There's a lot of talk lately on various discussion boards about the high cost of race fees. In particular, racers are objecting to the high price for solo racers at 24 events. In some cases it seems the race fees for a solo rider are two to three times more than that of an individual that is part of a relay team. Since there does not seem to be any additional costs associated with the registration of a solo racer vs. an individual for a team (in fact it is just the opposite) this must be a case of some historical precedent.
Well, John Stamstad may be the culprit. According to his bio and witnessed by Ashwinearl (link found via Blue Collar Mountain Biking), Stamstad paid for a team of four in order to race solo at the 24 Hours of Canaan Valley back in 1996. Apparently it was the first time anyone attempted a 24 hour race solo and the promoters had no policy for this. I guess promoters just started treating solo riders like a team with a slight discount provided.
I can only imagine the thinking of race promoters as they realized they needed a pricing policy for this new phenomenon of the solo 24 hour rider.
"We must treat solo riders as though they are a team. Our preliminary research shows that each team of four has one serious rider and three schlubs. If we charge solo riders an individual price they will choose to go solo and ditch the schlubs. This will limit the field to only serious riders and reduce the overall revenue stream that we are rightfully due since there are far more schlubs out there than serious riders."
It's time to bring prices for solo riders closer to the level of an individual instead of the team. Ride424 has a nice article with some additional advice for promoters. Thanks to epic rider Adam Lisonbee for bringing additional light to the issue.
