Sportives - are they out of control?

[PK99]

Interesting run of comment. Clearly some people are nervous of close passes, although if you are able to ride in a reasonably straight line there should be no problem.
?

The same could be said about close passes by cars.......

 

[Hip Priest]

What sort of legislation do you envisage?

Blanket ban on 3XL Team Sky jerseys.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Clearly some people are nervous of close passes

You say that as if it is a bad thing.

It is. With close passes, the chance of a collision occurring is higher. Unless the cyclists know each other, neither can be sure about the other's ability to hold a straight line, so close passes are risky.

 

[oldroadman]

What sort of legislation do you envisage?

No idea, but looking back there has been none that made things easier!

 

[Rob3rt]

Whilst I am pro people riding bikes, I sympathise with people who live in a location which is very popular with sportive routes, much like I am to those who have races running through their village weekly (my local TT league uses the same couple of courses week in week out, despite there being loads of courses around).

I think that sportives should be regulated to the same extent road racing is. Of course the regulations will need to be made relevant, but the extent should be equivalent!

 

[pawl]

I was out for a ride on Sunday at various junctions there were red directional arrows,nothing on them to indicate what they referred to.I was without warning passed a group of ten riders so close i could have touched there bars.

I was not aware there was a Sportive taking place in the area . No warning signs that a cycle event was taking place.Perhaps Cyling Weekly /Cycling Plus by in some there reports referring to the event as a race.I am an experienced cyclist but was taken by surprise to be overtaken by this fast moving group.

 

[Dmcd33]

I must say, I've completed a few sportives this year with no bother. A recent good idea from the promoters was if you hand in a gel sachet, then they give you a free one back.

There are multiple spoting events that impact on people's lives and there is little or no way round it. I do agree that they should be spread out across the country a bit to minimise distruption. Cyling three abrest knowing that cars are behind you is also a bug bear of mine. As people say, it's a sportive, not the Tour!

Cycling does become the fall guy for a lot of peoples frustrations though generally, not just in sportives. The whole "banning" thing gets silly though, as we all have the liberty of deciding how we behave in general (driving, alcohol consumption) and banning things is never the answer.

I am personally in favour of behaving well and giving the moaners little to point the finger at (however, one red light jumper in their eyes makes us all guilty??)

 

[alecstilleyedye]

few in my local club bother with the local sportive rides; why pay £30 to ride a route we can do on a club run for the princly sum of £12 per year?

maybe sportive organisers should issue some etiquette advice on how to ride in groups when the place is booked…

 

[adamhearn]

I dislike the whole sportive concept. I'd do a local ride to support something or other but not these pretend races. There does seem to be a whole lot of 'em organised over the past couple of years.

 

[DRHysted]

I dislike the whole sportive concept. I'd do a local ride to support something or other but not these pretend races. There does seem to be a whole lot of 'em organised over the past couple of years.

Yes they do seem to be taking off quite well, and the demand is outstripping supply. But please don't call them a race, how can we get the general public to accept them as a "run ride" (same concept as the fun runs I used to take part in), if we (the people who should know) refer to them as races.

 

[Hill Wimp]

I don't see the point of the timing chips when most people have some sort of GPS record of all their rides anyway. These in themselves give the impression of a race.

 

[jdtate101]

I ride quite a few sportive's per yr (typically about 5-8) and I always make sure I'm in the first batch to go off in the morning so I can avoid all the numpties. You do see an awful lot of people who have no idea how to group ride, spread themselves all over the road and weave dangerously. These tend to be the people newer to the sport and have yet to learn the rules of the road. I usually go out hard, distance the main bunch then settle in and enjoy the ride. I will get caught but only by other fast riders who generally know what they are doing. I'm starting to do less of them as I think they are getting a bit out of control, especially the mass one's (the worst one I've been on being the Dragon Ride, with lots of idiots riding beyond their abilities and ending up crashing, some with serious injuries).
Although saying that the attitudes in other regions in the country are very different. The rampant anti-cycling lobby seems to be far more vocal in the south...

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

few in my local club bother with the local sportive rides; why pay £30 to ride a route we can do on a club run for the princly sum of £12 per year?

maybe sportive organisers should issue some etiquette advice on how to ride in groups when the place is booked…

One of the biggest(if not the biggest sportive here) did just this via facebook/twitter and leaflets in the registration pack.

The majority of the day was the worst riding I've ever seen so advice was neither read nor understood. These people were actually complaining about organised club groups going faster than them!

 

[Hip Priest]

Yes they do seem to be taking off quite well, and the demand is outstripping supply. But please don't call them a race, how can we get the general public to accept them as a "run ride" (same concept as the fun runs I used to take part in), if we (the people who should know) refer to them as races.

I was leafing through Cycling Plus yesterday, and they had some 'top sportive riders' giving advice about how to prepare ahead of a 'big race'. It made me laugh. A sportive is nothing like a bike race.

I've done a couple of local sportives, but they're a bit of a pain. I'd much rather go out with the club.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Have to agree with the comments here to get our own house in order.

We should be delighted that it is popular and still growing. Let's therefore pay attention to the conduct of participants, bringing locals onside by various communicative means and working with other sportive clubs to coordinate rides to avoid overuse of the same patch and share experiences that reduces the nuisance factor.

We will never win over all but we can sure make an efforts to do more to get this weekend activity recognised.