Sportives - are they out of control?

[Hill Wimp]

Don't think I could put it any better.

Me and everyone I meet at the Sportives, will continue buying into the flannel that they are not races, because they are not races. If they were we would be racing, and I know I'm not!!!

If i thought they were races i wouldn't be entering them as i don't want to race any more. Did a bit when i was a lot younger and moved on to something else. Now i just enjoy somebody else choosing the route in another part of the country and meeting up with friends from around the country. If my entrance fee goes to charity then thats a bonus.

 

[ColinJ]

But all the sportives i have ridden in have never had people stand on a podium and accept medals for 1,2 or 3rd and none of them have listed the timings in this order either.

WHY - cause its not a race SIMPLES

Sorry, but I have seen many sportive websites list the results in finishing order, with times - example.

 

[jowwy]

Sorry, but I have seen many sportive websites list the results in finishing order, with times - example.

i have just clicked onto that link colin - would you class 72 riders a sportive - maybe you would and its the first time i have seen them listed in that way (as in rider time order)

 

[mcshroom]

So now a sportive has to have a minimum size?

 

[ColinJ]

i have just clicked onto that link colin - would you class 72 riders a sportive - maybe you would and its the first time i have seen them listed in that way (as in rider time order)

They were the fastest 72. I think there were actually over 300 riders in the full length event.

 

[VamP]

Sorry, but I have seen many sportive websites list the results in finishing order, with times - example.

All the Evans sportives list riders in finishing order too. I think it's fairly ubiquitous.

I think all the guys protesting that they are not a race should have a reconsideration about their own motivations for riding sportives. Why travel long distances, pay high entry fees, be confined to a pre-determined and crowded routes, endangered by poor riding, wear a timing chip and have your time recorded, just to claim that they are not racing?

What do you get out of it? Not judging, just puzzled.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Its a good place to meet up with friends from all over the country that are into cycling so you can ride and achieve a distance together. Yes you could organise it yourself but we all have busy lives and the organisation is taken away from you and done, including feeding you. Plus you can make a weekend of it and see the area around a bit.
Couldn't care a hoot what my time was or where i came in the list of riders.

 

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

Must be a mainland thing, very few here are timed.

 

[Leodis]

Doesnt the dragon ride supply time chips for people? I do think though when you are having 3000 people turn up to use open roads a bit much, spesh when they are charging huge amounts to enter.

 

[ColinJ]

Its a good place to meet up with friends from all over the country that are into cycling so you can ride and achieve a distance together. Yes you could organise it yourself but we all have busy lives and the organisation is taken away from you and done, including feeding you. Plus you can make a weekend of it and see the area around a bit.
Couldn't care a hoot what my time was or where i came in the list of riders.

That's why I got into organising forum rides like this one and this one, and riding other people's like this one and this one!

 

[VamP]

Its a good place to meet up with friends from all over the country that are into cycling so you can ride and achieve a distance together. Yes you could organise it yourself but we all have busy lives and the organisation is taken away from you and done, including feeding you. Plus you can make a weekend of it and see the area around a bit.
Couldn't care a hoot what my time was or where i came in the list of riders.

This is the part I don't get. How hard is to get together for a ride with just your friends and do EXACTLY what you want, rather than some other dude's idea of what you should do? For free. And without all the annoying testosterone. And rubbish food.

 

[Saluki]

If i thought they were races i wouldn't be entering them as i don't want to race any more. Did a bit when i was a lot younger and moved on to something else. Now i just enjoy somebody else choosing the route in another part of the country and meeting up with friends from around the country. If my entrance fee goes to charity then thats a bonus.

Same here.
I too used to race but had a 250cc 2 stoke engine to help me along.

 

[Rob3rt]

Sportives straddle a line that needs clarifying and regulating.

 

[jowwy]

This is the part I don't get. How hard is to get together for a ride with just your friends and do EXACTLY what you want, rather than some other dude's idea of what you should do? For free. And without all the annoying testosterone. And rubbish food.

horses for courses VamP

 

[jowwy]

Doesnt the dragon ride supply time chips for people? I do think though when you are having 3000 people turn up to use open roads a bit much, spesh when they are charging huge amounts to enter.

i'm sure this years first ever london ride 100 also used timing chips for its 20,000 riders. it might have been on closed roads but it was still a sportive not a race.