Dear members,
I’m very sorry about the problems we encountered during yesterday’s registration process and for the frustration it caused you, our members. Yesterday’s level of service fell well below our customer service standards. We value your support and membership very highly, and do not take the situation lightly.
While we carefully diagnose the problems, our immediate next step is to come up with a plan to rectify the situation as best we can for all those who tried to register for RSVP but couldn’t. Because RSVP is a “limited” rider event and is currently sold out, our team is already investigating a number of options. You can expect a follow-up announcement from us by next week, hopefully sooner.
However, with this said, we will certainly correct the system for next year.
Thank you for your continued patience and support of the Cascade Bicycle Club.
Chuck Ayers
Executive Director
I’ve been a member since 1986, not because I live in Seattle but because its allowed me to do rides like STP, RSVP and more recently RAW. Used to be you could register for STP on the week of the ride, RSVP at the end of July, and even RAW at the Bike Expo. Clearly the system is broken— I seriously will be re-evaluating my continued membership in the club, as wride hat I had to go through ( four hours off trying to get through to your server) just is too frustrating. I will look forward to your solution for this, in the meantime I may do better aligning with another club.
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I understand things happen. It was just disappointing for my husband not to get a spot when 3 of his riding buddies did because they have better internet speed. I started right at noon and tried till the ride was full to get to checkout. (5:30 p.m.) Next year I’m going to sign up at a friends house that has faster internet . Maybe next year you could have 2 rides instead of one if it was at all feasible. It just wasn’t meant for him to ride in the rsvp this year!
This is not good enough!!!…I think you should reset the whole thing…..refund all monies…and set a date to re-register for RSVP ….and seperate date for RAW and then the rest….I see blobs everywhere…twitter,Facebook,Craigslist…everywhere members asking for membership fees returned….there has to be more the just an apology and “we’ll have it fixed next year”….there should be some discounts given…refund of membership fee!!…..or you’ll see more of your events Pirated….and you’ll end up lossing more then just a couple of bucks …next year…
What’s to stop people from joining the ride unsupported? As far as I can tell the route is all public roads and trails. Maybe orgainze a group to support the unsupported riders
And throw a bigger party in B.C.
Or we could forget about thinking creatively and just show up at CBCHQ with pitchforks and torches.
Cascade has become a victim of its own success. It’s not right to point fingers and rag on the club just because it doesn’t run a server farm as big as Amazon. I understand there are physical limites to the size of the ride, so it can’t be as big as STP. The members-first rule worked OK the last couple of years, but a new process is clearly needed. The club should come up with some options and do a survey to see what the membership wants, some options might be to expand the ride, to do a lottery ala RAMROD, jack up the price
, give precedence to volunteers.
This is a volunteer organization, it would be nice to see people volunteer to help fix the problem instead of just griping.
Griping serves an important function too. It is perfectly fine if that is what some people want to do. Not everyone is a do-er or a fix-er.
Perhaps another way to sell rides of limited space is by using a drawing system. Everyone signs up, then a drawing ensues by some local celebrity, or bike-friendly politician, to finalize the selection. Families / friends could reserve a number of spots on a single ticket in an all or nothing gambit.
I agree with TCD, a lottery is the way to go. My wife spent the whole day, she entered credit card data and then waited for the final confirmation that never came. To the cloud!
Also writing as a long time member and rider on multiple Cascade events (12 STP’s and 3 RSVP’s) and I have to agree that the idea of ‘members first’ sounds good, until there are even more members than possible spaces, and the newly built registration site clearly didn’t get enough stress testing… then I agree that we should look into a new system that doesn’t necessarily reward those with the fastest internet connection.
Perhaps a weighted lottery? Membership counts as a ‘plus 1′ in the drawing? This would at least give non-members a shot at attending and might actually encourage more membership for the added lottery balls (or slips, or what-have-you) that could be used in a drawing for entry into events that are clearly popular… just my $0.02 worth (adjusted for inflation, of course!).
I was lucky enough to get in but my buddy did not. I am a slow but steady kind of rider and for me riding is a social event. How am I going to ride 106 miles by myself?
@lidwien I’ll ride with you.
I am glad at least that you are apologetic for the extremely awful registration situation that you created yesterday. I have tried very hard to two years to get into the RSVP. ANd yesterday, ruined my other plans while I made you a priority to sign in for the RSVP. Four hours and much frustration, it was all to no avail. It has totally made me not want to ride in this event, or try again in the future.
Thanks for listening.
I am one of the many unhappy ones who tried to sign in for the ride yesterday, i have tried to make it for the last 2 years as well.
It seems that too many things conspire against those wanting to participate. I agree that a lottery is a great idea to fix this. Please put the time and effort into a new system.
Count me as one of the many who had hoped to ride this year. If this has come to friends and family divided, finding fastest internet, planning 1-2 years in advance to register, sheer luck of the draw–it might be time to revisit the purpose in view of the Cascade mission.
“creating more livable communities by promoting health & recreation through bicycle activities, advocacy, & education.”
Like many people, I spent 5 hours attempting to register for the RSVP, to no avail. I sent a complaint e-mail to Chuck Ayers and he called me at home within 15 minutes and apologized. I was impressed.
Apparently the organization that set up Cascade’s web site and servers assured them there would be no problems. They tested the servers in December and they saw no problems.
Here is my solution: Stagger the registration for all the events. For example, registration for the RSVP on 10 January, STP on 20 January, RAW on 30 January, etc. That way you don’t have 10,000 + people jamming the servers. This brings people back to the web site multiple times, and means the members don’t have to pay for all events all at once, which can be expensive.
a LOT of events (the Danskin women’s triathlon comes to mind) sell out in a matter of hours. I’ve never been able to get into that race, but instead of acting like a spoiled brat threatening to take my toys and stomp home, I volunteer as a… swim angel instead.
The fact it is, that when so many people want such a limited amount of spots in an event, not everyone will get in. When everyone tries to get in at the same time, not everyone will get in. Even large multi-million dollar businesses have servers/systems go down when demand is too high. Servers will have issues getting so many hits at once (ever heard of a denial of service attack? that’s how they work)
CBC is a non profit and has only so many dollars to spend on servers and bandwidth.
I would suggest that those who don’t like the way things are being run, step up and run for the board, volunteer or do something to be part of the solution.
Thank you, Lisa. Well said.
This ride has sold out quickly for several years. I have tried for two years and failed to connect. Is the ride kept small intentionally or to meet demands of communities, counties or border authorities? Obviously many more people would like to participate. I would like the club management to consider ways to increase it’s size and expand participation—allow more participants in a single ride or consider a second ride. Worst case, a lottery. It would at least let us think we had an even chance of getting in the ride.
I for one have tried to volunteer for one of the ride ref. positions and have yet to hear back from anybody (Robin). Little hard to volunteer when nobody calls you back
My husband and I live in Oregon and receive a membership to Cascade Bicycle Club from a good friend at Christmas so that we can sign up for the RSVP. Last year–no problem–this year was a mess! I too was allready to go right at noon and never was able to get further than marking the box for the ride. We have fast internet but just kept saying the server was too slow in responding.
I have to agree with the idea of a lottery after reading all the other posts.
TCD’s suggestion about a lottery is a good one for Cascade to consider. It works well for some of the bigger races like the Leadville 100 and rides like RAGBRAI . Here’s my suggestion for next year’s registration rush:
- For the entire month of January, only Cascade members can enter the first round of the lottery (this maintains the member advantage of the current plan). At the end of the month, lottery winners win up to a fixed, majority percentage of the total available spots. If the demand is smaller than the fixed percentage, then everyone who enters wins an entry (this way, the procedure works for smaller rides that don’t reach capacity like Flying Wheels or Kitsap Color Century and larger rides that always sell out like STP or RSVP).
- For the month of February, each ride has a second round lottery. Cascade members get a second chance to win entry, and the general public gets their first and only chance to win entry via lottery. This lottery
- Any ride with available spots left is first come, first serve for any remaining spots after the close of the second round lottery. Again, smaller rides like Chilly Hilly that you can currently ride with a last-minute registration benefit from this aspect of the plan.
- Each entry costs some small, non-refundable amount that goes to charities and organizations in the hosting community. This buys goodwill for the event. Leadville 100 costs $15 to enter, and they split it three ways to three charities.
Of course, if we don’t see a lottery or some other connection-independent, fair plan next year, I’m with Michael: pitchforks and torches all the way!
For those who didn’t get in to the RSVP, you can always get in by volunteering for Cascade events. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it takes 24 hours of volunteer time to qualify for the RSVP. Some of the events are a lot of fun and you meet cool people with similar interests.
All is not lost!
To those of you who are suggesting solutions around volunteering – this reenforces what I’ve felt very strongly for the 2 Cascade events I’ve done. Cascade is oblivious to the challenges of remote members. It is very difficult to volunteer when you live far away (unless you are willing to provide opportunities that can be done remotely like data entry). I don’t assume that you want us to fly up at our own expense to volunteer for Cascade events that we are not riding, do you?
In our case, this debacle is even worse. We pay for a club membership that WE CAN’T USE the rest of the year if we don’t get in the event. We pay club membership ONLY to ride this one event and if we don’t get in, we’ve made a donation to a club that we have no real allegiance to (especially after the warm and fuzzy registration experience). I too support the lottery idea. This way, we are not forced to pay registration fees if we don’t get in.
It would help the registration process out if more information was available regarding when credit cards will be charged and receiving a confirmation email that the registration was successful.
I tried for over four hours just to make sure I was registerd for STP and CTS. No RSVP for me yet. I see that I have a pending order under my account, but still do not see a charge on my card and have no way of really knowing if I am registered due to all of the issues.
When I finally was able to register I went through the payment process only to receive an error. I filled out the form to have someone check this out, but have not heard back from anyone.
I plan on registering for other rides such as CH, but do not want to continue with this until this is resolved.
It seems pretty simple to stagger the sign up dates for the various rides. While a lot of people were trying for RSVP, opening registration for everybody on all rides for the year is a guarantee of a mad rush.
Also, on registration days, mirror your site on Amazon, or another online retailer that has the capacity to handle the thousands of requests people will be putting in. Let’s avoid the stampede next year.
Why not just auction 1000 or so places on eBay or sell them on Amazon.com? That way price will allocate the places and any surplus over that required to fund the club can be given to Charity if the idea of maing a profit offends anyone.
People who really want to ride will pay up and eBay or Amazon would not have a problem with the traffic.
Why not use active.com? I’m no fan of theirs but I’ve seen it used quite successfully for high-profile events that sell out quickly – the Way Too Cool 50K trail race which takes place in California in early spring and which sells out its 500 entries in less than 5 minutes comes to mind. Such services are designed to handle high volume access such as what was experienced here. Obviously the group who handled this year’s registration were in over their heads …
I’d love to do RSVP or STP some year, but it won’t be this year [again]. I work 9-5, too.
Yes to staggered registrations, RSVP one day, STP another, etc…
Yes to a lottery, maybe. No to ebay auction (level playing field, please)
If RSVP is such a success (popular & funded) then why not simply host the event twice, or three times each season? Currently, does anyone really know how many would participate if space was unlimited? Then there’s the lottery idea again — it would let Cascade really know how many people want to do RSVP (not just capacity +50).
Unfortunately I’ve been in the hospital with my loving wife from Jan. 2nd – Jan 14th, when we came home from the hospital battling Juvenal Type 1 Diabetes, she tragically nearly died at home after the hospital gave her the wrong insulin. I thank the good Lord I was home.
I missed registration for this 2011 Chilly Hilly cycling event and have decided to attend anyway and ride stationary to Honor my loving wife living and to Honor Military Families. My current update: I have ridden over 44,995.4 miles / 1550 hrs. throughout Western Washington to Honor military families since Sep. 27th of 2009. On Veterans Day weekend during the storm front, I rode 24hours through the freezing cold, Wind and pounding rain.
My name is Alvin Graham Jr. This journey grueling journey I have chosen to take is NOT about me, It’s about you…
(Please, I need your support, to make a donation in support of my journey, I’ll see you there. and you can be reached at:
trimakingadifference@gmail.com Blog: teampdr.blogspot.com (Passion Determination & Resilience) Where my sponsors are my teammates. It takes an individual to set the foundation, but it makes a team to make a Massive global difference. Follow for continued updates. And Yes, This is my journey
Honor
Thank You!
Honor Respect
As a newer member and a first time STP ride last year. I tried all day to get in!! You might want to look in doing a drawing for the ride!! I will try next year!!!
Alvin and Bill: Neither the STP nor the Chilly Hilly are sold out. You can register for either of them today if you’d like.
Pretty much all of the consternation regards the RSVP ride which sells out very quickly, registration system clusterf not withstanding.
Yes I know – Cascade is sorry. This exact same thing happened last year but nobody figured it out for 2011.
I let my Cascade membership lapse last year because of the 2010 RVSP fiasco, Cascade’s event refund policy which assumes all cyclists are employed (not all bicyclists are) and other stuff but mainly because Cascade has lost sight of the fact that Cascade exists to serve the cycling community and not the other way around.
And yes I support other cycling organizations here in Washington – just not this one anymore…
Don’t worry Cascade, me and 100 of my friends will show up and crash your stupid ride!
I think Cascade does this on purpose. They hype it up in advance so they can get your membership money, knowing that even if you spend 4 hours (starting exactly at noon) trying to register only to be denied, they will still get your money. I see no purpose to be a member other than their supported rides. All of the bike nazi politics are only agreeable to a small fraction of their members. Most of us just like the idea of organized, supported rides.
So, Is there an option to volunteer for one day of the ride and ride the other day?
I was fortunate enough to register two people RSVP, although it took 75 minutes at work continually refreshing my browser window … .
A lottery system is the most equitable way to register. Make it a members-only lottery first so you can collect you membership dues, and then any leftover spots become available to public at a later date (although we know that would never happen). Even though I apparently benefited from being able to using my high-speed internet connection at work, the current process just isn’t fair to everyone. Not everyone has the same speed, not everyone has a schedule that allows them to register when the gates open.
Either upgrade the system so that it can handle the registration flood (which would make the registration a bit more random, and more like a lottery anyways), or do a mail-in lottery.
Auctioning off registrations on e-bay is a horrible idea.
I was very fortunate to successfully register this year for the RSVP only because I had six hours to stay online to accomplish the task. Why not allow the 2011 RSVP participants the option to pre-register, for one day the week after the ride for a premium price of $180 per member which is double the price but well worth every penny not having to go through the frustration I just went through last Monday. The extra money from the the premium pre-registration fee could be used by Cascade to support other biking events.
Regards,
sheilageo
This ride will always be popular. I suggest that this ride be separated from the rest of the rides opened for early signup. Do not use the same local server host to do RSVP. Prices are not bad to use a rental server/call center in India. They have whole cities of servers and call centers that source to US companies (or clubs). I can tell you that almost everyone involved in the Monday Fiasco would gladly pay $5 or $10 more to sign up thru a subcontract call center than to waste hours of time to try to go thru the failed current server setup. That way everyone would have an equal opportunity to submit their application.
Thanks for listening, Paul
I was interested to see the comments from those that have previoulsy rode the STP and RSVP and couldn’t get in this time. I would think preference should be given to those who have not recently done the ride or multiple rides in the past.
I have been a member since 2000, and have participated in the RSVP for the last five years. This is the crown of my cycling year. I had tried to register for the ride from noon to 6pm. It was very frustrating, and I’m sure that many members were equally dissapointed as I. I will continue to support your group-, maybe a little less enthusiastically.
I like the idea of two events and/or a lottery which allows for groups registering together. I’d prefer selection by random selection than by access to internet. I feel strongly the club should be accessible to all, even those without internet or the ability to set aside hours during the workday to register (or try to register). I also agree that folks new to the ride should get preference! I appreciate the apology.
I was frustrated as were many others trying to sign up. I would ahve been disappointed to find out in 20 minutes or half an hour that I didn’t get in, but wasting half an afternoon home from work made it worse. Also, I convinced friend to sign up with me and my husband so we could ride together, and they got in but we didn’t. Now we can’t even transfer a registration if we want to.
I think that a lottery is fairest, allowing for small groups (up to 4?) to register together so they can ride together. And what about information about a waiting list or something, since I’ve already seen comments about returning registrations?
For now, I will be content training with my friend, and who knows what I’ll do the weekend of the ride?
If your “technology” can not handle it, why not try the old fashioned method of snail mail and then a lottery. That seems like it would be more fair for those of us who have to be at work at noon on Mondays!
I thought there was going to be a follow up announcement from Cascade with in a week or less?
@james, we’re dotting our Is and crossing our Ts. It’s pending… thanks for your patience.
While I see that most people are upset about not being able to register for RSVP, I have a different complaint. I was unable to get through for registration on the NE Washington/BC tour until 6pm when I found that this tour was sold out. My brother after hanging on line for several hours did manage to register and pay his non refundable deposit, non transferable deposit. But we only want to do the tour if we can ride together.
Two suggestions:
A seperate registration time for each event.
Allow 1 person to register for 2 or 3. While I assume that the reason for 1 person/ 1registration is to prevent big block purchases locking up an event it seems unreasonable to expect that each individual is prepared to go on a tour alone.
Still waiting for that follow up announcement…
Well we’re coming up on nearly 2 weeks since “The Crash” and still no word as to their plan to resolve and assist their customers…yet they have collected all monies….seems their priorities are all too familiar….Greed first….Customer satisfaction last….its the way of the world….Grass Roots???…….yeah right!!