Sportive "races"

[MacB]

She is quite a pretty little thing but the point was I didn't understand the etiquette of cycling Sportives.

Reading through the replies it appears I'm not alone. Perhaps in my opening post I shouldn't have mentioned that it was Adams spare rib in the article.

come on if you're going to try and troll by being deliberately offensive you can do better than that. Or are you one of these that's going to try to instigate an argument around the merits, or lack therefof, of various terms and PC gawn mad?

Though I'll give you this, I can't work out if you're really thick and just don't get it or if you are of middling intelligence but think you're doing some smart trolling.

 

[brokenflipflop]

come on if you're going to try and troll by being deliberately offensive you can do better than that. Or are you one of these that's going to try to instigate an argument around the merits, or lack therefof, of various terms and PC gawn mad?

Though I'll give you this, I can't work out if you're really thick and just don't get it or if you are of middling intelligence but think you're doing some smart trolling.

I don't know what trolling is and I am really thick. I hope I've cleared that up, which is more than can be said about how confused we all appear to be about this sportive thing.

 

[MacB]

I don't know what trolling is and I am really thick. I hope I've cleared that up, which is more than can be said about how confused we all appear to be about this sportive thing.

Ok, that'll be middling intelligence then

There is no confusion, ride what you want and describe it in any manner you see fit...simples

 

[MacB]

See that word you've used there Al, "ride".

I might surprise you and turn out for the speedy ride to the coast in March - 10mph average wasn't it?

 

[John the Monkey]

I might surprise you and turn out for the speedy ride to the coast in March - 10mph average wasn't it?

10! They'll get you for that furious cycling, if you don't watch out, MacB.

 

[MacB]

10! They'll get you for that furious cycling, if you don't watch out, MacB.

I know, I know but the effort to shift my bulk at 10mph is quite considerable, maybe I need to get on the back of a tandem with one of these speedy folks on the front

 

[John the Monkey]

I know, I know but the effort to shift my bulk at 10mph is quite considerable, maybe I need to get on the back of a tandem with one of these speedy folks on the front

Oh lord, don't do that - do you know, they sometimes only have ONE CAKE STOP per ride?

UNBELIEVABLE. And they won't have packed a thermos.

 

[snailracer]

Sportives, or sportifs, started on the continent and are most definitely raced over there. Some ex-pros make a decent income out of them too, but that doesn't stop the vast majority of participants doing them either as a personal challenge or a day out.

Think London Marathon. Paula Radcliffe racing everyone, me racing myself and the bloke dressed as a baboon having a day out.

If you look at the various dictionary definitions of the word "sportive", though, they don't support the idea of serious racing at all.

 

[Fiona N]

Really? I've been mis-informed. I didn't think speed, quick, racing, placings etc were the name of the game.

Probably somewhere in the thread someone else has already said it but many continental sportives are 'officially' races - the Etape de Tour has a winner as do all the big Italian Gran Fondo events and winning one is prestigous too.

 

[rich p]

You can race in such events.

You can race in any event though, that's the point. Many marathons are run on open roads and perceived as races by the elite down to a charity jaunt for others.

If you look at the various dictionary definitions of the word "sportive", though, they don't support the idea of serious racing at all.

I was originally referring to continental sportifs from which ours derived. The rules may say one thing but you can bet your mortgage on the fact that the elite cyclists will be treating sportives on open roads as their race.


anyway, that's my lot. To be honest I feel slightly grubby trying to argue a coherent case on this thread given the idiocy of the OP.

 

[snailracer]

You can race in any event though, that's the point. Many marathons are run on open roads and perceived as races by the elite down to a charity jaunt for others.




I was originally referring to continental sportifs from which ours derived. The rules may say one thing but you can bet your mortgage on the fact that the elite cyclists will be treating sportives on open roads as their race...

Ha, some riders even treat their commute as a race

 

[BrumJim]

Well, not me for a start. Honestly. It just looks like it....

 

[VamP]

On closed roads.

Loads of 'real' bike races, and virtually all time trials are run on open roads too. Tri- and duathlons. In fact road closures are pretty damn rare, and only really happen for the most important events.

 

[brokenflipflop]

anyway, that's my lot. To be honest I feel slightly grubby trying to argue a coherent case on this thread given the idiocy of the OP.

Anyway. Have we established if a Sportive is a race yet ?

 

[Norm]

Just read about some bird called Susan Hall on page 22 of December issue of Cycling Active. Apparently she's an award winning hairstylist and cyclist.

She said in the article that she entered the Northern Rock Sportive in Northumberland and was "eighth fastest female out of 270 as well as being faster than most of the men in the race"

Ok so she's a big-head that thinks a sportive is a race and she gets pleasure out of thinking she's faster than other people who quite possibly weren't racing. But why wouldn't Cycling Active recognize this faux pas and either put her straight or leave it out.

Women and Cycling mags.....You can't trust them

It's a shame that they didn't print a misogynist-friendly photo above the article on the previous page, then, as that might have drawn your attention to the first closed-roads sportive.

Sportives are like marathons in many respects. Whether you come 11,000th or 11,001st in the London marathon doesn't mean much as you would be amongst the jogging herds, but coming 8th is impressively high up the list and she would almost certainly have been amongst some competitive cyclists.