Bikes are special. They can bring people together. When people come together to ride bikes, a unique experience is created that has a value greater than the sum of its parts. We know The Heywood is one of those special intersections in time and space.
We’ve heard some people refer to events like The Heywood as “free” events. While it’s true that one of our core values is to reduce or eliminate as many barriers to entry as possible for our ride, there are some very real expenses that go into organizing the weekend and creating a welcoming, fun, and inclusive environment. In our initial run, we relied exclusively on donations to cover these costs. That allowed us to get a good start, but we quickly determined that it’s not going to be a sustainable model to guarantee the longevity of The Heywood and allow us to continue to expand the gravel circle as wide as we envision.
We’ve had many internal debates about the most equitable and fair way to generate a stable bank account for The Heywood while keeping the financial barrier as low as possible. Many commercial cycling events require a cash outlay of hundreds of dollars per rider. That’s out of the question for us — it’s antithetical to our purpose. We landed on a simple $25 entry. Many of the folks in our bicycle community are financially fortunate enough that twenty five bucks is easily found in disposable income. Though there are definitely some for whom that amount is impossible to part with. We are committed to making sure cost does not keep a rider from participating. If that resonates with you, please reach out to us. We’ll get you registered regardless of your means.
We love you all, and we cannot wait to see you back in Northfield this spring!
Marty, Ben, and Mike.