who issdigusted with the BIKERADAR Sportive yesterday????

what brakes

Well ive been looking forward to this sportive for last couple of months. Turned up with a mate raring to go! We set off doing a good pace for the 106miler, water bottles topped up with our energ drink. Get to headcorn where the first stop is. Had 1 full bottle and was told at the start line there will be a water stop at the top of charing which is 10mile away so decided not to stop. get to the top of the charing hill and nothing! 40miles now and no stop. we were starting to panic as there wouldnt be a stop now until we get back to headcorn. luckily at boughton alpah there was a guy who was meant to be at charing there so grab a couple of bottles of water. set off for headcorn by now we are suffering with the heat and lack of energy. we get to headcorn where there was an official stop. we stop to finally get some proper drink and all they are dishing up is water! so grab another couple of bottles worth and told the next one is 10miles away! well 20 odd miles later we get to brenchley! we are now literaly dying as we have done niegh on 85 mile on just 2 bottles of energy drink and gallons of water so we are not replacing any of the sodium or other nutrients and energy we really are craving for! By now we are crawley along the floor and find the drink bottle only to be told they dont have any energy drink and we can only have 1 gel..... but we can have 1 or 2 tiny cakes or a banana! thanks that will reallly help replace what weve lost through sweat! we limper home and at the finish line we only get more water! i find this so flipping disgusting! and so negligent to us riders needs! i really feel sorry for the guys that finished behind us. as i still managed to do it in 6hrs the poor gys who would take 7 or 8 hrs must be even worse!

What i want to know is where the hell did all the energy drink and gels etc go? some one has them? as i really cant imagine that zipvit would supply so little.......

This is the worst sportive i have ever done and will definately not be doing it again neither will my other buddies! hopefully some of the other riders of the day will never attend again. they have put our health at risk....

I had planned to go back on the sunday with the mrs and kids for the day but have refused to pass any more of my money their way!

im still not feeling myself yet, although i am starting to feel abit more human! thanks to necking down copious amounts of my energy drink and recovery drink...

ianlash

You got more at Brenchley than we did. No gels, just some cakes and bananas cut in half as they were clearly running out. I think Zipvit should be embarrassed by all this as I only saw their products at the first stop, which is not good for a sponsor. Luckily I took my own stuff.

Gazzaputt

Please tell me you didn't pay the whole £35 to enter. Sounds a joke from what you say,.

One big money making spin the whole event if you ask me. Seems you had to pay extra on top of entrance fee for everything.

redddraggon

Complain and ask for your money back.

mrushton

Why not just stop at a newsagent/cafe/whatever shop is open? Feed stops are not always reliable so you should figure that you get drinks at a convenience store,assuming ther are some en route.

James T

I guess because What Brakes had paid his entry fee which included the support of pre arranged feed stations.

amaferanga

If you'd stuck a couple of energy bars or gels and some powder in your pockets before you started you'd have been fine. Sounds like they were far from well stocked, especially for £35, but sometimes you've just gotta think ahead and look after yourself.

what brakes

i always take enough gels for my ride but this is the 5th or 6th sportive this year and all previous ones have been great at the feed stations! except 2 and that was only because they were just setting up, but did rush for us.

I think i paid the £26 or what ever it was as i booked in months ago.

I was going to complain on the day but because i felt so carp i didnt think it was wise...

from what i hear last years was a nightmare! doesnt seem they have learnt.

On a good note i do have to agree that the route was well sign posted and clear.

bendertherobot

This type of thing has to be addressed. You pay to enter, you get provided with what you expected to receive. Be that High 5 at the Dragon or Zipvit here.

Taking your own is just backup. You shouldn't have to rely on it.

I fear that more and more people may just start "riding with a Sportive bunch" on the day now rather than actually enter. After all, if you don't get what you expect, why bother at all?

Cleat Eastwood

Seems a growing trend with sportives and feed station complaints. I think its possibly in a growing uk sportive field some orgs are advertising things they cant deliver just to get numbers up. For 20 quid you'd expect not much, but over that and the orgs do have questions to answer, IMO

Pokerface

MTFU

JamesB

If sportives advertise feed stations with such & such provided then having paid a substantial entry fee there`s every right and expectation to have that provided; yes always carry some food , but this is purely an emergency back up as you have been informed, as part of entry fee, that feeds will be in place.
The organisers IMHO should ensure that there`s adequate for all riders. I didn`t do BR sportive but have experinced similar on others and won`t be riding them again . At end of day having feed stops well stocked is one thing that sets sportives apart from the much cheaper audaxes where you DIY feeds

bendertherobot

Pokerface wrote:

MTFU

So what's the entry fee for?

amaferanga

JamesBwmb wrote:

If sportives advertise feed stations with such & such provided then having paid a substantial entry fee there`s every right and expectation to have that provided; yes always carry some food , but this is purely an emergency back up as you have been informed, as part of entry fee, that feeds will be in place.
The organisers IMHO should ensure that there`s adequate for all riders. I didn`t do BR sportive but have experinced similar on others and won`t be riding them again . At end of day having feed stops well stocked is one thing that sets sportives apart from the much cheaper audaxes where you DIY feeds

I don't think this is the problem for the OP since he was riding pretty quickly so was probably near the front, but one of the problems with feeds on sportives is that a lot of people are extremely selfish and grab huge handfuls of stuff ('because I paid for it') without a thought for the folk behind them. The organisers can't really be expected to provide unlimited food.

JamesB

Yes agree with this, and have seen selfish gits grabbing literally handfuls of gel bars etc, but organisers could monitor this issue if its seen as a big problem in food scarcity. Mostly though poor feed stations seem from my experience be due to meanness of organisers wanting to pull in money and profits

robbiedont

We spoke with the zipvit stand and they said they were contracted to supply one gel and one bar (protein recovery) per person. hardly enough!!

wander wheels

Hi I agree with JamesBwmb - if you pay your money and the organisers advertise what's going to be available it should be so you can organise what to take. I did the Dragon Ride a couple of years ago and they had run out of water and food at the feed stations - it was very poor and never been back since. After a while you tend to get selective about what events to do and what's important to have a good ride like good clear signage, adequate food and drink and the stops,toilets at the stops and a WELL DONE at the finish. The White Horse Challenge and the Hampshire Hilly are a couple rides that fits all this for me.

antfly

It sounds like you drank too much.

jezcc

I've done a few of the Southern Sportive Sunday Sportives over the years and always found their supply of food and drink to be excellent. Signposting has been good too and the entry fees are pretty reasonable (£15 for the 101km middle route at Reigate last weekend)

http://www.southernsportive.com/

FransJacques

I've said this many time but this is why I have no compunction about riding sportives pirate (i.e. without paying) so long as I bring my own stuff. For £20-25-30 quid you can buy 5 x gels, 3 x bars, and 5 x sachets of drink poweder and 3x 1.5 liters of Evian and not be held up in a feedstation scrum/queue. My time is what my Garmin shows me. That's good enuf for me.

In the etape I'm paying for closed roads. The RVV, Roubiax, and LBL sportives are about EUR 8 base cost (there are lots of add ons) BUT you get to ride a route as hallowed as Mecca or Jerusalem or Stamford Bridge. Not the Etape de butt-feck nowhere on crappy B-roads filled with potholes with 1000 piddly vert meters of climbing.

Riding pirate you'll still get your photo taken. The Photo companies don't care - it's just bits and bytes to them. They might even make a sale out of it. But I doubt if you're too cheap to pay for the event :-)

The first egregeous example of money-making was the Highclere in '07 or '08 when the cost was £25 - we thought it was extreme then but £35 is taking the mick. For £35 I'd expect someone like Rob Hayles to pedal my bike for me while I got a Thai massage with a happy ending... Bike radar....it's all about the dollar bill and processing people like they're UPC coded.

leejdavies

Did the 106 mile ride. It was my first so didn't know what to expect so bought all my own stuff. Afterall I know how my body reacts to it, and I know I like it and when to eat it. I managed to finish in the top 20 on the long ride so some of the first 106ers (i guess) to the first station at 70miles (thought it bit of a long distance to the first station) managed to get plenty of energy drink, they still had two tubs of the stuff. Maybe it was the 50/70 milers stealing all the good stuff Thought it then pretty pointless having the next feed stop only 15 miles down the rode?!?

Plenty of awesomely cold water at the bottom of the last climb which was so good.

One thing though the 'Goody Bag' was a shocker. Just a few pieces of paper and a molten recovery bar.

Both I and my friend enjoyed it for a first. But that said have no other experience to compare.

Only one sign was turned upside down sending us the wrong way before quickly being righted by a marshall.

Overall loads of fun and made me want to do more.

danowat

leejdavies wrote:

It was my first so didn't know what to expect so bought all my own stuff. Afterall I know how my body reacts to it, and I know I like it and when to eat it.

This ^, I certainly wouldn't want to rely on external sources for my nutrition on a long ride, I much prefer to be self sufficient (personally, I don't like stopping anyway!!!!).

And yeah, I too have witnessed people taking arm fulls of stuff at food stops without regard to others, the whole "I've paid for it, so I'll take it" attitude isn't pleasent.

As for the cost thing, its not just the food stops you pay for...........

Crimpit

It was bloody awful!

I'm generally a mountain biker and this was my first 100 mile sportive. Luckily, being a MTBer means I always ride with a 3litre camelbak, tool kit and a few spares. I wasn't short of water but was appalled to see the state of the (so called) feed stations. Not enough of them out of water, out of food etc. If you normally get food, they need to provide it for ALL, and they were clearly out - I even gave away a couple of my own gels at one point.

I had the misfortune to break my rear mech and buckle the rear wheel about 5 miles after headcorn. Initially thinking my race was over I decided to hang around and wait for a marshall or van so I could get a lift back.
There was an accident at the bottom of the hill I'd walked back up so I marshalled the crossroads for about an hour (I didn't actually see a static marshall after about 10 miles out - anyone else?) The accident had been caused essentially by poor route setting - single lane road with enough space for a bike to pass a car at walkking pace if both were careful, but on a steep hill with bends so bikes were generally going at a good pace and one guy was unlucky enough to go over the bonnet of a car coming the other way. I was even asked by the police to point out that this was 'shocking' routing and should be reported to the organisers (I was unable to find anyone to listen apart from one cycling magazine reporter who was very eager!)
Anyway, after hearing that the road was now clear, and having waited over an hour already with only a motrorbike outrider with no radio to 'help', I decided to bodge up a singlespeed set up and head back to the feed station. When I got backk to Headcorn I was told they'd run out of everything but water and they had no contact with anyone who could get me a ride home but there was a feed station about 10 miles away.
I headed off on my singlespeed, buckled wheeled steed, and about 18 miles later (funny how that 10 miles seeemed so far) got to another feed stop where I was told by an extremely uninterested 'medic' (with a van, which he was unwilling to use!) 'hang about, and there might be a van taking down route markers at the end'. I held on and held on, and about 1 1/2 hrs later a motorbike outrider stopped and said 'van, what van?? we don't even have tubes or water to give anyone, its the worst organised ride Ive ever supported' (This from a seasoned professional escort rider!).

I headed off again, being told it was only 18 miles to Brands, and managed to get a further 5 miles before I accepted a lift off someone in a mercedes van, and sat in the back in the pitch black for another 30 minutes to eventually get back to the start.
My first ever DNF

So, in summary
Not enough feed stations, with not enough supplies
A nice route, but which was dangerous in parts
Motorbike support which was less support than fellow riders (not there fault, they were not given supplies by the organisers)
No discernible van support and no one who knew how to get in contact with anyone who might be able to help.
No static marshalls (that I saw) other than the feed stations after the first 10 miles.
AND - bloody expensive to boot!

A lot of this was pointed out to them last year - they have NO excuse for not managing this properly. I will be complaining and will be expecting money back!

Percy Vera

robbiedont wrote:

We spoke with the zipvit stand and they said they were contracted to supply one gel and one bar (protein recovery) per person. hardly enough!!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

If that is true it's an absolute disgrace! £35 for ONE Gel & ONE BAR

:shock: :shock: :shock:

FransJacques

Crimpit wrote:

It ...... back!

Wow, what an effort! How did your wheel and mech die? that's a very MTB type of mechanical to have on a road ride. Even roadies don't often break mechs unless they crash...

At the very least you got good first hand experience of how or how not to run a sportive. You should hire yourself out as an event consultant.

One question you could ask is why should the organization pay for vans to ferry people about. When we train we have to look after ourselves. Rental vans and drivers are expensive so what should one expect for £20-35? How much is a taxi home after a late night out? Do MTBers expect a tranist van to drive down a technical single track to pick them up? No. Should roadies be any less self sufficient?

Depends on what's advertised I guess. In the event that I run we don't say it's offered but we do have a couple of large cars on hand if someone's really in the sheit and needs to be picked up.

SBezza

LOL at the complaints

I did a 100m race yesterday, I had to provide my own feeding, my own drinks, and there wasn't even proper direction arrows. I still got around without dieing.

Why is it that sportive entrants think it is a RIGHT to have everything provided for them. For christs sake take plenty of spare stuff with you. Even when I did sportives, I took spare energy powder with me, you go on a nice 100+ mile ride and rely of the energy drink you may have never tried before, that is a little silly if anything.

As for only getting water, what about eating normal food and drinking water, I do 100 mile training rides like this, you don't need electrolyte in a drink if you eat normal food as well. I could understand if on the limit and eating just isn't possible, but for a sportive, eating is very easy.

Now the price is a con I will admit, but as mentioned above this isn't just for the food, there is quite a bit of organising involved with any event, alot of the costs will be for that.

As for the route being dangerous, there are many of us from the local area that train day in and day out on the roads the sportive took, they are not dangerous, only the road users.

boondog

you set off on a 106mile sportive with 1 bottle of water and no food ?

itchieritchie

I've actually never done a proper sportive, just head out with my mates for a long ride normally.

But some of the comments on here are frightening. I came so close to putting my money down for this event and am now glad I didn't. It certainly sounds like a moneyspinner.

I also have epilepsy. And I make sure I'm well fed and watered before, during and after rides. I dread to think what might have happened if I'd gone on this and ridden mile after countless mile without having those precious salts replaced. I'm sure the mistake a lot of novices would make is thinking "Well I'm all paid up now, I just turn up and ride". I think that's a reasonable assumption in the circumstanced actually.

I'm actually just saddened to hear that this is how some sportives are run. It's not just tight-fisted but irresponsible. At this rate all the scrimping and saving on behalf of the organisers in the pursuit of a fast back will end in a fatality one day.

And yes, I understand that you should always take your own back-up in the form of gels, drinks etc. I personally couldn't afford not to. But hell, you deserve SOMETHING for your £35...

Not impressed BikeRadar. At all....

bendertherobot

SBezza wrote:

Why is it that sportive entrants think it is a RIGHT to have everything provided for them. For christs sake take plenty of spare stuff with you. .

I think it might be down to the notion that you exchange something with the organisers when entering. I can't remember what that thing is but I'm fairly sure that when you exchange it you normally get something in return.

amaferanga

I'm not really defending the organisers of this sportive, but some people seem to think that for £25 (or whatever) they should have everything provided. Now, your average cyclist might get through a handful of gels, a handful of energy bars and a few sachets of energy powder on a 100 mile ride, especially if they're readily available ('and I paid for it'). That could be £10 per cyclist - a big chunk of the entry fee. By the time the organisers have laid on all the other facilities that people seem to expect (sign posts, marshals, timing chips, start/finish facilities, broom wagon, mechanics, first aid, etc.) then that £25 entry fee doesn't seem so steep given that the organisers have to make some profit.

While lavish feed stations may be nice, only the foolish or naive would rely on them completely for their food and water. I actually did a 100 mile sportive without stopping at any of the feed stops and got by quite happily with a few energy bars and gels in my pockets from the start.

Gazzaputt

boondog wrote:

you set off on a 106mile sportive with 1 bottle of water and no food ?

Yes because you are paying £35 for it to be provided as stated by the ride organiser.

Makes me laugh the 'take your own' brigade.

The reason you pay an entry fee is to have a signposted, marshaled and food and drink provided. If the ride stated it what they would provide would be so little you'd either opt out or take your own.

Luckily I've only ever ridden sportives that have had well stocked feed stations.

£35 is a premium price and so the event should be a premium with plenty of food and drink.