But why do only a minority of events require mudguards? It’s not difficult to find two events in the same part of the country at the same time of the year, one with mandatory mudguards, one without. Are all of the Orgs who don’t insist on mudguards unfussy / unmannerly / unhygienic? Or is there something else at play?
The request from mudguards doesn't come purely from the organiser (well, there may be some who misuse the requirement). It's almost certainly to placate one or more of the intended controls. In planning the event the organiser asks the cafe owner if they would mind being a control for the ride giving them a rough idea of how many people will arrive, how much they'll spend and how they are likely to be spread out over a certain time-frame. The cafe owner might say "sorry, no thanks, we get lots of cyclists in and many leave the seats in a muddy mess, much as I'd like the extra custom I can't be dealing with the extra hassle." If the organiser can say "That's ok, we can require all riders to have mudguards, so they may be a little damp if it's raining but they should be clean." That may, or may not, be enough to swing it.
So two rides on the same day in the same area might have different mudguard stipulations because they use different controls, or the control owner hasn't grumbled enough to the organiser.
