What would attract you to a sportive?

[GrumpyGregry]

Banjo you're as entitled to your point of view as anyone. I just think too literal an interpretation of "ride how you like and let others do the same", which many, not suggesting you, seem to take is actually a tricky path to take.

I'm a reborn club cyclist; the rides have rules for the good and safety of all. Someone comes along "rides how they like" and puts me in danger, I'm going to have something to say about that, so is the ride leader, so, if repeated over time, is the club. So with a sportive, they "ride how they like" in a way that increases my risk, I have to ride more defensively, or faster, or slower, to compensate thus I'm not riding how I want or having as much fun as I could if I could just chill and concentrate on them.

Fiona B - "sportives are getting a lot of new people on their bikes, which can only be a good thing for all of us" Please expand on how is such a thing good for all of us. A genuine question as I hear this one advanced a lot but struggle to see how it benefits me in any way.

 

[Banjo]

Hi Greg. I fully understand your concerns about being tangled up with incompetent riders but do the statistics highlight a real danger or just a perceived one? My main concern as a newbie was not causing any problems for anyone else and steering clear of any trouble.

As to how more new cyclists are a good thing or not whatever branch of the sport you enjoy you need new recruits to keep club numbers up as older ones drift away and inevitably some of the newbies doing sportives now may find themselves drawn towards racing/audax/cyclocross etc etc .

 

[nosherduke996]

CHEAPER ENTRIES !!!

Totally agree, Why should you have pay to ride your own bike on a public road.

 

[jimboalee]

Totally agree, Why should you have pay to ride your own bike on a public road.

Its not only organisers of Sportives who extort money out of cyclists.

There's a bunch in Bristol who advertise themselves as "The largest organiser of fund raising and recreational cycle rides".

The money YOU pay to enter the event is for "Administration". The money that goes to charity is the money YOU collect from your sponsorship form.

Take for example the London to Brighton.
Cost of entry next year is £31.
How many participants? "Around 27,000".

27,000 x £31 = £837,000

For organising ONE bike ride so they are seen as "offering the chance for charities to raise much-needed sponsor money".

 

[Browser]

If we've managed to get our entries in in time, myself and a colleague from work have entered The Bourne Ultimatum, a dual-distance Sportive oprganised by Bourne Wheelers Cycling Club. Entry is £7, there are signposts nut no feeding stations, which to me simplifies things as you are responsible for provisioning yourself, and entry was limited to 100 people, set off in groups of 20 or so. With luck, that number should mean so real traffic snarl-ups and, I would suspect, the faster club riders will set off first, with the likes of me nearer the aft end.
I entered because I've now got a bike I think will last on a 74 mile event, I've never ridden this distance before so want to see how I do, and if I enjoy it I'd like to try another. From experience of any other club/organsation event one can expect a certain amount of disdain/sniping from the regulars, it goes with the territory, since you are an unproven quantity who could either be (a) a hitherto undiscovered massive asset to/talent for the club or ( a dangerous liability who should never get on a bike again with many variations in between.

 

[jimboalee]

If we've managed to get our entries in in time, myself and a colleague from work have entered The Bourne Ultimatum, a dual-distance Sportive oprganised by Bourne Wheelers Cycling Club. Entry is £7, there are signposts nut no feeding stations, which to me simplifies things as you are responsible for provisioning yourself, and entry was limited to 100 people, set off in groups of 20 or so. With luck, that number should mean so real traffic snarl-ups and, I would suspect, the faster club riders will set off first, with the likes of me nearer the aft end.
I entered because I've now got a bike I think will last on a 74 mile event, I've never ridden this distance before so want to see how I do, and if I enjoy it I'd like to try another. From experience of any other club/organsation event one can expect a certain amount of disdain/sniping from the regulars, it goes with the territory, since you are an unproven quantity who could either be (a) a hitherto undiscovered massive asset to/talent for the club or ( a dangerous liability who should never get on a bike again with many variations in between.

That sounds a bit like a Club run, open to the first 100 applicants ( who are charged £7 for the privelege ).
A club volunteer has been round putting up little orange arrows ( costs printing and petrol ).

Good for club funds.
Bad for the 101st applicant. He won't bother again.

 

[Fiona N]

Fiona B - "sportives are getting a lot of new people on their bikes, which can only be a good thing for all of us" Please expand on how is such a thing good for all of us. A genuine question as I hear this one advanced a lot but struggle to see how it benefits me in any way.

Well it's been pretty comprehensively shown that the more cyclists there are on the roads, the fewer the accidents (i.e. the accident rate per cycled mile/km falls even though the number of accidents may increase) as drivers become more used to having cyclists there and taking them into consideration. So if a few of those sportive riders turn into commuters or generally just ride around on the roads more, drivers will get more used to cyclists and treat us better. And fellow sportive riders may cause you some increased risk but it's usually not on the level of an ignorant / blind (with apologies to the actually sight-challenged)/ incompetent /malicious driver

I realise this is a long-term aim which some of us may not see the benefits of in our lifetimes (long ones, hopefully ) but it is an acknowledged effect in places where there are large numbers of cyclists (York, Cambridge) or numbers of cyclists have increased significantly like London.

So bums on bikes on the roads are good - of course, well trained bums on bikes are much better - aesthetically as well as safety-wise

 

[jimboalee]

Someone had to post it....

 

[HJ]

Not having micky mouse rules about what you have to wear, treat me as a grown up, I have been cycling for over 40 years and no bastard is going to tell me I have to wear a silly magic hat! I don't care what the Pro Rides get paid to wear, the stupid things are utterly pointless. If I am paying to join an event, I will decide what I wear.

 

[lukesdad]

With all due respect Greg, if you are one of the faster riders you should be starting up the front on a mass start, or getting to the events earlier and starting in the first groups. Or racing . Problem solved.

 

[craigwend]

back to the question...

1. Not overpriced.

2. Delivery on what the promise.

3. Sensible routes (eg. not down dual carriageways or along cart tracks).

4. No feeling of being shortchanged.

Otherwise I shall stick with audaxes.

1,Al;ternative routes to meet different abilities, ideally set out so someone struggling on a longer route can divert onto a shorter one rather than give up.

2,All or a large chunk of the profits going to charities.

3,One that coincides with a day off on my work rota :-)

4,Well managed signposting ,feedstations,signing on etc etc.

5,Scenic route mostly on quiet roads.

Both the above seem good points

The one I'm doing on saturday puts the routes on a public website;
the money goes to a cycling club

It's well organised 1 or 2 feedstops, post race food & drink, t-shirt & bottle.

nice route of the area i would not normally go.

I enjoy the comrardery of the other riders both 'experienced & less'

nobody has to join, the helmet option is an option (but I always do)

I would travel but it would need closed roads or something, however this also has to fit with my family / work / cycling / football balance.

The recomendation of others is good


challenging enough, without killing me


Also gives me a target for training


Now if someone can guarante the weather ...B)
'

 

[automatic_jon]

My club (well not mine, the club of which I am a member) just completed a 90odd mile sportive although I wasn't there with them. I chickened out given the distance.

Sportives are something I want to get involved in, as well as racing, but I feel I was put off this one by the distance as previously said as well as the cost £25 is a lot of money to ride on roads but there must be a fair old bit of organising that goes into setting one of these up.

 

[jimboalee]

Not having micky mouse rules about what you have to wear, treat me as a grown up, I have been cycling for over 40 years and no bastard is going to tell me I have to wear a silly magic hat! I don't care what the Pro Rides get paid to wear, the stupid things are utterly pointless. If I am paying to join an event, I will decide what I wear.

Stupid things are cycle helmets.

I fell off once and the pesky thing got in the way between my head and a lamp post. Bloody thing negated a week off work with concussion.

 

[HJ]

Stupid things are cycle helmets.

I fell off once and the pesky thing got in the way between my head and a lamp post. Bloody thing negated a week off work with concussion.

Simple, don't ride into lamp posts...

 

[QuinnDexter]

1. Decent price (depends on level of support and signage really)
2. Interesting and challenging course
3. Decent foodstops
4. Nice weather