What do you like/dislike about sportives?
- Thread starter e-rider
- Start date
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Just did the Wiggle steeplechase sportive yesterday. My minimum requirements are:
1) Well signposted route - I don't have a gps and have no intention of getting one
2) Availability of water - free and I want to know in advance where I can get it.
3) Good and free parking at the start
4) Free toilets en route.
Anything else is optional luxury. I can happily carry my own flapjacks/bananas and it's rare that routes don't go past a petrol station or pub for more food/drink as necessary. It's nice to have someplace to sit at the end of the ride, but it only needs to be a village hall or scout hut.
1) Well signposted route - I don't have a gps and have no intention of getting one
2) Availability of water - free and I want to know in advance where I can get it.
3) Good and free parking at the start
4) Free toilets en route.
Anything else is optional luxury. I can happily carry my own flapjacks/bananas and it's rare that routes don't go past a petrol station or pub for more food/drink as necessary. It's nice to have someplace to sit at the end of the ride, but it only needs to be a village hall or scout hut.
515mm
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Carmarthenshire
+1
I do enjoy a well signposted route.
Mechanical support/marshalls/broomwagon/meal at the end/timing chips/food stations are very handy for less experienced riders and do contribute to the sensation of a big day out. The feeling of being part of a large and important cycling event is the nearest most of us will get to experiencing riding in the TdF............
frank9755
Cyclist
- Location
- West London
May be a bit of 'bigger fish in smaller pond' around that, along with various other reasons of course
More of a bigger fish in a bigger sandpit, I think!
Sportives are often very big events, but I understand YM's point to be that, however big they are, they are just 'friendlies' which don't form part of a bigger competition.
the_mikey
Legendary Member
- Location
- South Gloucestershire
I like sportives, they're fun if you don't take them too seriously. They're a bit like a challenging club run without the club etiquette and nuisance of a cafe/pub stop.
lukesdad
Guest
I think this is the point behind them. Ive also met old friends on sportives quite by accident some of who I hav nt seen for years.
Did the Wiggle Steeplechase, think it's my third or fourth over the last 5 years. It's just a fun thing, it's great to see so many cyclists of different abilities, ages, sizes out enjoying (mostly :-) ) themselves.
Philip Whiteman
Über Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
I organise an event known as the Snowdrop and Sunrise Express audax along these lines. The event attracts 280 entrants and is usually sold out two months ahead of the event date. Based upon a £5.25 fee riders can:
- purchase food at controls
- purchase medals (£2.50 each)
- purchase a cycle commemorative bottle (£2 each)
- pay a mandatory £2 extra fee for their own insurance unless CTC / AUK members
They receive:
- a full package of information
- free beans on toast or cake at the finish line
As with all audaxes, riders are not timed nor do they benefit from waymark arrows.
As I understand it, time chipping is timely and a costly affair. I am not convinced that timing is essential for an audax. Given Paul Prince's Mad March Hare which does not time riders, entrants are clearly happy to pay a lower fee and go without such a facility. .
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I don't understand why anybody would want to rely on signs when for the entry fees to 2 or 3 sportives, you could pick up a GPS device on eBay which would banish navigation problems for the rest of your cycling life!
I rode the Manchester 100 five or six times. It has about 100 junctions, all of which are supposed to be signed and marshalled, but on a couple of occasions, junctions remained unattended and unmarked. I ended up doing 110 miles one year when I rode past an unsigned turn. The following year, another turn was left unmarked but I remembered it from earlier years. I headed the right way but was unable to persuade the group I was riding with to follow me. They had total faith in the signs. It took several hours for them to find their way back on course and catch up with me again!
Buy a GPS!
I rode the Manchester 100 five or six times. It has about 100 junctions, all of which are supposed to be signed and marshalled, but on a couple of occasions, junctions remained unattended and unmarked. I ended up doing 110 miles one year when I rode past an unsigned turn. The following year, another turn was left unmarked but I remembered it from earlier years. I headed the right way but was unable to persuade the group I was riding with to follow me. They had total faith in the signs. It took several hours for them to find their way back on course and catch up with me again!
Buy a GPS!
Blimey Dan.. 2 year thread resurrection
Took me a long time to get round, posted course was different to the GPX they published
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Bragging rights .....
I used to enjoy Sportives, but "Big Companies" are spoiling things. All the marketing bull***t fooling people into spending their hard earned on public roads with a bit of Tat as their "reward" is beyond. Also these corporate events seem to attract a high percentage of headbangers.
There are also examples of these Companies using other peoples' long established routes.
Audax attracts a better class of cyclist. They are:
1 - always well organised.
2 - provide members with a record of their achievements.
3 - friendly.
4 - as challenging as you want.
5 - very good value with, in many cases, a few cakes thrown in.
There are a few Sportives that I would still do and enjoy (Preseli Angel, Iron Mountain for example), but beyond these I am, sadly, no longer interested.
There are also examples of these Companies using other peoples' long established routes.
Audax attracts a better class of cyclist. They are:
1 - always well organised.
2 - provide members with a record of their achievements.
3 - friendly.
4 - as challenging as you want.
5 - very good value with, in many cases, a few cakes thrown in.
There are a few Sportives that I would still do and enjoy (Preseli Angel, Iron Mountain for example), but beyond these I am, sadly, no longer interested.
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