 kg), yes I’m tall, the endurance required to race 70 miles with the first 35 climbing - just not realistic. I’ll have to pace at zone 2 and utilize the 46 tooth in the back. Not really meaning this to be a critique, just something that would likely change if event participation falls off. I know a few riders capable of the very long distances. Once they tackle it, they go back to a shorter distance in future years unless that race is their A race.
Both of these races started sign up before gas prices took off. So now your only choice for somewhat reasonable travel and lodging is to tent it at city park. Bringing a camper means paying over twice in fuel what you paid last year. Lodging costs in all tourist destinations this year is atrocious. I have family that manages hotels in the Midwest and literally the general managers end up cleaning rooms - impossible to hire employees. I wouldn’t even consider attending but I have relatives to stay with. Will be interesting at these, and races all over, how many registrants don’t show up because the costs have doubled compared to when the signup opened.
Until reading this thread, I didn’t realize what I am paying for at gravel races is the right to see my friends before hand, and to compare excuses afterward for why the performance wasn’t up to par.
It was mentioned above but you are seeing people “Age Out” IMO - I am a great example, at 33 years old I raced for the last 20 years, I know have a young family (2 boys under 3) and don’t really race anymore.
Then you have my father in law - kids out of house, raced all up until a few years ago, loves doing get-a-way rides now during retirement.
I think we see a wide range of “aging” out without replacement, lets be realistic a decent bike cost the same as a motorcycle now and there are millions of hobbies to do. I just don’t think younger generations have interest in cycling or want to spend that kind of money on it.
Road racing is dead, gone and not to be found in the USA. It may come back but I think gravel will consume and be the standard idea of road riding/racing from this point on.
I consider myself and cyclist my age true Lance Armstrong Boomers
Age is interesting… I was just reading an equivalent thread on a French forum, and a guy was saying that yes, even some really big marathons are seeing reduced numbers, and also that in his industry (concerts) it’s only the biggest names that are selling out the seats - smaller acts are struggling. He seemed to think that factors include:
post lockdown change of habits : sofa/netflix/facetime drinks have replaced going out
“lost generation” of 16 to 22 year olds who haven’t been able to get out for the past 3 years… so they don’t
cost of living/fuel crisis
continuing health worries - people aren’t comfortable with being packed together
A lot of that could be relevant to ride/run/multisport events, especially if you add in lack of training.
Have heard similar numbers here in Denmark. Some Grand Fondos has been cancelled as there were up to 45% fewer participants compared to pre-corona years. Besides that, getting volunteers also seems harder than before.
I think Unbound is smart to have the 50 mile option. A small gravel race I do I believe added a 25 mile option to their 50, 100, 177 mile route. One thing the shorter route option like 25 miles is bring in spouses or friends of cyclists who are more casual but get convinced to come out by friend/spouse for a fun day that’s not a sufferfesr. Ride 25 miles. Hang out. Have a beer and lunch.
I’m in the Northern California Bay Area and road events are definitely down. I think it just costs too much for organizers to put on events. If you look at the weekend group rides there are certainly more road cyclists than when I started in 2018; granted most probably don’t race but I wouldn’t be surprised if even with more racers, the cost of holding road events has skyrocketed in comparison.
Our numbers are low as well here in the PNW area mainly WA across most disciplines from road and gravel although some dependent on the calendar conflicts. A few of the events though are attributed due to an unusual wet cold winter and spring.
What’s surprising was last year when things were opening up and races coming back, numbers were larger. I think the fuel costs affecting all industries, the war in Ukraine and cost of inflation rising is affecting peoples’ wallets and their decisions to race.
Maybe 3-5 percent of the population is even capable of riding 45 miles in a day. Since I weigh 220 lbs (100 kg), yes I’m tall, the endurance required to race 70 miles with the first 35 climbing - just not realistic. I’ll have to pace at zone 2 and utilize the 46 tooth in the back. Not really meaning this to be a critique, just something that would likely change if event participation falls off. I know a few riders capable of the very long distances. Once they tackle it, they go back to a shorter distance in future years unless that race is their A race.
