Newbie Sportive Q

Dr S

I'm thinking of doing the Highclere sportive this year, only had a roadie bike for a few weeks and i've only really ridden distances up to 35miles so far.

The events on 7th June, should I aim for the 77miler? will this be just to much to complete? How fast is the ride normally? I'm riding low HR runs at about 12.5 mph at the moment (zone 5 training)

Any advice would be great!

richa

Dr S.

Highclere is a great event and should be a good first challenge.

How far is appropriate in June depends a little on you level of fitness now and how much cycling you do in between.

If you have done 35 miles already then there is no reason why you cant get yourself up to 77 miles for June. It is 4 months away so we are only talking about increasing your long ride by approx 2/3 miles per week.

Sportives attract a wide range of entrants at different speeds. Your 12.5kph now should be quicker come June and will be fine for this event.

Chubby on a compact

Dr S

If you can ride 35 miles comfortably you should be alright aiming for the 77 miles. Don't worry to much about speed, go at your own pace. Some go off really fast only to pay for it later, don't be tempted to follow. The thing to do is build up your mileage slowly. If you know you can do 35 miles ok, have a go at doing 45. Once comfortable at doing 45 have a go at doing 55 so on and so on. Make sure you take plenty of food and drink with you. If sportive is hilly do some training on hills. Unfortunately there is only one way to learn to ride hills and that's ride them. The biggest thing is to keep eating and drinking whilst riding. My father in law reckons the first 10 miles are the worst. Once the legs are warmed up he reckons he could go all day.

sdbiker

Two other positives about sportives:
1. The atmosphere and cameraderie tend to be excellent, which really helps you along.
2. You'll find a group who are trundling along at your speed - trust me, you will, they just kind of happen along! Riding in a group is SO much easier than riding solo because you're sheltered from he wind. It makes a huge difference. Don't worry about gate-crashing a group - see item 1.
I did the Dragon Ride as my first sportive last year. I was very apprehensive before the event, but ended up finding a group of half a dozen riders of my ability, (few of whom knew each other before the event) and really enjoyed the day. Plus I made 5 new friends - for the day at least!

John C.

Go for it , enjoy it, one word of warning is don't get into a group going too fast, it's easily done and you don't want to run out of energy. Having said that by hiding in a group you can maintain a higher speed than you can on your own.