Closed road obsession

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Soltydog

Legendary Member
Location
near Hornsea
I'm doing Hull 108. It's not closed roads but it's only £11 and there's great feed stations and support. Also it's for charity. Why not come along and pirate the event?
What is the Hull 108? I'm guessing its around Hull, but not heard of it & google brings nothing up :wacko:
 

Milzy

Guru
What is the Hull 108? I'm guessing its around Hull, but not heard of it & google brings nothing up :wacko:
https://www.elmsallrc.co.uk/humber-bridge-108

For Parkinson's. It's a value sportive. To run a 10k can cost £20
 

Tin Pot

Guru
I'm doing Hull 108. It's not closed roads but it's only £11 and there's great feed stations and support. Also it's for charity. Why not come along and pirate the event?

£11 ~= two pints of beer round these parts so that's a pretty cheap sportive.

It costs me c.£100 in fuel and six hours to get to Hull though, so maybe not, but thanks for inviting :smile:
 
Slightly OT

I have seen closed road family rides and they attract a far greater range os cyclists than they would on an open road event
 

Milzy

Guru
£11 ~= two pints of beer round these parts so that's a pretty cheap sportive.

It costs me c.£100 in fuel and six hours to get to Hull though, so maybe not, but thanks for inviting :smile:
TBH it's a very grim place, you'd not want to if you had a private helicopter with free fuel in all fairness.
 
You can race hard as your skill and training allows.

This is one very big reason why I don't do Sportives. They are not races ( despite the fact far too many riders believe they are). Sticking a number on your bike, does not make it a race. It's like inviting a load of track day monkeys to take part in a race without passing an ARDS test. Cycling ( and Sportives in particular) is pretty much the only time you can use your mode of transport to 'race', and don't have to be licensed, or have to do it in strictly controlled conditions, and a controlled environment. At least closed road Sportives address the 'controlled environment' issue ( to an extent ).
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
So there are some public roads I shouldn't ride on some times?

Of course not. But if you're specifically going to ride the sportive route on the day of the sportive it seems somewhat mean-spirited. You get all the experience of the event (barring the food stops of course) that everyone else has paid to be part of

If you want to ride the route then why not do it some other day? Wanting to do it with the paying entrants seems to suggest there is some value to being a participant so maybe you should pay like the rest?
 

Tin Pot

Guru
This is one very big reason why I don't do Sportives. They are not races ( despite the fact far too many riders believe they are). Sticking a number on your bike, does not make it a race. It's like inviting a load of track day monkeys to take part in a race without passing an ARDS test. Cycling ( and Sportives in particular) is pretty much the only time you can use your mode of transport to 'race', and don't have to be licensed, or have to do it in strictly controlled conditions, and a controlled environment. At least closed road Sportives address the 'controlled environment' issue ( to an extent ).

Agreed.
 

srw

It's a bit more complicated than that...
http://www.mallorca312.com/recorrido_312

Yeah, I can understand the attraction if you're a hill-riding nutter. The mass of the main peleton blocking a junction at Soller was quite annoying for a minibus trying to get to Palma (and rather more than that for people trying to get flights), but the time estimates published on the website were really quite accurate. By 10:15, a few minutes before the 10:22 on the website, the queue of motorised traffic was beginning to move through the shared section.

If, after several years of the event happening, the tourist bus companies and the hotels can't get their act together to work around the event I'm afraid I've got little sympathy. It brings 6,500 riders to the island, off-season, for one day, and probably several thousand more at other times.

I won't tell you what the tour-guide said, especially since I was wearing one of my t-shirts with a bike on it...
 
Of course not. But if you're specifically going to ride the sportive route on the day of the sportive it seems somewhat mean-spirited. You get all the experience of the event (barring the food stops of course) that everyone else has paid to be part of

If you want to ride the route then why not do it some other day? Wanting to do it with the paying entrants seems to suggest there is some value to being a participant so maybe you should pay like the rest?
I have no desire to ride with a sportive but I'll ride where and when I like.
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
I have no desire to ride with a sportive but I'll ride where and when I like.

Of course folk can ride where and when they like. But you suggested the idea of riding the sportive course on the day of the sportive

I think that's poor form. If you do that then you're doing it because you get something from.being in the organised event even though you're not paying

If you like the route them ride it another day
 
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