Thinking of forsaking sportives for audaxes

CumbrianMan

Hey, whatever's your choice (and I like both), at least we've all got one thing in common - we're out on our bikes !!

Just remember, "A bad day on the bike is always better than a good day in the office !!!"..

Cheers

Anonymous

[/quote]
Is there a ride that does "2/3 excellent feeds", timing, frame plates, a bottle and a T shirt for £15?[/quote]

My summary was a generalisation based on my own personal experiences....I payed £15.00 for the Polkadot in 2007 and it was fantastc and had mostly all the above...however I have paid £30 for the Dave Lloyd mega and the Fred Whitton which were still so worth the money....

All your points are valid but for me personally I'd rather do a Sportive than an Audax...I do not want to read a map when riding a bike etc....and I love signposting and great feeds...its all personal?....

But let me let you understand how much I love riding sportives...we talk about a £25 (avg) entry fee...fair enough...some guys like me have no qualms whatsoever at paying this...others may feel different?...its upto them.....but thats usually only the start of the cost for me...mostly all my sportives are based in England or Wales...so this means lots of money for fuel...1 or 2 nights B & B...paying for a meal at nights etc....this year on the Devil Ride / DLMC the whoe costly sum for each event came to around £120....still after the experienc its still well worth it for me....

Just have a look at what Football Fans pay for even home fixtures now?....and they are only spectating...and no feeds or memorabilia (unless you pay £10 for a programme?)

vorsprung

RICHYBOYcp wrote:

I'd rather do a Sportive than an Audax...I do not want to read a map when riding a bike [/quote]
Well I see what you are saying, but reading a route sheet on a bike is possible and easy. Reading a map is more difficult.

... lots of money for fuel...1 or 2 nights B & B...paying for a meal at nights etc....this year on the Devil Ride / DLMC the whoe costly sum for each event came to around £120....still after the experienc its still well worth it for me....

To compare the price of doing the "Bridge Too Far" 600 for me was 10 quid entrry + youth hostel overnight before the start+ approx 20 quids worth of food on day one+10 quids worth on day two. No free teeshirt or water bottle. There was some free rain included however.

"Bridge Too Far' goes from Cardiff to Warrington in Cheshire and back via Builth Wells

Philip Whiteman

I used assume incorrectly that audaxes were likely to suffer with the expansion of the sportive market. That would of course been correct if the number of cyclists was a zero-sum game. It would also assume that more riders would be fed up with the cheap and cheerful nature of audaxes as opposed to the gold plating of sportives.

On all accounts, I was probably wrong.

A regional UK Audax UK organiser informed me that audaxes are also witnessing growth especially as the organisation skills and facilities improve. It was reckoned that the likely area to suffer would be the summer club run. On these accounts, I think he was correct.

When riding a sportive, I have asked riders about audaxes and their response have ranged from, "I ride both"; "I don't like have to use route cards" to "they are great training rides for sportives". Equally, on an audax, riders have indicated that they do not like the 'competitive nature of sportives' to 'sportives are great too'.

ledburyloafer

[/quote]
Is there a ride that does "2/3 excellent feeds", timing, frame plates, a bottle and a T shirt for £15?[/quote]

Yep the Richmond 5 Dales Sportive, brilliant event! meal at the end as well! 8)

CumbrianMan

Good point Richyboy. I paid £650 this year for my footie season ticket, plus I've still gotta get to/from the game, buy programme, food, beer, etc

And to cap it all, there's nothing worse than when the players don't put the effort in.
At least you've only got yourself to blame on a sportive !!

Looking at it that way, a sportive ain't bad value for money !

(Apologies for mentioning football. I know it gets some peoples goat !! )

bonk man

Maybe we should be more open to joining other clubs Sunday club runs, new routes, cafes, different people etc.. and all for free apart from buying some cake and maybe some fuel for getting to the ride.

I went out with the Penzance club [ 200 miles from home, but I was on holiday ] a couple of years ago and felt welcome and was looked after.

My club would always welcome visitors on our rides. Our summer rides are about 65-80 miles which is enough for most, not as much as a lot of sportive or Audax events but to be honest most of us are a bit knackered after 70 miles .......... aren't we?

SRS Events

Audaxes are great -- I used to love riding Audaxes although I have to admit to not liking having to read the map at every junction to make sure which way I was going.

Hence the slight difference in Audaxes and Sportives, Sportives have arrows . all the other differences have to be down to the organisers of the events. If the Audax has the following:-

Proper Feed Stations with free food and energy drink at each.
Mechanical Breakdown assistance around the full route.
Broom Wagon to pick you up and take you back to the finish if you need it.
Free sitdown food and drink at the start and the Finish of the event.
Individual timing of riders shown on the website after the event.
SIS goody bag at the end.
Most importantly at least 3 great routes

YES if an Audax has all the above then it surely is a truly great Audax

But if you can't find an Audax like this then try our Burgess Hill Cyclosportives you get all the above for a maximum of £25 (see website for reductions)
If you do enter then feel good about yourself as you are helping raise money for the Sussex Heart Charity

Our 2009 website is online now and we start taking entries 02/12/08 for both events.
http://www.srs-events.cc

now I am off to have a look at that Beacon RCC Audax website as that looks like a good event to do.

Rupert

andy_wrx

Sportive advert alert !

SRS Events

its behind you !

where what ?

An Audax advert alert

Kléber

This is a real problem that needs addressing in the UK. Everywhere else in the world, from the US to Spain, South Africa to Belgium, these rides are classed as races and you can usually win a prize for being first. Some actually make a living from riding sportives professionally in France and Italy. But these riders still help the other riders and of course for most riders, it is still a personal challenge and the podium doesn't matter. Indeed some organisers deliberately exclude Elite category riders.

But in the UK, this is not the case. You can get your time but they are not published in time order, organisers are deliberately tiptoeing around the race element because racing on public roads requires a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and police permission. Putting a small TT on requires risk assessments and more, using 100 miles of open road is near impossible, just see how even the Tour of Britain organisers struggle.

British organisers might to well to come up with some common standards and to lobby for a seperate legal status for their events, distinct from racing but with some legal protection and road safety protection.

SRS Events

kia©ber

Your right it is a problem !

And Thankfully in the UK there are no prizes for doing the fastest time on a Cyclosportve.

The police don't see cyclosportive events as races mainly due to organisations like the BC Everyday Cycling making a point that the rules are that organisers of Cyclosportives in the UK don't give out results in order or give out prizes to the fastest.
If organisers do give out results in order and are running the event under the Everyday Cycling event insurance then they wouldn't be covered.
I hope that it stays this way as I feel that if people want to win and beat times then they should be Road Racing or timetrialing.
Cyclosportives should and do offer something different to racing.

The way that cyclosportives are going wth the aid of Everyday Cycling is pretty good. We just can't have the same sort of events as they do on the Continent, as we don't have the same roads or the understanding of the Public (yet)
Saying that it doesn't mean we can't have great organised Cyclosportives which are just as enjoyable as the ones on the Continent.

Cyclosportives are a great way of introducing people to cycling. The next step is to get those people who have a go at a Cyclosportive is for them to be persuaded to join a cycling club. Cycling has been in my opinion a hidden sport for too long in this country.
Yes we have had the success of the Olympics with all the great work the people at the BC are doing but still more needs to be done at the grass roots level for those that have no ambition to be the next world champion but would love to take part and know more about the cycling world as a sport as a means of trasport and as a way of enjoyment.

I think due to the fact that there are no prizes for winning in Cyclosportives, we wll slowly but surely see organisers of sportives having more imagination as to what their event can offer. The market has sometime to develop but develop it will. Maybe in the furture Continental Sportives will be looking to UK cyclosportives as the way to run an event.
Simply put whether it's a Cyclosportive or an Audax whatever brings people into cycling has to be good. Oh and with regards to legal protection and road safety protection Becoming a member of the British Cycling or Everyday Cycling is a good first step for protecting yourself legally should you get into a scrape.

GregP

I'm with the earlier poster - as a triathlete, sportivesseem reasonably priced. Srs...

Philip Whiteman

If anyone is thinking about giving an audax a try, I would like to commend the Beacon Cotswold Expedition:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12604477

Just to show how an audax should be run

redddraggon

I think Audaxes look better than UK Sportives.

I can't really see the point in splashing out £30 - £40 quid to ride on open public roads. Yeh they might have a sign posted route, and they might have feed zones, and it might be "timed".

But I can navigate myself, I can carry plenty of food in my pockets and it's to have a stop at a cafe, and I can time myself easy enough.

Fair dos, some people might be happy to spend that much money, but I'd want to see closed roads for that sort of cash.

I'm doing my first Audax in 11 days, and that's only costing me £4.......

mouflon

you dont have to just do Audaxes or just do Sportives , do a mixture and judge each event on its own merits. There is plenty of awesome riding to be had under both genres.