Do you need to stop at feed stations?

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Comments

  • shakey88
    shakey88 Posts: 289
    vermooten wrote:
    Short answer: yes! But make it quick, no need to dismount from bike or stretch legs - just wolf down as many goodies as you can, refill bottles and then get the fck back on the road! Yipeee!
    :D I like your style mate.
    Took a while but that's just the answer i was looking for!
    In,out,bish bosh,up up and awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
  • pjm-84
    pjm-84 Posts: 819
    or
    I will stop but it's "positive" stop. Water / food / timing / kit - off.

    Change the kit for a fck :wink:
    Paul
  • jhop
    jhop Posts: 369
    I too like to be quick BUT those who remain on their bikes can, on the bigger events ,really obstruct access for others to food and drink.

    The etape food stops are some of the most congested that I have come across and are usually a really shambolic affair but they are made worse by riders trying to refuel without dismounting.
  • bahzob
    bahzob Posts: 2,195
    dennisn wrote:
    I've just got to ask. Since when did riding a bicycle in a non racing event become such
    a "got to finish with a fast time", "can't take 5 minutes to talk to someone - gotta ride",
    "can't ride with you and or your group - to slow", "got to do the whole thing without getting off the bike(it's what the pros do)", "can't take time for a quick chat with someone
    while riding - gotta hammer". Doesn't sound like much fun to me. You'll be pounding yourself into the ground, and for what? A minute or two here and there on a six hour or so ride? Enjoy the thing. Take a bit of time to talk to people and enjoy the camaraderie.
    Otherwise it will just turn into a one really long grind and you'll end up saying something like "what the hell did I do that for?".

    Dennis Noward

    Its a matter of choice, nobody's saying you need to ride that way. And speaking for myself I divide my sportives up into those I do for fun (and ride like you suggest) and those I do for the challenge of finishing in a good time. (try it some time, its also fun..)

    That said it still makes sense not to rely 100% on getting food at food stations. They can run out of food and this will put a damper on the day even if you are taking things easy.
    Martin S. Newbury RC
  • GavH
    GavH Posts: 933
    Maybe it's me being Scottish but isn't the 'cost' of feed stops factored into your entry fee? In which case, why would you not want to stop and take advantage of them? Get your monies worth I say!!
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    vermooten wrote:
    Short answer: yes! But make it quick, no need to dismount from bike or stretch legs - just wolf down as many goodies as you can, refill bottles and then get the fck back on the road! Yipeee!

    Got to say that I have never seen anyone going through the food and water lines
    while still straddling their bike. Then again I'm from the U.S. Guess it would save a
    bit of time or is it a theft prevention thing? Does seem like it would make it more of a pain
    in the *ss for just about everyone in an already crowded area.

    Dennis Noward
  • andy_wrx
    andy_wrx Posts: 3,396
    Dennis, it has the advantage that no stupid bu$$er can damage your bike.

    Some people are in a mad I-mustn't-waste-any-time hurry, whilst also being half knackered, and also hobbling about on cleats, which means that they're not exactly careful.

    At one sportive, I'd leaned my bike against a wall and someone managed to knock it over, at another I'd leaned it against a roadsign and someone managed to walk into the other bike leaning against the other side and knock both of them over.

    I've also seen someone's bike laid down on the grass (that's OK, no-one can knock it over ?), but some clumsy s0d managed to walk right over it and stand on the spokes by walking forwards whilst looking hard in a different direction.

    I'm just waiting for someone to mistake my bike for theirs and ride off on it...
  • Peter Harrison
    Peter Harrison Posts: 189
    dennisn wrote:
    I've just got to ask. Since when did riding a bicycle in a non racing event become such
    a "got to finish with a fast time", "can't take 5 minutes to talk to someone - gotta ride",
    "can't ride with you and or your group - to slow", "got to do the whole thing without getting off the bike(it's what the pros do)", "can't take time for a quick chat with someone
    while riding - gotta hammer". Doesn't sound like much fun to me. You'll be pounding yourself into the ground, and for what? A minute or two here and there on a six hour or so ride? Enjoy the thing. Take a bit of time to talk to people and enjoy the camaraderie.
    Otherwise it will just turn into a one really long grind and you'll end up saying something like "what the hell did I do that for?".

    Dennis Noward
    the exact ethos I try to promote for the Cyclone www.northernrockcyclone.co.uk if riders want to race they should put a number on their back, not on the bike. The ride can still be challenging but you don't get any prizes for being first - far beeter to take a little longer and enjoy the countryside and make new friends.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    andy_wrx wrote:
    Dennis, it has the advantage that no stupid bu$$er can damage your bike.

    Some people are in a mad I-mustn't-waste-any-time hurry, whilst also being half knackered, and also hobbling about on cleats, which means that they're not exactly careful.

    At one sportive, I'd leaned my bike against a wall and someone managed to knock it over, at another I'd leaned it against a roadsign and someone managed to walk into the other bike leaning against the other side and knock both of them over.

    I've also seen some one's bike laid down on the grass (that's OK, no-one can knock it over ?), but some clumsy s0d managed to walk right over it and stand on the spokes by walking forwards whilst looking hard in a different direction.

    I'm just waiting for someone to mistake my bike for theirs and ride off on it...

    I understand. I have seen bikes knocked over, stepped on, etc. Here in the states if someone tried to to go through the lines on his bike he would, at the very least, be shouted at and called most everything in the book. There might even be a sort of revolt
    by the others in line and he might find himself and his bike, quite literally, tossed out of line.
    And I do mean tossed. I would say that here in the states no one and no ones bike is considered that important and it would not be tolerated. But like I've said, I have never seen it even tried.

    Dennis Noward

    Dennis Noward
  • jhop
    jhop Posts: 369
    A tip I was given some years back was to ride to the end of the feed station area, most riders stop as soon as they approach the zone, there is usually plenty of space then to leave the bike and also less of a queue / scramble for refuelling.
    Once you stop the time seems to fly by and on those events with a minimum speed/time cut off such as the Etape it can make completion more difficult to achieve.

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