Sportive Etiquette

[Justinslow]

Did ride London last year with a mate, got to leith hill and that was the last I saw of him, couldn't stay with him going up and he didn't wait the minute or so for me to catch up. Mates hey, if you're gonna ride with them then ride with them, if not tell them so.

 

[ianrauk]

If you're cycling with your mate.. then cycle with your mate.

 

[screenman]

Did ride London last year with a mate, got to leith hill and that was the last I saw of him, couldn't stay with him going up and he didn't wait the minute or so for me to catch up. Mates hey, if you're gonna ride with them then ride with them, if not tell them so.

That is pure honesty, most people say they dropped their mate.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Ride together, he'll be pleased of the support and you'll feel pleased that you helped him get round. There's no prize for finishing quicker than your mate, but the feeling of finishing together having supported each other is a prize in itself.

 

[grellboy]

Tell him you're going to do (b). Do (a).

That literally made me laugh out loud.

 

[Cuchilo]

If you wanna go as fast as you can , do a 100 mile tt.

You're evil !

 

[Globalti]

I say ride with your pal. It feels good finishing together especially if you've shared the effort.

 

[Justinslow]

That is pure honesty, most people say they dropped their mate.

Ha! I tell it like it is, my mate is rather good, cleaned up all the clubs major TT trophies last year. I remember looking at his HR on his Garmin when we stopped for that big delay at Pyrford, his was floating around 100 where mine was still over 130 , to be fair he could have cleared off at any point if he had wanted to!

 

[NorthernDave]

If you're cycling with your mate.. then cycle with your mate.

^^^ This

It's happened to me twice - first time signed up for a sportive with two mates, one of whom is only an occasional rider and simply hadn't put anywhere near enough training in for the distance. We both had to wait for mate 3 a lot during the ride but did and finished together. He was grateful that we'd stuck with him and got him round - he reckons he'd have been in the broom waggon if we hadn't done so.

Second time me and a mate were setting a good average speed and were well settled in, then his chain jumped on a climb and jarred his knee, slowing him down considerably. He told me to carry on without him. I ignored him and matched my speed to his. We finished together.

On both occasions I could have probably finished an hour or more sooner than I did, but it isn't a race and I was there to ride with my mates so that's what I did. I can't imagine your mate would be hugely impressed at signing up to do a ride with you and then watching you vanish into the distance leaving him on his own for most of it.

 

[screenman]

I have a great idea, there is a fat bike for sale on the forum.

 

[HLaB]

Did ride London last year with a mate, got to leith hill and that was the last I saw of him, couldn't stay with him going up and he didn't wait the minute or so for me to catch up. Mates hey, if you're gonna ride with them then ride with them, if not tell them so.

Similar happened to me but I thought he was on my wheel but it was somebody else (or it might have been Box, it was the second one anyway I'd deliberately paced him up the first) but I'd much rather of had his company for the last 40 or so miles :-/
The other Sportives I did last year I cycled well within my self and did manage to keep everyone together as its more enjoyable to ride with mates sometimes

 

[mjr]

I have a great idea, there is a fat bike for sale on the forum.

You know wider tyres aren't slower, don't you?

And that it's frowned upon to ride straight lines between feed stations over the fields

 

[Soltydog]

This isn't a sportive etiquette question, it's a friendship question.

In that case do it with your friend

My advice would be agree what you are doing beforehand, to avoid any upset. I've done sportives with a good friend & always waited at the top of climbs for him. I'd rather ride with a friend than solo only to wait at the end, On a club ride/sportive a year or so back, there was a little falling out afterwards as we had split up & most thought we were riding as a club/group?? We agreed to try & stick to 20mph average, but after sitting on the front for the vast majority of the first half doing 20, I decide to push on, which caused a split in the group & a few little fall outs. My only regret is not saying beforehand I'll do my own thing

 

[screenman]

You know wider tyres aren't slower, don't you?

And that it's frowned upon to ride straight lines between feed stations over the fields

Spoil sport.

 

[grellboy]

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.