Sportive Etiquette

[mjr]

From the pov of recording a decent time, if I did sometimes pull ahead of my mates and then wait for them at the top of hills etc, would my garmin/strava record actual time pedalling or overall time inc. stops? Excuse my ignorance, I've not used strava for very long and when I do I never stop apart from for traffic lights etc.

It depends on the auto pause settings. If you set them high enough, you can record improved moving speeds by bombing up to junctions and hauling on the brakes instead of coasting up like normal, but you'll be stuffed if you misjudge it.

 

[vickster]

Does the sportive have its own timing chip? If so, that'll give you your start and finish time too, rather than your actual cycling time

Why don't you discuss this with your pal, see how he feels?

 

[jefmcg]

It depends on the auto pause settings.

Not for Strava. Whether or not you use autopause, when you upload, your time shown in large on the page will be moving average, with elapsed time in a much smaller font. You have to be pretty still for it to count as not moving.

 

[WelshJon]

Ride with your pal.

I understand the Dilemma of wanting to test yourself against yourself but you can sign up for another ride by yourself.

Crossing the finish line with your mate and sharing the after ride chat about 'that bloody hill' and the after ride food will be rewarding

 

[Globalti]

When I rode the Manchester 100 last Autumn with GtiJunior and two pals, we stuck together for most of the distance. However for the last 20 miles GtiJ and one pal decided they wanted to finish in under 6 hours so they went off leaving me pulling my neighbour who is a novice and was riding his first 100. I rode more slowly than I would have liked but he told me afterwards that he'd have been suffering a lot more and riding a lot slower without the wheel and that's enough for me. In the end nobody cared whether I did it in five or six hours but one aspiring cyclist achieved his goal and got an understanding of the value of cooperation.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Kinda depends what you want out of the day. It's between you and your mates. There's no set "etiquette".

I've done events with faster friends and been entirely happy to let them zoom off at their own pace.

I've done events (sometimes the same event) when I've hung around to accompany/encourage a slower friend up a big hill, only for them to promptly disappear into the distance on the downhill, which is fine. I soon caught up again when the road went upward.

It would be quite different, I think, if it was just a group ride on the road, rather than an event with directions and other riders and stuff. In that case, just dropping someone and pressing on is pretty rude, IMO, unless it's been discussed beforehand. I've had that done to me and have been somewhat pissed off.

 

[winjim]

From the pov of recording a decent time, if I did sometimes pull ahead of my mates and then wait for them at the top of hills etc, would my garmin/strava record actual time pedalling or overall time inc. stops? Excuse my ignorance, I've not used strava for very long and when I do I never stop apart from for traffic lights etc.

Even if it does record only moving time it's still a bit of a cheat because you're getting a nice rest in. So your moving time with stops should be quicker than your moving time non-stop.

Also remember when your mates catch up that they also deserve a rest at the top of the hill. If you dash off again as soon as they appear they'll only get more tired, slower and more pissed off.