Audaxes do still represent better value than other similar cycling events, and charges have remained static for a long time. But there's a tension between those who see Audax as club runs with added validation and those who see them as better value versions of more commercially-minded events.
Someone from a club or CTC background would be doing 100 km weekend rides, and wouldn't be paying anything beyond membership fees. They might be paying for events open to members of other clubs; the club 10 or 25 mile TT, or a touring competition/ treasure hunt, or a reliability trial. An Audax is an extension of that, a long ride, which is timed, and has a navigation element.
In time trialling there's a ladder of participation and achievement, from club 10 to National Championship. The national championships are most keenly contested at shorter distances, and the participants are an elite. The 24 always has spare places, so the field is more mixed. It's possible to hear of the 24, be inspired, and enter at the first opportunity. 'Rival' 24 hour events are much more costly, as they are commercial events, which aren't the top of a pyramid of club events.
PBP has a similar function to the 24 within cyclotouring. It has the capacity to inspire, and to draw participants to the activity. It's the top of the French cyclotouring pyramid, and it's supported by the lower tiers of cyclotouring clubs. LEL is much the same, but with a lack of qualification rides.
Those drawn straight to PBP or LEL from a background of commercial rides won't appreciate the pyramid structure. They're buying straight into the peak of the pursuit. Those events are good value to them, at perhaps a half or a third of what could be done commercially. PBP has stayed pretty stable in terms of price, although the weakness of the £ has impacted on costs for UK participants. LEL has had marked increases in price at every running.
AUK is good at retaining those who are attracted to it through flagship events. People find the combination of comradeship and adventure compelling, and it gives them stories to tell themselves and others. The magazine provides a forum for storytelling, as do the various social media outlets, such as here.
The various critiques of the IT project have a validity deriving from the pathway that led to AUK. If Audax is a stage of evolution from club run to PBP, then it's not obvious that it should cost much, or that it should need much in the way of supporting facilities. Charges for rides will be levied at varying rates according to membership status, and at the AGM the treasurer will hopefully announce a positive balance, meaning no increase in subs.
Those who come to Audax from commercial events will find Audax more sociable, as the fields are smaller, and the rides are more frequent. Once they get used to the Spartan ethic, those converts start to evangelise. Their mates put up the usual objections; Audaxers wear sandals and are weird; there's no signposting; bus stops and garage forecourts are seen as a luxury; the participants are too white, too old and too male; and so on. That leads to demands for change, at least in altering those perceptions.
There's also a geographical tension. Demand is highest in metropolitan areas, and the supply of Audaxes is easiest in rural areas. Organising is done by those at the edge of conurbations, or in towns with easy access to good riding areas. The combination of these various factors spike in the provision of costlier rides with better facilities from the London fringe. These garner more media attention, and give a heightened impression of a trend. There's then an interest in where that trend might lead.
I suppose the two extreme outcomes would be AUK being absorbed into Cycling UK, as OCD has been absorbed into AUK, or AUK including 'commercial' and charity events into its validation structure. I think that the situation will become clearer after PBP 2019.
PBP had been on a steady development path since it became based in St Quentin, but the coming of the velodrome seems to have disturbed the equilibrium. There were creaks in the structure in 2015, as the organisation reached its limits. I'll be interested to see how 2019 works out.
Many 'communitarian' organisations face the same problems as AUK, an erosion of the base of the pyramid, coupled with an influx of evangelical converts seeking solace from a sense of community. There are plenty of committees divided between the old-timers who want to concentrate on maintaining the roof of the meeting hall, and evangelists who want to recruit new members through novel means.