Difference between audax and sportives summed up

[ColinJ]

A very tough local 100 mile sportive The Pendle Pedal didn't sound it, so after a couple of years it was renamed to The Bowland Beast!

 

[DCLane]

My LEL 2017 was punctuated by a beer stop in the little village of Rothwell, SW of Caistor and south of the Humber Bridge, after a good soaking.

No beer stops for me on LEL, but I was daft enough to dash round in under 100 hours. And I don't drink beer.

The faster end of audaxes aren't that different to sportives, with the exception of missing poncy idiots.

 

[Ajax Bay]

No beer stops for me on LEL, but I was daft enough to dash round in under 100 hours.

I reckon you may have ridden past while I was having that beer, David. Because we saw each other an hour later at Louth, when you were determined to push on (I should have come with you, and avoid Thursday's daytime serious headwind). But I now remember you were escorting a group of 'visitors' on a tour of Grimsby!

 

[DCLane]

@Ajax Bay - Grimsby was when north-bound, I'd ditched that idea when I saw a kind soul had left direction arrows up between Barton-upon-Humber and Louth. But yes, I had a few extras on my flatter detour route between Louth and Horncastle

You'd have had a nice over-night ride through, missing the nasty wind, as I made St Ives by 8am the next morning. But would have missed out on the beer.

(I was seriously pushing on by then, aiming to finish under 100 hours and I had until 2pm Thursday to get to London; leaving Thirsk after 1pm, Pocklington around 4pm, Louth at 9pm, Spalding at 3am, St Ives 8am, Great Eaton 11am and finishing before 1pm).

 

[Dogtrousers]

LEL isn't a very good name is it?
Needs sexing up a bit.

 

[DCLane]

LEL isn't a very good name is it?
Needs sexing up a bit.

How about: Let's go to Scotland ... run away!

 

[Ajax Bay]

For a ride of that length, the key termini offer both fact and any unnecessary 'wow' factor. After 4 +days I found myself in deepest Essex after dusk stopped at a junction (my chosen route through Great Dunmow had just rejoined the recommended narrow road zig-zag one). A group of 3 came up to the T junction. "Where are you going?" I asked. "London" came the answer. "Where have you come from?" "Quick as a flash came back the answer "London". I jumped on.

 

[T4tomo]

Do you think that's a bad thing? I think it's rather fun.

Take my favourite sportive (that I'm not doing this year because I forgot to enter) - The Hell of The Ashdown

My local one is The Hemel Hill Buster.

Its quite low key and fortunately not plagued with Raphacladwankers, and had a great local brewery mobile bar at the finish

 

[Dogtrousers]

My local one is The Hemel Hill Buster.

Its quite low key and fortunately not plagued with Raphacladwankers, and had a great local brewery mobile bar at the finish

There's another local I can think of, called the Kentish Killer. I've never done that one myself.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Now it has a tongue in cheek name

It’s fine where that’s the case, sadly I think few of the commercial sportive organisers actually believe their own hype.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It’s fine where that’s the case, sadly I think few of the commercial sportive organisers actually believe their own hype.

Come on, name names. The more outlandish the better.

I went and had a look on www.sportive.com/calendar hoping to find some good names. Unfortunately the bloodbath/slaughterhouse name checked in the OP weren't there.

It was all a bit boring really. I've picked out te most interesting below. Sometimes French racing terminology has been adopted (Etape, Puncheur, Classic) but mostly they have really dull names like "Shropshire Sportive". Come on, Shropshire organisers, get a grip. One of them uses the word "Race", which is always good for some furious discussions of the Road Traffic Act and so on.

Here's the best I could find. Nothing really interesting. I think the Hell of the Ashdown is the winner.

HELL OF THE ASHDOWN (HOTA)
KENTISH KILLER
THE PUNCHEUR CYCLOSPORTIVE
ETAPE LOCH NESS 2023
ISLE OF WIGHT RANDONNEE
THE BIG FAT BIKE RIDE
DAVINA'S BIG SUSSEX BIKE RIDE
A BIKE RACE, ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF WALES
UKCE JURASSIC CLASSIC
LITTLE LUMPY
ETAPE DU DALES
UKCE CHILTERNS CLASSIC
THE FLAT 100
THE DRAGON RIDE SPORTIVE 2023
THE RAPTOR - FOREST OF BOWLAND 68 MILE SPORTIVE
WHITE ROSE CLASSIC 2023
UKCE COTSWOLDS CLASSIC

 

[I like Skol]

https://www.tourdemanc.co.uk

 

[BrumJim]

For me, it isn't (just) the name of the Sportive, but the description of the route, particularly if there are several options:
e.g.
Medium 50 miles
Long 80 miles
Epic 100 miles

 

[Dogtrousers]

Not forgetting the Fred Elliott Challenge. I say, not forgetting

 

[Fab Foodie]

The difference between Audax and Sportives is mandatory helmet rules....