Forum menu
Sportives are becoming a victim of their own success, I had an email from the organizers of the Exmoor Beauty earlier in the year saying that they'd taken the Dunkery Beacon climb out of the route due to entries being down because the climb was too hard.
It was more likely the case that entries were down due to the event being overpriced and there was more competition.
I've never done either but have signed up for a Sportive because the closed road aspect of this one is something I want to experience and so thought it worth paying for once. Audaxs don't have closed roads, do they?
I suppose marked routes are a bit like marked long distance paths .They leave the rest of the country for those of us who can map read and don't follow the herd
The best thing about audax is, if you are completely antisocial you can register a DIY and don't even have to attend an event. (<- this is me)
This is the best thing about audax as i quite dislike other people 😉
I suppose marked routes are a bit like marked long distance paths .They leave the rest of the country for those of us who can map read and don't follow the herd
ooo nice one, I remember having to pop my map reading skills in the box in the car park
I have sportives and am giving Audax's a go purely because they are cheaper and I want to do loads of events this Autumn/Winter to stay in shape - stuff to train for.
Am very nervous about the navigation side of it - too used to following signs but it sounds like they are very sociable rides so am really looking forward to it.
I had an email from the organizers of the Exmoor Beauty earlier in the year saying that they'd taken the Dunkery Beacon climb out of the route due to entries being down because the climb was too hard.
That'd have me asking for my entry back. Not because I'm hard or owt, but because I use sportives as a bit of a goal, a challenge, something on the calendar to get me out and give me an excuse to get out.
I can easily ride some cracking centuries from my door, but an investment of time and money gives a bit of focus.
Audax reminds me of grass roots trailquest type events (Action Five Zero? Ted?) I used to do. No one cares who you are or what you ride you're there for a nice long ride and some tea, cake and a chat at the end. The low key nature is what really makes them work (for me at least). It's very British.
chrisgibson .Once on an audax route it becomes obvious where you are going .Some people cross of points as they pass through them on the paper route sheet .Then if you do get lost you don't need to backtrack far if at all to get on route .Always follow the route not the cyclist in front .A mate did this on The Dartmoor Devil and followed 3 blokes home by mistake
[i]The difference between audax riders and sportive riders....[/i]
Audax riders smell musty, sportive riders smell fresh.
hmmmmm..... What does it say about me that of the two I am only Audax curious.
Rorschach - MemberSportive riders seem quite insecure.
That must be why this thread is mostly audaxers slagging them?
(I've no side, it all looks equally shite tbh)
Dude. You're a big ol' Sportiver in denial.
#duro 😉
Sportives are good way to ride areas/routes you're not familiar with without having to do all the planning that a long ride in a new area requires. Not just route planning/finding, avoiding getting lost, but also where to refuel, refill bottles etc. You can just get on your bike and ride it, and if you have any problems, someone will be there to sort them out. That's reason enough to do them as far as I'm concerned.
I must admit though that I'm always amazed at the low quality of bike handling skills on them. Never understood how it's possible to fall off on a straight, dry bit of tarmac, yet some people still do. And I'm not going to comment on the numerous people you see who are all kitted out in Assos or Rapha gear with 10k bikes and an accompanying beer belly.
The difference between audax riders and sportive riders....
Hmm.. I like the Corinthian spirit of Audax'ers, that devil may care rolling along attitude, that "I'll get there in my own time" spirit, that open nature they seem to have, that resistance to modify the scope of the ride or change the model. They seem to be self sufficient and care about themselves, others on the ride, the environment and society in general.
Hmm... I like sportives, purely for the fact that they often are in nice places, short courses, get groups of folks together who would normally ride alone, the courses are varied and invariably they're loops of someones local riding parcour.
I could write more dislikes about sportives than I could ever write about an Audax.
What really grates me about sportives is the nature of the riders. It's singularity focus, all about me focus, very combative and competitive. I also dislike a lot of the organisation of them. There seems very few briefing meetings where the course, points of interest, litter ownership and care for the countryside, other riders consideration, care and riding on open road codes are handed out. You just get a GPX and a "follow the red..follow the yellow.. arrows" and thats about it. And then the organisation that took the time to place all the signage on lamp posts and gateposts NEVER EVER remove them after the event. What we have now in the South Downs is a proliferation of signage from long distant events still stuck up. Honestly it's like riding around a sodding F1 circuit.
All I've written there, just, you could completely ignore about Audax'ers and their organisers, it's a given that all the pain points have been addressed even before you clip in.
IMO.
I like doing both.
But IME
I have seen a lot of show offs in Sportives.
I have not seen any show offs in Audax.
I don't like show offs,especially when they are well outside their skill/experience level.
I must admit though that I'm always amazed at the low quality of bike handling skills on them. Never understood how it's possible to fall off on a straight, dry bit of tarmac, yet some people still do. And I'm not going to comment on the numerous people you see who are all kitted out in Assos or Rapha gear with 10k bikes and an accompanying beer belly.
Some of this is down to how new riders come into the sport/hobby. There's no club background, none of that riding in all weathers, 2-abreast stuff that was the "traditional" way into cycling.
Instead they get all their knowledge from magazines and the internet so while they know everything about Strava, power, training plans, HR, cadence, Di2 etc, they have no clue of general road etiquette. Magazines always go on about riding faster/stronger but rarely about riding "better" - for example it might be better in the long run to knock it back by a few %, work together in a group and end up getting there faster and fresher rather than simply smashing it on your own.
Bad weather makes it worse since no-one ever goes out training in bad weather or darkness, they just get on the turbo. So as soon as an event has a bit of wind or rain, everyone looks like Bambi on ice.
You get similar (although to a lesser extent) in entry level circuit races.
Spot on ^^
I've never ridden an Audax and did my first and (so far) only sportive this year.
I must admit, I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was the only way I was going to get a ride in with my bro that weekend, so I gave it a try.
All the negative comments about sportives and sportive riders were in the back of my mind and I was expecting it to be like the old reliability trials I rode back in the 90s that were basically road races in all but name, but this time full of band-waggon jumping nu-roadies with all the gear & no idea, rather than club cyclists.
Happily, the event (Run & Ride's 3rd Birthday Bash) was pretty low-key, everyone seemed friendly and riders set off at intervals, so there was less pressure to "race", (although we didn't hang about!). The 70 mile long route was fantastic and took us down some superb lanes I'd never have otherwise ridden, with steep climbs and fast descents, not the wide open drags I was anticipating.
I think the bigger, more popular events probably attract a higher proportion of idiots, (like everything big & popular,) but I really enjoyed this one and would do another of their rides for sure.
probably already been said, but Audax riders get going around 6:00AM, whereas Sportive riders are usually standing around posing from around 9:00AM.