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fukawitribe.
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February 8, 2017 at 7:27 pm #26759
BrokenBootneck
Applied every year not got in once bloody gutted. Can’t ask people to sponsor me for something I do for fun. Anyone else been unsuccessful five years in a row?
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fukawitribe
Organon wrote:
Organon wrote:I thought this was a little early for the commiserations magazine. They are just plugging the charity spots/scarcity. Diamonds are just shiny rocks, unless there are a lot of people who want them and we think they are rare. There are other events like the Dunwich Dynamo.
No one is plugging anything here now, just some standard whineage in a 2 year old zombie article
Organon
I thought this was a little
I thought this was a little early for the commiserations magazine. They are just plugging the charity spots/scarcity. Diamonds are just shiny rocks, unless there are a lot of people who want them and we think they are rare. There are other events like the Dunwich Dynamo.
srchar
Just turn up and start the
Just turn up and start the route at 5am before the event officially begins but after the roads have all been closed.
Nick T
I wish they gave you an
I wish they gave you an option to refuse the annual glossy rejection comic when you register, I’d rather maximise the net carbon offsetting by cycling without clearing another hectare of rainforest
oceandweller
I’ve entered 6 times, been
I’ve entered 6 times, been rejected 6 times. Have tried everything – joined BC, volunteered as a marshal, donated my entry, none of it helped. I thought my age (70) might get me preferential treatment but it didn’t.
I believe the ballot itself *is* kind of random but I’m also sure it’s flawed. For one thing, it’s far too big. Keeping it open until they have 80k applications is simply brain dead. With about 25k places on offer there’s maybe 12k or 15k places filled thru the ballot. That means even if it’s truly random your odds are only 15% or so. Judging from hearsay there does seem to be preferential treatment for women, ethnic minorities, various handicaps (but not my arthritis, damn!) & the dead good etc which skews the odds. All in all, I’d guess an ordinary WMAM entrant doesn’t have even 1 chance in 10.
The Cape Argus in Cape Town does it better. Members of the Pedal Power Association (sort of a local equivalent of CTC) get preferential entries, entry to the ballot is only open for a few weeks & they don’t overload with charity places that don’t all get filled. My impression is that ordinary riders (viz. not members of any in group) have about a 50-50 chance in the ballot & I think the organisers guarantee a place to anyone who gets repeated rejections (but don’t quote me on that). Plus, FWIW the Argus is much more fun than RideLondon, tho it does work out a bit more expensive if you live in the UK. As ever, the more bread you have the less shit you have to eat…
daflj
dottigirl wrote:PaulBox wrote:dottigirl wrote:I’m saying this knowing people who’ve applied every year and never got in.And others who’ve got in every, single year.
Maybe they’re just unlucky, but if you’ve been rejected three or more years in a row, should there not be a mechanism where you get in automatically the next time?
This is my favourite argument, “there’s something wrong with the completely random ballot because I never get in, so maybe they should make it more fixed…”
To repeat myself, I have not applied. This is from speaking with club members and friends. The same people get in every year, the same people have to either rely on club or charity places, if they can be bothered.
I’m not talking about making the whole ballot fixed, it’s ensuring those who have missed out get their chance. Give them a default place and remove them from the ballot. The London Marathon used to do this.
Regarding the ballot, it can’t be random if it uses estimated completion times. The bell curve is mentioned – perhaps there should be an extra weighting for those with the more popular times?
Or rather, times shouldn’t be used at all.
Fourth time in a row I’ve missed out.
And I agree dotti – it can’t be a completely random ballot if they are using potential completion times to smooth out the numbers on the roads. There must be some algorithm applied to the entrants.
Anonymous
dottigirl wrote:Leviathan wrote:This is a whole lot of faff just to ride on some closed roads. What would you do?Or you could join a club/put together a team at your club and enter that? Not that much of a faff if you can find three like-minded people in the same club.
Another bonus is the club teams usually get the earlier waves too.
No. Last year my club team had a 8:55 am time slot despite all registering sub 5 hour times the year previous and on our applications. Our chute was absolutely full of club teams…
cdamian
I tried and got in for the
I tried and got in for the first time.
I am going through the overseas ballot though, which is probably another type of random.
Looking forward to cycle in London again, the last time was for Dunwich Dynamo 2013.
I hope the weather is kind.
Jonathan Knight
I’ve done it three times,
I’ve done it three times, enjoyed the first two but last year was crap. Ended up stuck behind one of the big crashes and after that the roads were far too busy to make it enjoyable. Now I don’t live in the U.K. I will not be doing it again.
Regarding charities, if I remember right they have to pay a couple of hundred pounds a place so it’s no wonder they want a good amount back from riders who take up those places.
PaulBox
dottigirl wrote:PaulBox wrote:dottigirl wrote:I’m saying this knowing people who’ve applied every year and never got in.And others who’ve got in every, single year.
Maybe they’re just unlucky, but if you’ve been rejected three or more years in a row, should there not be a mechanism where you get in automatically the next time?
This is my favourite argument, “there’s something wrong with the completely random ballot because I never get in, so maybe they should make it more fixed…”
To repeat myself, I have not applied. This is from speaking with club members and friends. The same people get in every year, the same people have to either rely on club or charity places, if they can be bothered.
I’m not talking about making the whole ballot fixed, it’s ensuring those who have missed out get their chance. Give them a default place and remove them from the ballot. The London Marathon used to do this.
Regarding the ballot, it can’t be random if it uses estimated completion times. The bell curve is mentioned – perhaps there should be an extra weighting for those with the more popular times?
Or rather, times shouldn’t be used at all.
No need to repeat yourself, I understood you the first time. But I still disagree with the principal that you are suggesting.
Although it’s not completely random, common sense (re the bell curve) and sexual equality are the only things that I believe skew the random nature of the exercise, I’m happy with that.
One of the problems with the bell curve however is that a lot of novices have absolutely no idea how long the ride will take them, it’s a tough call if it’s your first time tackling something like this.
Morat
Gave up after 5 years of
Gave up after 5 years of trying – the spam was too much.
arckuk
skidlid wrote:arckuk wrote:“…so didn’t bother taking up the deferred option…”Can I have your place then…..please?
Sorry – the option to take it has gone – I figured it would be one more place in the draw that someone else could have!
skidlid
arckuk wrote:“…so didn’t bother taking up the deferred option…”Can I have your place then…..please?
dottigirl
Leviathan wrote:
Leviathan wrote:This is a whole lot of faff just to ride on some closed roads. What would you do?Or you could join a club/put together a team at your club and enter that? Not that much of a faff if you can find three like-minded people in the same club.
Another bonus is the club teams usually get the earlier waves too.
CXR94Di2
Hey Bob
Hey Bob đŸ™‚ -
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