Trans Cascadia Allows Racers to Defer Entry Following Cancellation Feedback
Trans Cascadia has reversed its decision to only offer racers a 50% refund on their entry following the cancellation of the event for 2020, and is now allowing racers to defer their entry to 2021.
An initial statement from Trans Cascadia said that racers were entitled to: "50% of their entry fees back and guaranteed entry for 2021 at a reduced entry rate of $2000 ($300 off)." The race claimed that the remaining money had already been spent, saying: "half of the funds that you have invested with us have already been spent on reclaiming the backcountry trails that were intended to be in the race this year (we started the work in October 2019) as well as, on continuing the important work of protecting all the mountain bike access to this and previous TC locations in the backcountry."
However, this did not sit too well with racers who now felt they had been forced to donate $1,000 for trail advocacy. One racer reached out to us at Pinkbike and said, "I'm all for investing in trails. I don't think many riders would have voluntarily made a $1,000 "donation" to trails this summer."
We reached out to the organizers for more information and they sent us a statement that, following feedback from racers, they will now allow racers to defer entry to next year for no extra charge. The statement is posted in full below:
 | We issued a statement on Monday about the cancellation of the 2020 Trans-Cascadia and it only offered one option for this year's registered racers. We have since taken in the feedback that was provided by some of you and realized our error. These are unprecedented times and we admittedly don’t have all the answers. As the only multi-day event that is created solely as the result of a non-profit advocacy group and the work of volunteers, we are unable to look to other events to pave the way for these decisions. Our situation is therefore incredibly unique and especially challenging. That said, we will always listen to our racer's concerns as we continue to learn and evolve as an organization. After further review, we will offer an alternative solution; you can defer your entry to 2021. Thank you for your support of Trans-Cascadia and for signing up for our 2020 race. This event and advocacy work protecting our backcountry riding areas couldn't happen without you - our community of racers - and we are extremely grateful for your support, patience, and feedback. |
Riders have until July 15 to make their decision.
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probably have done that, and possibly donated more. Racers accept the no refund policy for races because there might be unforeseen and/or last minute issues and the organizers had already spent money setting up the race, but this does not seem like a valid reason to not refund entry fees.
Trans-Cascadia and the trail work they have done has had an undeniably positive impact in reopening old/lost trails in the Willamette NF in Oregon. They’ve also come back to more well-known trails to do needed maintenance and repair work. They aren’t the only people doing this but there are many hundreds of miles of trail in this region alone and never enough volunteers, funding, saws, gas, shovels or food to keep It all open. They have definitely helped.
I was livid at the “we’re keeping your $1,150” announcement, and this is the outcome I was hoping for. Now, I’m concerned that it took an outcry from racers and sponsors for TC organizers to do what’s obviously the right thing.
Hopefully this was just a short-sighted decision and not representative the TC’s attitude towards racers who are willing to invest in the experience they’re offering. I hope they’ll be significantly more open and communicative in the future.