Sportive Debate – How far would you travel for a Sportive?

KidsCan

Hi Everyone,

We’ve organised a few Sportives now and on the whole, the majority of people who take part come from up to about 30 miles away to take part.
However we have also had participants take part from far flung areas of the country!

So, out of interest, how far would you travel to take part? What would make you go the extra mile – literally! Just out of curiosity really!

Keep on peddling!

KidsCan

stevo1602

30 miles sounds about right.
If you are doing the 100 mile route, it will take 5 hours plus, and most of us have other things to do with the rest of Sunday.
I would go the extra mile to a Sportive if it was in another country and it was part of a holiday...say The South of France, or Spain or Italy.
I would not bother in this Country, I have done the Dragon Ride....which is "supposed" to be our biggest and best, but frankly there are loads of others doing it much better within 30 miles of me in the Cotswolds.

johnbirkby46213

I have travelled from Leicestershire up to Yorkshire for Bike Radar social rides, for Phil n Friends etc; down to the New Forest for an Audax and across the Worcs for various sportives.
However, these days I think to myself, "how much is the fuel going to cost?"
I suspect that the crippling cost of fuel will be on lots of minds these days.

Gazzaputt

Agree with John above. Cost of fuel is now a major factor.

Will only travel upto 30 miles.

nhoj

Much less than 30 miles away and I'd consider cycling to it. I'm in the west of Scotland, and there's only one, possibly two, as close as that, as far as I know.

Last weekend I did one 70 miles away. I was considering Ullapool Mor this year, which would be a trek to get to and I'd have to make a weekend of it, but I think I'll leave it for next year.

Next one on the calendar is 40 miles away.

thecrofter

nhoj wrote:

Much less than 30 miles away and I'd consider cycling to it. I'm in the west of Scotland, and there's only one, possibly two, as close as that, as far as I know.

Last weekend I did one 70 miles away. I was considering Ullapool Mor this year, which would be a trek to get to and I'd have to make a weekend of it, but I think I'll leave it for next year.

Next one on the calendar is 40 miles away.

Ullapool is a tough challenge, especially if it's windy, there's not even much in the way of scenery to look at once you get away from the coast.

McBain_v1

Since I do most of these Sportives on my own I find that any serious travelling to be a bit off-putting, especially if the start is in a tricky town-centre location where I can get lost. I think the furthest I'd go would be about 30 miles on my own, but if I hook up with someone else then I'd go further.

There are plenty of good rides in the North West anyway, unfortunately I am going to miss nearly all of them due my bloody broken collar bone. Long season of turbo training in the garage beckons until my bone knits and shoulder joint recovers some mobility.

andy_wrx

Any sportive 30 miles away from me would be on roads which I'd be likely to ride anyway.

Why on earth would I pay £30 for the priviledge of riding these roads, when I can do it for nothing every weekend ?

However, going 100 miles away would mean that I'd be riding somewhere different, somewhere I'm not used to riding, and I'd be paying for the organiser's knowledge of a good route.

hammerite

andy_wrx wrote:

Any sportive 30 miles away from me would be on roads which I'd be likely to ride anyway.

Why on earth would I pay £30 for the priviledge of riding these roads, when I can do it for nothing every weekend ?

However, going 100 miles away would mean that I'd be riding somewhere different, somewhere I'm not used to riding, and I'd be paying for the organiser's knowledge of a good route.

+1

That said I've only done 3 sportives, all of them touched roads that I can ride on easily, but due to the distance of the ride the majority of the ride have been on roads unknown to me.

I wouldn't ride a sportive every weekend, so would only do ones if they were a particular challenge, or in a nice part of the country.

rolf_f

andy_wrx wrote:

Any sportive 30 miles away from me would be on roads which I'd be likely to ride anyway.

Why on earth would I pay £30 for the priviledge of riding these roads, when I can do it for nothing every weekend ?

However, going 100 miles away would mean that I'd be riding somewhere different, somewhere I'm not used to riding, and I'd be paying for the organiser's knowledge of a good route.

+2 - a lot of the benefit is using them to learn good roads to ride a little away from your own patch. Mind you, the Pendle Predator started only 45 minutes by car from where I live and I've cycled part of it on a coast to coast ride last year going via my house. But I wouldn't have thought up such a harsh route on my own!

Furthest I've gone just for a Sportive is the Lakes - which are a good hour and a half or two away.

SDK2007

I'm travelling 100 miles ( 2 hours) for the Tour of the Peaks on Sunday.
The start line closes at 8am, means a very early start

Cleat Eastwood

Funnily enough I was thinking about this just the other day. I think most people's disgruntlement with one of the countries largest sportives lay in the fact that some had travelled a fair distance and after all the hassle travelling and the final moments of worry of wondering whether every things packed all you want is to relax into the ride.

So hats off to you for actually seeking opinion. Theres only you and polocini I've seen on the forum actually actively seek response to better your sportives.

(now if that doesnt get me free entry nothing will).

Anyway furthest I've travelled is about 60 miles and i'll probably be doing the macc monster.

Tom Butcher

If I was riding a sportive (haven't done a UK one for a couple of years) then 50-60 miles wouldn't be a problem - more than that it'd have to be one that came well recommended - if there was a group of us then I have travelled a few hundred and had an overnight stop but again I'd have to be pretty certain the event merited it.

nferrar

Probably around 50 miles for a normal sportive but hoping to do one or two big events a year now so much further for those...

twotyred

Depends on the event. This year I went to the south of France for the Marmotte.

In the UK 100 miles would probably be my limit unless I could fit the trip around a holiday or family visit.

Brian B

Foriegn sportives aside - I did the marmotte this year

On Blighty I have travelled from Scotland to Wales and stayed the night. I even have driven through the night to the Rydale Rumble, cycled it and came back the same day. Its not unsual for me to drive 3hrs plus to a sportive and drive home.

Agree the price of running a car has stopped me for going to do more(and family life) but cycling is my main poison and its worth the cost if it all goes according to plan.

Pigtail

I'm travelling almost 200 miles, with some slow narrow roads for the Bealach Mor.
James

jzed

Marmotte so ab out 650 miles each way

angelic upstart

Pendle witch started 2 miles from my front door, Pendle Predetor about 10, couldnt be arsed. Would only travel to races in lancs, west yorks and lakes. Sportive would do Fred, but only if someone else was driving, can reallly be arsed to drive any distance to ride my bike, race, sportive or a day out, would just set off from home. If you live in the city then yes 30 to 50 miles travel is about right

David-Witts

distance that I can achieve on about £10 worth of petrol.

~ £25 on entry, £5 on gels, energy drinks for the ride and £10 worth of fuel, so spending ~£40 to ride an event is about my limit.

oldwelshman

When I started back cycling about 5 years ago I travelled to a few and stayed overnight, but these days it is too expensive and get better value going abroad where they are more of a race, routes are better, in fact the whole experience is better so I would only consider those unles things change drastically over here.

smithy21

Dont think I'd travel more than an hour to get to one. More the time constraint being a factor than anything else. Most of the day is written off anyway.

A factor that would make me travel further is closed roads so in reality that means the continent as if I am going to get on a plane it might as well be to the Alps rather than an event like Caledonia.

CakeLovinBeast

Having never done a sportive (Yet. Only been riding 3 weeks!), I'm maybe not the best person to comment on this, but just wanted to chime in.

Like some of the others, I don't see distance as a barring factor to taking part. One of the very first sportives that I ever heard of was the étape Caledonia, and despite moving to Devon now, I still fully intend to travel up and take part one year. Similarly I'm planning, next year, to go back Oop North and take part in the Northern Rock Cyclone. I would consider travelling to different places to be a part of the enjoyment around taking part.

Le Commentateur

For me it's a matter of getting a good balance between the distance/effort of getting somewhere and the remaining time spent on the trip. If combined with a holiday then pretty much anywhere in Europe, the ideal scenario being sportive events on consecutive weekends, with a holiday week in-between. The best of these type was back in 2007 when I did two granfondos (Nove Colli and DolomitStars) and was able to ride out to see a couple of Giro mountains stage finishes mid-week.

The nightmare for me would be an early start on Saturday morning (or Friday overnight travel), a long car/plane/train journey, late afternoon eve-of-event registration, setting up bike and a hastily arranged evening meal, followed next day by a crack of dawn start in the event, after which it's a race against time to pack up and get back home ready for work on Monday morning. I'll leave that scenario to the time-pressured, hen-pecked or overpaid types who simply want to tick the boxes marked Etape/Ventoux/Maratona.

MrChuck

I'm in the West Mdilands and probably the furthest I've been is for the Dartmoor Classic, and both times I've stayed somewhere nice with the GF and made a weekend of it.

As somebody else said I wouldn't pay as much to do one on my doorstep as they're roads I could ride anytime, although there's always nice routes you don't know and it's good to look round a bit more.

But probably a lot depends on where you live. There are some nice roads round the West Midlands but they ain't the same as Wales, Dartmoor, the Lakes etc. and if you want to ride in those places then you've got to travel. Given that it's then a significant trip it's good to know that you're going to get a good day out from it so a sportive fits the bill nicely.

KidsCan

Thank you all for the fantastic feedback.

From our perspective, I hope that £20 (With Ride end BBQ and Feedstations) is enough to make people come from a reasonable distance.

Mind you, The Macc Monster is 100km, rather than 100miles.

I suppose that is also important when considering how far you are willing to travel!

Big Hairy Wallapers

I live and ride in Norfolk, last month I travelled to and road the Cyclops Sportive from Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, 375ish miles from home.
Magic!!

gsk82

i went to france for the marmotte this year, how far's that?

in the uk it depends on what the event is. i'd travel to the lake district (from hull) which is a 3 or 4 hour drive. last week i did the ryedale rumble which was an hour away. i wouldn't travel even 30mns to ride a dull flat course though. nor would i travel to the south or wales since there's probably far better closer to home

ledburyloafer

furthest drove up from Worcester to do the Bealach, stayed on the saturday and rode the sunday in another area, those days was a fully expensed company car,......not these days!

Used to do a sportive every other wekend, distance didint matter, drive there and back on the day.
Only exception being the above and the Fred

FransJacques

Depends on the course. People have mentioned continental rides and I'll go all over Italy and France to do them.

In the UK the concept of picking up all your details the night before as the Tour of Wessex allows is great b/c you can drive down the night before, pick up all your numbers and transponders then have a practice drive getting to your accomodation that night before you have to drive back in the AM. Saves wrong turns when you're tired and allows you to sleep the extra 30-45 mins.

If you're expecting people to drive a long way, at least have a registration option the night before, maybe closing at 9pm or so to allow as many people to pick up what they need.

In the UK, only really the big rides and the Evans rides have enough volunteers to throw at the morning scrum to keep the queues moving.

griffsters

KidsCan wrote:

Thank you all for the fantastic feedback.

From our perspective, I hope that £20 (With Ride end BBQ and Feedstations) is enough to make people come from a reasonable distance.

Mind you, The Macc Monster is 100km, rather than 100miles.

I suppose that is also important when considering how far you are willing to travel!

I've not been Road Cycling long but have been weighing up which Sportives to do when I have some miles (and hills!) in my legs. I live just on the outskirts of Rochdale and the Macc Monster is one I have on my list to do next year - not quite ready for it now. I reckon its probably about an hours drive away so think that is around my max.

However, I have been looking at the Etape Caledonia which obviously has a unique selling point and making that into a long family weekend break. So for something like that I'm looking to push the boat out a little.