Part of the problem is that local riders will have completely different perceptions of value compared with overseas riders, and the event has to cater for both groups. So for a local rider, £300 for five days (in my case 
) all in TLC might seem expensive. For an overseas rider, five days TLC in a foreign country might well seem a bargain. How to square that observation with the fact the op is an overseas rider, I'm not sure.
Manotea - you say £300 might be expensive. Please give a break down of how you would cost such a ride. Unless all you eat is cheap out of date pasties and sleep in bus shelters I struggle to see how you do it. Four nights sleep at a TL will cost about £200 and that leaves £100 for five day's food. If you are riding about 300km per day that will be at least 5 meals a day so 15 meals all for £100 at about £6.50 each.
He said it might
seem expensive. I don't think the difference between
seem and
be is overly pedantic.
A while ago, I made a post (I think in another place, in any case in another thread) along the lines that £300 was an absolute bargain for a five day activity holiday, including all accommodation and freshly-cooked food, and taking you to some of the most beautiful parts of the UK. However, £75 a night for four nights on an airbed in a dorm full of snoring, farting audaxers and as much mass-catered grub as you can eat doesn't seem quite such a good deal, especially as you've got to ride a bike all day (and probably much of the night) to get to your next airbed, and share the showers and loos with 1500 other people.
There's also the aspect that for a London-based rider, bumping the cost from £220 to £320 is pretty much a fifty percent hike for little visible benefit
1 over last time, while for an overseas rider who is spending a *lot* more in any case the overall percentage rise is very unlikely to be significantly more than 15%, and may only be 3 or 5%. (At the lower end £100 each way for a short-haul flight on a budget airline including a rip-off bike fee, and £50x2 for one night in a budget hotel before and after, plus a bit for drinks and food would give a likely minimum 2013 cost of maybe £550 rising to £650 for 2017, while it would be easy to spend two or three grand on long-haul flights and a week or two in more expensive hotels.)
1: I should probably be clear that I absolutely support Danial's decision to raise the fee in order to pay people to do the grottier jobs like cleaning loos. "Little visible benefit" is simply a clumsy way of saying that I don't think riders will notice whether they are being fed food cooked by paid staff or volunteers, or using a shower cleaned by paid staff or volunteers. Paying staff in order to reduce the event's dependence on volunteers will - or at least should - make it a better event (if only because more sustainable) for both riders and volunteers, but I think it's the volunteers who will most likely have a noticeably more enjoyable experience. And while I'm glad of and grateful to all those volunteers who gave so much time and effort last time, I am glad that next time I won't be expecting quite so much of quite so many people, simply to make my ride cheaper.
