Vote - What is the most important thing for a sportive?

NITR8s

I am thinking of bucking the trend of current sportives and arranging a sportive at a more realistic price with the things that riders are looking for. In order to help get an idea of what is the most important thing to riders, please place your vote below.

nunowoolmez

sounds like a good idea. Where would you like to hold it (the sportive)?

NITR8s

I live in Somerset, so was thinking of holding it local. However, nothing is set in stone and I am only getting an idea of costing and what is required to do. The sportive obviously would not be until 2013 now and of course Bike Rader members get a discount!

NITR8s

I live in Somerset, so was thinking of holding it local. However, nothing is set in stone and I am only getting an idea of costing and what is required to do. The sportive obviously would not be until 2013 now and of course Bike Rader members get a discount!

nunowoolmez

I've not done one in that part of the uk before so i would be up for it. I know Wiggle do the Jurassic Beast down that way too but would prefer to do an independant ride like you propse. From the few votes so far it seems clear what peoples priorities are!

Omar Little

Good challenging route on roads that local cyclists would choose to ride on (eg not too busy with traffic, decent surface quality etc) rather than just someone sitting miles away randomly drawing the map online without much local knowledge

Get that right and combine with decent feed stations (that dont run out of food) then chip timing, goody bags, medal etc arent important

JamesB

Somerset sounds a good area to run one in as as far as I know there are few sportives in the area, and last thing you need is to start overloading an area with sportives as the field of riders is only finite.
I`m sure a very decent route could be constructed around Mendips , Quantocks, & Brendon hills with some gentler miles on the Somerset levels too

NITR8s

I already have a semi idea of a local route, just need to put the parts together, I have also penned the name of the event to either be "Quantock Leap" or "Quantock Theroy". As it goes over the Quantocks obviously.

NITR8s

Remember you get to vote for 3 items

Cleat Eastwood

liverpool mercury have an 'extended club run" - open to all and FREE, its a sportive in all but name - 2 cafe stops and a really nice route - don't see why other clubs don't do this, would be great to go round (within reason) other parts of the country and experience new routes.

http://www.liverpoolmercury.co.uk/wp-co ... s_2012.pdf

nunowoolmez

Love that area, used to go camping there when i was young (er). Lovely scenery & some serious climbs. Dunkery Beacon, Crowcombe Combe, Porlock, & Cheddar Gorge. For summer it has the makings of a great ride! What about the 'Quantock Quagmire'? Ha!

Le Commentateur

My "other" vote relates to the quality of other entrants. I do like cantering along at an efficient pace though the landscape in a group, – not racing but not touring either – sharing the effort and calling out for approaching obstacles, rather than having to do a solo TT. You see so many – in some events the overwhelming majority – pootling along in 1s and 2s on these rides. I guess it's a sort of Brits-on-the-beach effect from novice or non-club riders, the way people keep a polite distance between themselves and others.

nunowoolmez

I don't belong to a club & am not a novice, but like to ride by myself or with others. Yes there are riders out there who don't know some common road etiquette but twill learn as time goes on. We all started somewhere. If you want to ride with people who ride to your satisfaction then do your own sportive & just get your mates down to do it with you. You can't have a sportive & then decide who can ride & who can't based on riding ability. That is discrimination my friend. Can't help but feel your comments are a bit snobbish. We should be encouraging riders, not slating them because they arn't riding to your standards. I enjoy riding with all folk, young, old, newbie or otherwise. Thats what makes cycling so great!

neilrobins

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

liverpool mercury have an 'extended club run" - open to all and FREE, its a sportive in all but name - 2 cafe stops and a really nice route - don't see why other clubs don't do this, would be great to go round (within reason) other parts of the country and experience new routes.

http://www.liverpoolmercury.co.uk/wp-co ... s_2012.pdf

This ride out look great definitely chance to give my new Dolan a good spin see you there!

SportiveRater

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

liverpool mercury have an 'extended club run" - open to all and FREE, its a sportive in all but name - 2 cafe stops and a really nice route - don't see why other clubs don't do this, would be great to go round (within reason) other parts of the country and experience new routes.

http://www.liverpoolmercury.co.uk/wp-co ... s_2012.pdf

A good few of the club I ride with will be doing this (they did it last year and wholeheartedly recommended it) - we will be adding this to our site for people to rate.

Rule74Please

why pay for a ride in the countryside.

If you want to test yourself RACE it is why it's called a racing bike

French spelling SPORTIF

nunowoolmez

because some of us just like to RIDE a bike without feeling the need to race. Does that mean rides like the Fred Whitton or the Dragon Ride aren't a test? I think they're both in the 'countryside'.

nickwill

Rule74Please wrote:

why pay for a ride in the countryside.

If you want to test yourself RACE it is why it's called a racing bike

French spelling SPORTIF

If you want to be pedantic, 'sportive' is the correct term for the event (short for the french cyclosportive). A 'sportif' is a term for someone that participates in sport. People pay to enter sportives because they enjoy the experience. Not everyone wants to race. If races were available that took place over 100 mile + scenic courses, had challenging hills and were accommodating to a wide range of cyclists they might tempt me. As it is I will be enjoying the Fred Whitton sportive in a few days time. I know some people will look down on it's 112 miles and 13000 feet of climbing as being a little beneath their notice, but it will serve to while away a few hours of gentle spinning for those of us not man enough to take part in proper races.

NITR8s

Depening on how popular the event is, I would give the starting waves average finnishing times and you are encourage to start in the wave closest to your finishing time. This wave people of the same ability should be riding together, to encourage group riding and people shouldnt be held up by slower riders.

PS im not french so Im not calling it a le c ock sportif!

Anne S.

Hello NITR8s

I think that good organisation is paramount for a sportive. If the route is well considered, marshalled and feedstops are well supplied this suggests to me that the organisers care about the participants. Personally I couldn't really care less about the T-shirt at the end or the so-called 'goody bag'. The money could be better spent as a donation to a local charity.

wallace_and_gromit

Being something of a navigational philistine, reliable signage if the key for me. I hate having to stop and consult maps. I just like to to get my head down and pedal where I'm pointed.

Semi rural locations for event centres is also high up my list. I don't like spending the first and last few km dodging traffic in built up areas.

Cleat Eastwood

SportiveRater wrote:

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

liverpool mercury have an 'extended club run" - open to all and FREE, its a sportive in all but name - 2 cafe stops and a really nice route - don't see why other clubs don't do this, would be great to go round (within reason) other parts of the country and experience new routes.

http://www.liverpoolmercury.co.uk/wp-co ... s_2012.pdf

A good few of the club I ride with will be doing this (they did it last year and wholeheartedly recommended it) - we will be adding this to our site for people to rate.

and a most excellent ride it was too - - i'll rate it when its up on your site.

DaveMoss

My "other" option is that it should be run for a not for profit organisation. So either a charity , when price would not be too important, or a cycling club, when I would expect a reasonable price.
A one man "club" who has a day job and is out to do little more than break even and put any profits into the next event would still be ok to me.
Arguably there is nothing wrong with people making a living from organising events, but somehow people turning what they should be prepared to do for the love of the sport into a job leaves me with a bad taste. I realise that events like the tour of Britain stage race and perhaps some really big sportives could not be run by volunteers, but feelings aren't always logical.

DaveMoss

Interesting how low in votes are chip timing, goody bag and medal, that's £10 a head that can be saved for a kick off.

Ron Stuart

Rule74Please wrote:

why pay for a ride in the countryside.

If you want to test yourself RACE it is why it's called a racing bike

French spelling SPORTIF

In a race there is only one winner in a sportif everyone can finish the event feeling like they have gained something :roll:

5 miles into a TT and your down on time 'that's it not on a good one today...game over'

Dropped on the second hill on a road race 'that's it not on a good one today...game over'

Do us a favour and have a pop at the couch potatoes that cost the health service a fortune these days not those that might just like getting fitter and taking on a personal challenge and getting something out of it.

Silly Old Hector

Closed roads

JamesB

Interesting how low in votes are chip timing

not too surprised though given range of GPS devices, cycle computers and plain watches that vast majority use / wear ---and as it IS NOT A RACE do the odd second / minute matter?, and if they do to some individuals they likley have all the gadgets to record timing !

++++ if organiser do not provide times this further removes sportive from veering towards realms of being a `race` and further scrutiny !

as noted potential big cost savings here as I gather equipment ie timimng mats / chips etc expensive to hire (£ 2k / event I`ve heard ? )

bompington

Rule74Please wrote:

why pay for a ride in the countryside.

If you want to test yourself RACE it is why it's called a racing bike

French spelling SPORTIF

If you want to be snobbish about it (obviously enough, I only used the if to be polite):
"Cyclosportive is short for the French term randonnée cyclosportive (the spelling cyclosportif is sometimes also used but cyclosportive is correct as randonnée is a feminine noun in French)"

A sportif is a person (man actually, as a woman would be a sportive) who takes part in sports.

Now we've cleared that up, the real issue: snobbery, or at least the "narcissism of petty differences".
Enough people have given their reasons why they would pay money for a ride in the countryside, so I'm not going to try to repeat them all.
It should be sufficient that a lot of people, most of whom are probably not stupid, are willing to do so: and if you disagree, don't feel that you personally gain enough from it to be worth it, and feel that racing is the only sort of organised event for you, you're perfectly entitled to go and race then, I don't think you'll find many of us sportifs trying to diss road races because, for example, a cat 4 race might only be a puny 25 miles on a flat course, so we must be really superior, no?

NITR8s

Thanks for all your votes and responses, this has been really helpful.

It would obviously appear that the 3 main things people look for is a good signed and marshalled route, challanging route and free food and drinks at finish. It also shows that chip timing and goodybag/tshirt/medal are not really required and because of this a huge saving on the cost of the event can be made, which in turn is passed down to the participants as the entry fee, can be less. Also the money can be spent on the food/drink, course prep and marshalling to ensure these things are A+.

I will leave the voting open until it times out, just in case anymore votes are made.

neilrobins

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

SportiveRater wrote:

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

liverpool mercury have an 'extended club run" - open to all and FREE, its a sportive in all but name - 2 cafe stops and a really nice route - don't see why other clubs don't do this, would be great to go round (within reason) other parts of the country and experience new routes.

http://www.liverpoolmercury.co.uk/wp-co ... s_2012.pdf

A good few of the club I ride with will be doing this (they did it last year and wholeheartedly recommended it) - we will be adding this to our site for people to rate.

and a most excellent ride it was too - - i'll rate it when its up on your site.

Great atmosphere, set off at a blistering pace tho' managed to get over Rivington and Belmont moor before rear mech gave up, will do again!

young dog

Good to see Liverpool Mercury doing an extended club run. Our club Lancastercc are doing the same for this year only - coast to coast to coast June 23rd. Fancy it? 260miles.