[Closed] Riding a sportive with no entry

Ride it, take some deliberately different turns to confuse other riders. 🙂

OP isn't cheating the organisers. It's full up, and they wouldn't take his money. As long as he doesn't plunder the feed stations, he can do what he likes, his impact will be negligable with 1100 other riders already on the course, and he's not benefiting from any of the other 'facilities' offered by the organisers - timing chip, food/drink etc, medal etc.

Have fun OP!

are these things not sign posted ? the alford one is.

if they are sign posted why would you ask a random rider for directions?

I don't see it as bad form at all. When you enter, you pay for the changing area, the food stops, the additional assistance in the form of motor bikes helping riders with punctures, the timing and all the freebees/medal/tshirt etc you get at the end. If you don't make use of any of these then you are not freeloading at all IMHO. Pack some sandwiches, and bottle of water. It's a new meaning to Pan-y-agua.

You are riding a road with a lot of other cyclists. Why would you want to? Because it's a bit different and sociable. You may not want to because some of the group skills displayed on such events can be a bit shocking.

You can view it as a race because it's timed, but it's nothing like a proper road race. It's more like a strava race, in that good for willy waving if you are feeling your ego needs a boost. European events are far more like races, but then you get closed roads, mass group starts etc.

The only sportive I did last year was a freeload. There was one organised from silverstone, and it was apart from a long stretch of a busy a road that I avoid, more or less my Sunday morning 'long' . I didn't use any of the food stops, but it was like something out if a weird dream, all these numbered riders along a route that seemed to have been lifted out if my head by some weird thought device....every turn was like "it's not going to turn right here, is it!!!" Even went more or less past my village where I sloped off rather sheepishly, although I had nothing to feel ashamed about.

The whole thing was weird, and its on again this year !

Why would you pay to ride a sportive route on open roads ❓

Clearly lots of dumb people do, and it cannot just be for the "[i]free[/i]" tat you get at the end

[i]Why would you pay to ride a sportive route on open roads[/i]

Interesting route in an area you don't usually ride
No need to map read/worry about goign wrong
Infrastructure to feed/water you at appropriate points
recovery if it all goes wrong
lots of other people to ride with

I've done a few mtb/cx ones and enjoyed them all. It's not like heading out with a map and a vague idea of where you're expecting to go but for a half day/day ride they're pretty good and you get to ride stuff you wouldn;t otherise do/find. I wouldn;t *only* ride thewm but they're quite enjoyable in their own terms.

It's open road? Who cares! I've done it before but I don't interfere with starts, finishes, parking, food stops etc. It's no different to going onto a sportive site and take the GPS route, doing it the day before or bumping into part of the route and riding along.

OP - I guess you know the real answer, but just in case, wwaswas' first comment makes the best sense IMO - why would you want to ride the route when it will be so crowded (that goes for most S'ives and the London marathon IMO)?

Love the, it's not a race, comments. That would be a nice idea to put to the starters in most events down south!! Full team kit, bottles correctly "fuelled" (?)' legs shaven (and cut), areo helmet ready ...... 😉 "out of my way, I'm training for the Etape, don't you know, and I also have a conference call this afternoon!"

Sportive rider? Baaaaaaa baaaaaaa...... 🙂 There's two types that ride Sportives; 1) The brain dead that can't organise their own rides and 2) The hero pseudo racer who thinks it's a pukka race.

I don't ride Sportives and I'm oot. 🙂

Ride the opposite way round and count how many times you hear "you're going the wrong way" or take a different turn to see how many follow?

Just ride the route anyday you feel like.
So what if some people have paid to ride it - more fool them I say.

If it bothers you that much, just call into a local shop to grab something to eat or drink. Better still, take a few bars and two bottles of water with you , that way you will not have to stop anyways.

I think some of you lot need to put your money where your mouth is and actually have a go at racing one of these sportives.

Its easy to chat big words on the inernet, but come and see if you can get a gold medal time at some of the toughest events for older men in the country.

I'd suggest you'll need to fit a compact chainset!

Ride a few Sportives do we Mr Taylforth? Feeling a bit defensive are we? 🙂

The problem is if the organisers are only allowed 1000 entrants for safety reasons what happens if 2000 turn up? If you fell off I take it you'd refuse the first aid services? You didn't manage to enter. Bad luck! Try again next year. The fact remains, one of the things you are paying for is the presence of other people & they are the ones who have paid.

That sportive in Italy yesterday didn't look much like a race, at least not for lots of them. Quite a few we're off and pushing, and a whole load of them didn't even finish. Also, only one of them looked as if he'd ever ridden downhill in the wet before. Bloody amateurs. 🙂

I've done a few sportives they are great if you take them as what they are. A good day out with mates and making new friends along the way. Sure you get a time at the end and you could just time yourself out on a ride but you don't normally get to ride in such large groups unless your on the the tour.

On the ops question just do it another day they will have had a numbers cap for a reason, be it safety or dictated by council or who ever.

I think the cost is high but I like getting out on my own or just a few friends
Don't think 1200 people in the way will enhance my day.
So have never been tempted to tag along.

But I am doing honk this year so I may find I've been wrong all this time
At least as it more an audax event the cost was ony £15

Looks like i have missed out on a place in the tour of pembrokeshire sportive. Can i ride it without an entry or would this be considered bad form? can they stop me riding?

I know it doesnt sit right with me, but the route incoroporates most of my road routes, so what do i do - not ride my local roads because people from far away have paid to ride on them.
edit : i dont want to do the whole route, start at the start and finish at the finish, use the feed stations etc but do want to ride my local roads.

What's the story then? First post says you've missed out on an entry, can/should you piggyback, second post sounds like a bit of backtracking, and says you just want ot ride some local roads that happen to coincide with the route.

I've ridden a local one the day before (the signs were put out 2 days before). I don't see a problem with that. Those that paid and did it one the day had to awful weather too 👿
Riding the full route on the day is bad form though and stopping at the cake stops is essentially stealing if they included in the entry fee.

I think some of you lot need to put your money where your mouth is and actually have a go at racing one of these sportives.

What a load of twaddle, if you want to race get a licence from BC and enter a local 4th cat race and try and stay with the bunch/not get a bit of sick in your mouth. That's racing. if you have tea stops and a shorter route for those who want to take it easy it's not a race, there are no points available, there is no winner.

I think it is more accurate to say that Sportives are not road races or time trials, because they do not operate within the rules or organisational structure for either of these types of competitive event.
Clearly, some participants do regard them as a sort of race.
I can't see any real problem with riding the same roads if the event is fully subscribed, if you are not taking advantage of food stops and other services.

its just a matter of what you want to get out of the day.
riding the route is not the point as far as I can see, its being involved in the event.
If you didnt get an entry and want to ride pay something to the organiser/charity and do it.

We contribute to the etape des dales and many people turn up on the day and ride it without entering, its just a shame we are limited on numbers.

I just hope the riders who do ride on the day without entering have a clear conscience. as the money raised goes to very worthwhile riders.

MrSmith - Member
I think some of you lot need to put your money where your mouth is and actually have a go at racing one of these sportives.
What a load of twaddle, if you want to race get a licence from BC and enter a local 4th cat race and try and stay with the bunch/not get a bit of sick in your mouth. That's racing. if you have tea stops and a shorter route for those who want to take it easy it's not a race, there are no points available, there is no winner.

🙂

Lol at davidtailforth riding his nuts off trying to race a load of people just having a nice day out. I Bet he feels mega when he passes someone who has stopped to have a slice if cake and cup of tea.........

wrecker - Member
Lol at davidtailforth riding his nuts off trying to race a load of people just having a nice day out. I Bet he feels mega when he passes someone who has stopped to have a slice if cake and cup of tea.........

Never raced a sportive then?

The ones eating cake and drinking tea are the ones justifying their own bone-idleness because they can't ever imagine applying themselves to do anything in their lives.

Its easy for them to sit under a tree supping tea and eating cake rather than getting off their arses in their own lives and applying themselves and working hard at something and achieving a gold medal time.

davidtaylforth effortlessly reeling in the bunch.... 🙂

Troll, Definately. Made me laugh though.

I did this last year, set off at the back then rode past the lot within a few miles. Then met two lone riders who were more than happy to sit on my wheel until the halfway mark where they stopped at the food station. I went on and only saw three more riders until the end.
At the finish I took a slight detour to avoid going through the timing area.
Didn't take a thing off them, despite the organisers offering me a gilet, which I didn't accept. despite knowing I was just tagging along.
It was pee'ing down and only a third of the field turned up

Its easy for them to sit under a tree supping tea and eating cake rather than getting off their arses in their own lives and applying themselves and working hard at something and achieving a gold medal time.

oldgit youre my hero for being so strong on a bike and by being better than everyone else on the ride.

Nearly spat my coffee out at that! More Gillian-esque than David...

I've 'raced' a sportive a few yrs ago.. riding a local hilly 100 on my own ("ghetto sportive" style, it starts near the town where I live so I went for a ride..) A group of 5 or 6 kept overtaking me, working as a bunch on the flats. I then gave it the SSer big-ring style on the hills and had 'em somewhere before the top. They caught up, sat behind me at times too, until we went uphill. All pretty even.
Until a big hill 70-odd miles in when they were just behind me as I popped. There was no more mr big-ring climber after that. Didn't see them again.

I learned something from the club guys that day and it wasn't about being too cheap to pay for an entry )

I,m planning on jumping on this ride @ Kendal
http://www.opencycling.com/
save me the hassle of map reading 🙂 not planning on helping myself @ the feed station as I will be looking for a nice cafe/pub.
Will be riding back under my own steam the next day.
I have no shame! 😉

oldgit youre my hero for being so strong on a bike and by being better than everyone else on the ride.

I have many fans, but in this case five riders finished before me. I feel I have to be honest with my fans.

wrecker - Member
Its easy for them to sit under a tree supping tea and eating cake rather than getting off their arses in their own lives and applying themselves and working hard at something and achieving a gold medal time.

I must admit, that's brilliant.

🙂

I have many fans, but in this case five riders finished before me. I feel I have to be honest with my fans. 🙂

Ah... the old 'its not a race' argument 8)

Is this just a semantics thing? If we called it a '100 mile hilly time trial that allows drafting' would all the 'proper' roadies untwist their knickers and give it a rest? Are they just getting upset that someone, somewhere out there, might feel a sense of accomplishment on a road bike without UCI/BC approval? 😉

If 'proper' racing is soooo much more worthy, does that mean those guys doing the Bealach Na Ba in under 4 hours are still sub-Cat 4 standard riders? 😀

Once I get the MTBing out of my system in Canada, I'm looking forward to returning to Scotland and *shock* buying a road bike specifically for centuries and sportives, and I'll enter every sportive with a time to beat. And I'll enjoy it.

Postierich, I'm (somewhat stupidly) entered in that event, 150 hilly miles, so trying to get enough training in now to survive. Certainly won't be racing, and you're welcome to share a wheel on the day!

And I'll enjoy it.

If you enjoy it then you're clearly spending to much time eating cakes and supping brews, and not enough time suffering.

Its just a bike ride to some, but to others, its a festival of pain.

It's one thing riding round a route at the same time as a Sportive happens to be on, quite another to use the feed stations and facilities.

I did a Sportive a few weeks ago (local event, I know the organiser, like to support him) and he's quite open that he allows people to "pirate" it, he'll usually get half a dozen people turning up to ride the route free.

Anyway a bunch of triantelopes turned up, not only pirated the route (riding on their tri bars like a bunch of dickheads) but stopped at the finish and literally swept the table clear of cake. Filled their pockets and helmets, ran out, jumped into their team van and drove off. Theiving bastards.

Vinnyeh - I suppose my two posts do sound like backtracking, buts it not. A couple of mates have entries and my question is basically, can i ride with them, but not take anything off the organisers? My second post is more of a general question in that, if i didn't tag along with them, can i still ride some of the roads that may form part of the course.

My initial question seems to have split opinion.
I think i'll just ride brechfa or the Preselis instead!

Ride it on your mtb, then you'll become a rebel legend. (Make sure you beat everyone though)

I turned up for a reliability trial on my mtb complete with knobly tyres recently, got so much jip from the roadies... until I dropped them all 50 miles later on the last big climb of the morning. God that was a good day!

Ah... the old 'its not a race' argumen

Lets have another lap of this argument. Though to put it simply a sportive is a sportive, a road race is a road race, a TT is a TT, an audax is an audax. Call it a race if you wish, but it's not, they're not allowed to be races, the organizers aren't to class them as a race.
If I went to ride a sportive, I'd want to predict my time and possibly go quicker. When I race it's a very different kettle of fish.

If 'proper' racing is soooo much more worthy, does that mean those guys doing the Bealach Na Ba in under 4 hours are still sub-Cat 4 standard riders?

This Sunday we faced a hell of a headwind on one of the climbs during the Baines Road Race and we just sat up and pootled it (why would you want to take every other bugger up it) If I were in a sportive I'd of ridden it hard.

Racing is harder, winning is the aim. If you drop back a few yards you're out.

I turned up for a reliability trial on my mtb complete with knobly tyres recently, got so much jip from the roadies... until I dropped them all 50 miles later on the last big climb of the morning. God that was a good day!

Matt Stevens used to do that the cheeky sod.
And I see the same bloke each year on a tatty Kona, look over your shoulder and he is always there.