Maybe we just weren't elitist enough for the ride?

[TheJDog]

I turned up to a sportive a few years ago and the one guy at the start line training shoes and other not entirely proper attire nicked my bike.

 

[Globalti]

We've done the Manchester 100 three times and when filling in your application form you are asked what time you expect to take for the 100 miles. We replied "6 hours" and found ourselves starting at the unholy hour of 7.30; I reckon event organisers will start the faster riders earlier so as to reduce as much as possible the numbers of faster riders overtaking slower riders. There was certainly a noticeable increase in disorganised large groups to get past once the 100 km route rejoined us later on.

I know the organisers of the Cape Argus, 110 kms with 32,000 riders do operate the same seeding policy.

 

[PaulSB]

I think you have missed the OP's point spectacularly!
SteveC isn't complaining about the clowns-on-bikes brigade that plague some of the more popular fun/charity ride events. His complaint is about perceived elitism of the riders and organisers not making anybody that doesn't fit the template of experienced club rider welcome.

No I didn't miss his point at all but equally I didn't reply to it. My response was to Racing roadkill who I felt rather tarred all clubs and sportives with the same brush. My experience is this is not the case though I can only comment on the large number of excellent and friendly clubs in the northwest.

 

[Lonestar]

And you never even stopped and asked if I was ok!

I'm no doctor but at a guess I think I know the answer to this one.

 

[Ajax Bay]

What an absolute bunch of lycra clad cockwombles. Thats all i have to say about yesterdays sportif my mate and me entered.
I wont be mentioning any clubs or charitys involved other than the fact that it was a farce from the second we turned up.
First batch of riders were supposed to set of at 9.30 on our ride over to the hq we saw at least 30 odd passing us on the planned route.
Get there only to be eyed up and down by the organsiser. Book in and then get told we are the last lot to go this was at 9.30.
Off we head and to say we didnt fit in around all the £2k + bikes and branded attire is an understatement. The group of 15 shot off and left us to our own devices.
10 miles in the broom wagen flys past us (when i say broom wagen it was basically one of the organisers on his bike basically time trailing it to catch up and win the race) He stopped and said he would make sure we got to the rest stop and then shot off again.
For future reference said club may want to rewrite the ad and remove "a challenging sportif for all"

Well at least your entry fee will have gone to a good charity, for example the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.
https://ehaat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FB_IMG_1504175857491-002.jpg
With regard to the riders on the road before 09:30, I suspect that since they opened registration at 08:00 they thought "let's get some riders on the road - why not?". Remember, it's not a race.
You get there; register and they have filled the other start times so allocate you a 09:30 slot (which remember you thought was when the first start was). Bit paranoid to think that it was your clothing that the organiser took into account when deciding what start slot to give you.
What were your wearing and what bikes were you and your mate riding anyway?
Seems entirely sensible for the organiser to ride round the route, starting behind everyone, to - a. get a ride in; but mainly b. get an idea of what sort of speed people are making and therefore an idea of timings for the volunteers running the 'rest stop'; and indeed the finish a few hours later (I hope you called the organiser to say that you had abandoned).
Hope that you find your next sportive fits your expectations better.
(And for @mjr - No hat, no ride)

 

[mjr]

I think you have missed the OP's point spectacularly!
SteveC isn't complaining about the clowns-on-bikes brigade that plague some of the more popular fun/charity ride events. His complaint is about perceived elitism of the riders and organisers not making anybody that doesn't fit the template of experienced club rider welcome.

Are you sure about that? It seemed that @Stevec047 was complaining more about being made to feel especially unwelcome at a ride that was advertised as "for all".

I'm not sure it's fair to generalise that criticism to all "club arranged sportifs" as he does but I've only ever done charity and commercial ones, not any club ones (I think only the local BC clubs organise them and I won't ride under BC sportive rules), so I can't disprove the claim.

 

[I like Skol]

No I didn't miss his point at all but equally I didn't reply to it. My response was to Racing roadkill who I felt rather tarred all clubs and sportives with the same brush.

???

That's clubs, and ( the vast majority ) of Sportives summed up nicely.

As for sportives, yes there are some charity ones were less experienced riders behave this way, but I'd say the club organised events never have this behaviour.
I do think though there are some events, Manchester - Blackpool being one, where the behaviour of many participants leaves a huge amount to be desired. Personally I find it so embarrassing I'll never ride it again.

I don't see RR commenting on less experienced, amateurish or embarrassingly poor behaviour in his post, just reinforcing the snobbish, aloof, elitist connotations of the OP.

 

[cm2mackem]

What an absolute bunch of lycra clad cockwombles. Thats all i have to say about yesterdays sportif my mate and me entered.

I wont be mentioning any clubs or charitys involved other than the fact that it was a farce from the second we turned up.

First batch of riders were supposed to set of at 9.30 on our ride over to the hq we saw at least 30 odd passing us on the planned route.

Get there only to be eyed up and down by the organsiser. Book in and then get told we are the last lot to go this was at 9.30.

Off we head and to say we didnt fit in around all the £2k + bikes and branded attire is an understatement. The group of 15 shot off and left us to our own devices.

10 miles in the broom wagen flys past us (when i say broom wagen it was basically one of the organisers on his bike basically time trailing it to catch up and win the race) He stopped and said he would make sure we got to the rest stop and then shot off again.

At this point we decided to ditch the sportif and follow the route stopping off for some grub and then tackling the biggest hill around. Still did 55 miles even if we didnt get our completing waterbottle.

For future reference said club may want to rewrite the ad and remove "a challenging sportif for all" needless to say said club wont be on my list of riding buddies.

Lesson learnt that unless you can avg 18mph or have a high spec high cost set up dont get involved with club arranged sportifs even when they say its for all.

We will be sticking to the sportifs that wiggle arrange from now on and the charity events around the local area.

Did it start in East London? yesterday , as it is every year, is a complete cock-up

 

[mjr]

Well at least your entry fee will have gone to a good charity, for example the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.
https://ehaat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FB_IMG_1504175857491-002.jpg
With regard to the riders on the road before 09:30, I suspect that since they opened registration at 08:00 they thought "let's get some riders on the road - why not?".

Ho ho! The advert says "Please remember - No Hat, No Ride!" I could have had some fun with that, as I usually wear a hat while cycling

Why not start riders before the start? Because the advert clearly said "first riders start 9.30am" so it's a bit shoot if you turn up in plenty of time for that and the start was really 8.30am but only for those in the know or the organisers' mates. You arrive thinking you're going to be in a random wave of a mass start and riding round in company, but in reality you find your reward for simply believing the advert is starting at the back, where you're likely to spend a fair chunk of the day dealing with overtaking dropped riders and being overtaken by those who have had mechanical problems and then the final straw is the farking broom does what it should never do and overtakes the back of the ride! Yeah, at that point, I'd probably go find a nice cafe or pub instead...

 

[petek]

What is a 'sportive'?

 

[Ajax Bay]

a 'sportive'

https://ehaat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FB_IMG_1504175857491-002.jpg
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/sportives
"A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event,
Cyclosportive is short for the French term randonnée cyclosportive (the spelling cyclosportif is sometimes also used but cyclosportive is correct as randonnée is a feminine noun in French)."

 

[Dave Davenport]

It took me ages to find a club, local to me, that wasn't full of FP/RKW, but they can be found.

Which club?

 

[petek]

Thanks Ajax.
It does say 'challenging' so that would rule me out right away.
Seems like a great idea and also raising money for a very good cause.
Perhaps the clue is in that 'sport' part of 'sportive'.
One might expect a sporting/challenging ethos.
That said, it is a very short sighted club official who doesn't go out of her/his way to welcome new people.
New people make new members.
Locally the cycling club nearest to us is all uniformed-lycra, drop handlebars and folks built like racing snakes. Very smart they look too when out and about. Suits those who like it but us older chaps on eclectic (plus some electric ) bicycles choose to slowly bimble about in a small group of the likeminded.
Cake featuring more prominently than does mileage covered.

 

[ianrauk]

I rarely bother with organised Sportives, the only ( non closed road ) Sportives I have done, have left a lot to be desired. The Velo Birmingham yesterday, was a closed road number, and was not too bad, the only memorable incident was one complete idiot, who failed to understand the physics of taking a fast right hand bend, and moved into a disappearing space, sending me wide, towards some traffic cones. Then he made some comments, then he crashed. 1 total idiot rider out of 15000, was a very good ratio for a Sportive though. It took me ages to find a club, local to me, that wasn't full of FP/RKW, but they can be found.

You wear full pro team kit do you not?

 

[Ajax Bay]

You wear full pro team kit do you not?

Nope: Maillot Jeune for rr, and deep section carbon wheels. Goodness knows what the OP would have made of it/him when arriving to register.