Thinking of entering my first sportive. Which distance?

gmanbaker

Hi, I am thinking of entering my first sportive on the 1st of May (the Wiggle one in Dorking). It has 3 distances, Fun 39 miles, standard 70 miles and epic 101 miles (all distances are approximate). I only started cycling in January on my Boardman comp hybrid and can do 40 miles without dieing at an average of 13 mph. Have also been up Box Hill (olympic route) and survived on said hybrid. I hope to have a 'Proper' road bike by May.

:?: Should I go easy and do the 39 or challenge myself and go for the 70 miler?

P.S. I cycle 30 to 40 miles every Sunday.

Brian B

Hi Gman,

Go for the 70miler, If you can do 40miles at the weekend then you can push yourself for the rest. Lots of other people suffering as well makes it easier for you and helps spur you on. All levels of fitness, age and bikes seen on sportives and its all for fun so dont worry.

13mph is pretty good given your time on the bike. Good luck and soon you'll be thinking of the 100miles at the end of the year perhaps

Tom Butcher

Yes the 70 miler - or even the century - first ride over 50 miles I ever did was a 140 mile audax.

thecrofter

If you're doing 30 40 miles now then 70 in May should be no problem. I reckon at least 80% of the distance thing is just psychological anyway, once you've built up a decent level of fitness. Last year I did the Caledonia Etape (83 miles) never having ridden over 60miles and finished in the top 1000 at 4hrs 20mins. Then a couple of months later I decided I better do a 100 mile cycle, so just went out one day and did it. I know there are guys on here that do monster mileages 600k Audaxes and so on, most of them would admit they're not super humans, they just believe it's possible therefore they go and do it.

SIMPLES!!!!

I think it was Henry Ford who said " If you think you can't do something, then you're probably right"

sfichele

Get out this Sunday and put in a 50+ miler, then you'll have no doubt that you go the extra bit and do the 70 miles.

Buckled_Rims

Do the 39 miler first. Use this as gaining experience on what to eat, drink, clothes, signing in, road manners, route taking etc. There's more to learn then distance.

There's no reason you can't do a 70 miler, but I learnt a hell of a lot on my first sportive which was a 51 mile. The fact I didn't get a good nights sleep, eat the best of breakfast, too much clothing, used brand new road shoes instead of my usual SPD, missed a turning, tried to go too fast, etc all proved I needed experience over distance.

The following Sportive was much better and the 3rd meant I had learned a whole load more and just missed out on a gold standard.

Deegs

Go straight in with the 70. You will be otherwise just doing your usual training ride surely? I know old Buckled there is giving good advice but my first was last years Exmoor Beast and I'm hardly very fit, hadn't done more than a v few 50mile rides all year prior to this, averaged >10mph despite 2 impromptu coffee stops in pubs by our group, etc. The extra know how isn't that much to get used to.

Having said that do double check the total climb distance also e.g. maybe not Black Rat first off?

jzed

I think the Ups and Downs is pretty hilly so the difference between 40 and 70 could be draining. If your happy in the saddle for long periods of time and pace it, drink and eat regularly, then you'll be ok. If you don't feel ok when riding you can always take the shorter route.