Gold, Silver and Bronze finishing times for sportives

cframe

I've noticed some folk on here saying they're aiming for a silver category finish (for example) at various sportives this year and was just wondering how you know what the various category times are?

Are the defined by the event organisers?

Last year I entered the Etape Caledonia but there were not category times announced for it, not that I was aware of anyway. What would you guys say the various finish times for Caledonia might be if you've entered it previously?

Cheers!

Peter Harrison

cframe wrote:

I've noticed some folk on here saying they're aiming for a silver category finish (for example) at various sportives this year and was just wondering how you know what the various category times are?

Are the defined by the event organisers?

Last year I entered the Etape Caledonia but there were not category times announced for it, not that I was aware of anyway. What would you guys say the various finish times for Caledonia might be if you've entered it previously?

Cheers!

cframe - yes times are defined by the organisers. In the case of the Cyclone www.northernrockcyclone.co.uk I have only set standards for the 101 ml ride as it gives the serious cyclist a goal to achieve without being unattainable. I have not set standards for the shorter rides as I believe the progression through to the longer ride should be goal enough for these riders.

cframe

Cheers for clearing that up Peter

Philip Whiteman

cframe wrote:

I've noticed some folk on here saying they're aiming for a silver category finish (for example) at various sportives this year and was just wondering how you know what the various category times are?

Are the defined by the event organisers?

Last year I entered the Etape Caledonia but there were not category times announced for it, not that I was aware of anyway. What would you guys say the various finish times for Caledonia might be if you've entered it previously?

Cheers!

Hi there. I have just run this event through the rankings calculator. Here are the timings for men:

Senior.

Gold 4.33.39
Silver 5.14.42

Vet

Gold 4.50.05
Silver 5.33.35

Some organisers stick their fingers up in the air and make a guess the ranking times. Otherwise, there is a calculator originating from the continental sportive circuit. This is used by a small number of UK organisers, mainly by those who are members of IACO.

It is quite a good tool but I am critical on its application to women cyclists. Women are ranked down by a factor of 1 (eg, senior women get a man's vet times) - this is in my opinion is too harsh as evidenced by the almost complete absence of women with gold times. Additionally, the category for seniors between 18 & 39 years of age is far to wide and should be more finely graded to represent age (e.g. 18-29; 30-39).

The calculator which is Excel based, takes into account the distance and overall ascent. It does not take into account road surface, weather conditions (obviously) or the grade of ascent. An organiser wishing to take these factors into account needs to make manual adjustments, for example, to increase the completion times to take into account a large number of 1 in 4 to 1 in 6 gradients.

I have a copy of the calculator if anyone wishes to obtain a copy. E mail me at:

comms AT beacon DOT org DOT uk

John C.

Not sure on this one BUT
the time to aim for on the FWC is 8 hours
The Rydale Rumble is 7.45 for gold

my times were 8.07 for The Fred and 7 .52 on the RR both times were 7 minutes off.

Not sure what this shows apart from the fact I need to get a bit quicker

cframe

Cheers for posting those times for Caledonia Philip! Looks like I was just inside the silver mark last year, wonder if gunning for a gold this year might be a bit bold