Ride London 100

what i'm trying to say is that it is not enough of a challenge to warrant sponsorship of someone in any sort of decent shape (although i'm not considering timed attempts) so it undermines the event if they start making it difficult to just sign up and do it without raising money.

not everyone is like you.
there were plenty of people who were not "morbidly obese" who found it a challenge.
people who cycle regularly are not really the target market/audience, although they will continue to give a few places to the quick ones.