sportives

cyclist55

im thinking of entering cotswold sportive on monday but am anxious as to what to expect and would like some advice/help on the course ,average speeds on a 100 mile sportive by winners etc.ive never done a race before so any info would help greatly

springtide9

Based on the Bath100 which was a similar distance/climbing

Some people will complete it in around 5hrs (or maybe less). The average will probably be around 8hrs. It's not a race, so lots of people will stop at the food stations for a while and chat.

Hope that helps

danowat

cyclist55 wrote:

average speeds on a 100 mile sportive by winners etc.ive never done a race before so any info would help greatly

Arrrrgggggg, its not a race, and there are no "winners" :evil:

squigs

danowat wrote:

cyclist55 wrote:

average speeds on a 100 mile sportive by winners etc.ive never done a race before so any info would help greatly

Arrrrgggggg, its not a race, and there are no "winners" :evil:

If you want to do it quicker than anyone else and have the overall best time, wouldn't that make it a race, albeit a personal one?

rjh299

squigs wrote:

danowat wrote:

cyclist55 wrote:

average speeds on a 100 mile sportive by winners etc.ive never done a race before so any info would help greatly

Arrrrgggggg, its not a race, and there are no "winners" :evil:

If you want to do it quicker than anyone else and have the overall best time, wouldn't that make it a race, albeit a personal one?

Trying to beat everyone else makes it non-personal. Trying to do the best time you can, race the clock, is personal.

Big Hairy Wallapers

In some riders minds it is a race and there are winners. Anyone that rides the same course at the same time but quicker than me has beaten me etc.
Other riders are there for entirely different reasons, to get away from the wife etc, if you take satisfaction from 'beating' someone that's just bimbling along and that helps you get value from your entry fee then fair play.
Some are there to Complete, some to Compete and some to Conquer.
Me personally if there's a clock on me I'll go as hard as I can.
If I felt I was 'winning' I'd need a proper challenge and I'd enter a proper race to measure myself against other people with similar goals, I.e. to go as quick as possible.
Either way enjoy it!!!

Pokerface

Sportives are not races. However, you can look at it more like a giant time trial. If it were a race, everyone would set off together and the first one to cross the line would win. Some people ride it LIKE a race (or time trial), but that doesn't make it a contest.

Anyway - to answer the OP - just enter it and ride. Don;t worry about anyone else. Some will ride fast and hard, others will just pootle along and come in hours after the fastest finishers.

For a new-is rider, it's a good experience to ride with groups of other people and if you're lucky - get in with a fast group and speed through the course.

danowat

Whichever way you spin it, they aren't races, in the same way audaxes aren't races, they are timed, mass participation rides.

There are no "places", hence no "winners", and in races, there are always winners.

shane r

cyclist55 wrote:

im thinking of entering cotswold sportive on monday but am anxious as to what to expect and would like some advice/help on the course ,average speeds on a 100 mile sportive by winners etc.ive never done a race before so any info would help greatly

FYI the Oxfordshire Classic is in a couple of weeks. 30 or 60 mile course.

markos1963

danowat wrote:

Whichever way you spin it, they aren't races, in the same way audaxes aren't races, they are timed, mass participation rides.

There are no "places", hence no "winners", and in races, there are always winners.

+1

I like riding the odd sportive but I do get fed up with people refering to them as 'races' and 'winners times'. It makes me wonder if these peolpe are living in a fantasty/denial land where they would like to race but are too scared at being found wanting so go on sportives where thier ego's can be massaged by riding past slower riders.

magliaceleste

There really aren't many road races to compete in though are there?...and I mean *road racing* and not riding round and round a circuit.

Big Hairy Wallapers

I've got to be honest......
I can't see the problem.

I like riding the odd sportive but I do get fed up with people refering to them as 'races' and 'winners times'. It makes me wonder if these peolpe are living in a fantasty/denial land where they would like to race but are too scared at being found wanting so go on sportives where thier ego's can be massaged by riding past slower riders.

If you don't view them as races thats fine by you, if others do that's fine by them.
.
Simplees!!

emx

magliaceleste wrote:

There really aren't many road races to compete in though are there?...and I mean *road racing* and not riding round and round a circuit.

what on earth are you talking about - there's plenty. Just look on the BC calendar....

springtide9

Think as a Sportive like a day out Rambling in the countryside,

Calling a Sportive a race, is a bit like racing fellow ramblers/walkers back to the car and shouting, "I won, you loose!"

Only done one Sportive and it was a lot different to what I was expecting; not sure you can really brag about dropping a few 'ultra fit looking guys/gals on £5k bikes', while they were enjoying their lunch and chatting with fellow cyclists.

Smokin Joe

I got talking to a girl last summer who was fairly new to cycling after I stopped to help her fit a tube after a puncture. She told me she had started racing and come fifth in her first event, which I thought was impressive, but puzzling as I had to soft pedal up a few hills where she was struggling and my own racing days are long behind me. Turned out she was fifth fastest woman in a local sportive, a fairly low key affair that generally attracts about 80 riders in total and only a handful of females.

Although well below middle age and obviously not male she fitted the MAMIL profile perfectly. Probably into cycling because it is the fashionable thing to do and under the impression that sportives are road races. Maybe these people really do believe that some of the pro riders do stop for lunch half way round and ride hills on a granny gear with a seatpack strapped to the saddle, but boy have they got the wrong idea about competitive cycling.

As said, a sportive is not a race and anyone thinking they have "won" is under a sad delusion. Racers have their number on the back of their jerseys, not taped to their handlebars and there is no dinner break either.

springtide9

@Smokin Joe: I came 32/162 in my first ever 100 mile sportive as well as it being my 5th ever road bike ride, ever. At 41, with a bit more training, maybe I should enter the Tour De France next year LOL
I obviously didn't stop that long for lunch, but only because I had to get back due to other commitments.Mind you, I whipped a few guys while they were sipping their tea.

[huge joke - just in case it wasn't obvious]

Pokerface

Smokin Joe wrote:

As said, a sportive is not a race and anyone thinking they have "won" is under a sad delusion. Racers have their number on the back of their jerseys, not taped to their handlebars and there is no dinner break either.

Dinner break in a race:



And in a sportive:

8)

northpole

If you have not participated in a sportive before, I would suggest that you don't have too many aspirations for glory. In the Cotswolds particularly, there will be some challenging hills throughout the course and you should concentrate on being able to complete the course rather than catching and overtaking the bikes ahead on the road. Stick to a pace you are comfortable with and this will give you a good perspective for training and taking part in the next one. I was quite shocked after my first one - and not by how well I did!!

As for the racing aspect, I was extremely p*ssed off at some of the muppets on the Spring Onion this year who weren't fit enough to go up the hills at a decent pace so thought it appropriate to deploy all of their excess ballast and blast down hills which were little more than single track lanes with flints down the middle and each verge - pure chaos and extremely dangerous. Not all corners were completed successfully - not much sympathy for them!

Take care and enjoy the event.

Peter

SBezza

There is a major issue with participants thinking they are races, they make stupid decisions, put other road users in danger, and potentially cause the organisor large amounts of grief, from the Police, or insurance companies if an accident does happen.

Road races are heavily marshalled and policed, sportives are not, you just follow a few signs on a route. The fact you may have standards doesn't mean you have to take every risk in the book, ride 4 or 5 riders wide, and give all manner of abuse to other road users.

These are mass participation challenging rides, and that is all. Ride safely and with due care and attention to other road users (no matter who they are), and think about the organisor that is hoping you all get back safely and injury free.