GABA’s Blue Loop ride canceled due to low ridership

August 17, 2012 • Posted by: Michael McKisson

El Grupo participates in a Blue Loop Bike Tour

The Greater Arizona Bicycling Association announced yesterday that the Blue Loop Bicycle Tour had been cancelled this year due to low ridership.

GABA ride organizer James Harms said 29 people were registered for the ride compared to the 89 who rode last year. The 89 who rode last year was still down from previous years.

“It was looking to create a significant loss,” Steve Bresler GABA’s vice-president said.

Bresler said the board considered taking a loss on the ride in order to keep it going, but ultimately the group decided they need to exercise financial responsibility and cancel the ride.

The group also organizes the Trail of the Mountain Spirits ride scheduled for the same Sept. 1-3 dates.

Bresler said the financial hit for forging ahead with the Blue Loop was greater than continuing with Trail of the Mountain Spirits ride so the group will continue trying to promote the Trail of the Mountain Spirits ride.

Harms wasn’t sure how many years the Blue Loop tour had been supported by GABA, but said he though it had been going on for at least the last eight years.

In the announcement, GABA requested people who intend to participate in their rides register earlier. The group is also looking into why ridership has been declining to see what they can do to entice people to join their supported rides.

Learn more about the Trail of Mountain Spirits ride here.

What do you think? Why do or don’t you participate in GABA rides? Leave a comment.

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7 comments

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Nevermind

Martha Retallick

Nirvana's very best album. None of the others came close.

You rocker....actually I was testing the new browser I had to get because of the changes here so I could post. All my stuff is old...all my frames are steel.

Martha Retallick

I can remember participating in this ride back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Sorry, but my knees can no longer handle this sort of event. As for GABA, I walked out of that club back in 1995. What finally did it for me was organizing the fall 1995 bike swap meet and being told that the club would cover the event expenses. Well, halfway through the summer, I was told that I'd have to fund-raise for those expenses. So, I took my folder of bike swap materials over to Jerry Pitcock's bike shop, handed it to him, and said "The hell with them." By them, I meant GABA. I let my membership run out and have never rejoined. The bike swap thing was preceded by several years of having to endure the snobbery of people who took umbrage at the fact that I had the audacity to come on GABA tours with a fully loaded bike. I mean, come on, they're bike TOURS, aren't they? My fully loaded bike meant that I could not ride FAST, and that was the whole point of these... ...tours. And that's the story of me and GABA.

rideanytime

The problem is that these GABA events are full of competitive tourists who've never done an actual sanctioned race but want to act competitive. They don't know what a real bike tour is.

Frank Tellez

Where do they advertise these rides? This is the first I've heard of it.

rideanytime

That's sad about the cancellation, but I wonder how the event was promoted. It seems like there should be lots of cyclists in the Phoenix area who would have attended the tour if they knew about it. Also, why have two tours on the same weekend?