Etiquette @ Sportives with mates?!

Arequipa

Hi! I have completed a few sportives around the country with a few mates.
They have varied in distance from 80-170km approx.
We always start together & stay together until the 1st foodstop. Then I like to put the boot down to warm up ..on a few occasions i have gone ahead of mates, then text them & wait at the 2nd foodstop, where we chat & eat etc!!Then i like to blast to the finish to get a good time & workout,
The last occasion I finished about 20 mins ahead of my friend & met them at the end.

What I'm trying to say is that our fitness levels are all different?

Is this cool to do or is it better to just go together at the slowest guy's pace?

A

Ryath

If you drop them you can't hurt them!

Arequipa

It is a tricky balance to keep: on club rides everyone rides together...

But on the sportives, my mates are all at different fitness levels; some only back on the bike, others building fitness : a mixed bag!

Dermot Illogical

Drop them as soon as you can. Then time your coffee & smoke break so you can casually say "Ah! I was wondering when you might appear!" when they finally catch up.

t'bear

I don't think it's fair for the slower guys to expect you to wait around. By stopping at food stops to wait around is striking the right balance. My mate is a goat and hoofs up hills but hangs around for the less goaty riders at the top. It's a reasonable arrangement

DirkVoodoo

Find some new mates.

ian_rush

Arequipa wrote: »

Hi! I have completed a few sportives around the country with a few mates.
They have varied in distance from 80-170km approx.
We always start together & stay together until the 1st foodstop. Then I like to put the boot down to warm up ..on a few occasions i have gone ahead of mates, then text them & wait at the 2nd foodstop, where we chat & eat etc!!Then i like to blast to the finish to get a good time & workout,
The last occasion I finished about 20 mins ahead of my friend & met them at the end.

What I'm trying to say is that our fitness levels are all different?

Is this cool to do or is it better to just go together at the slowest guy's pace?

A

Sounds fair once everybody knows how it is going down. Might not be the nicest thing to invite a newbie for a spin and then hammer off leaving them in no mans land for the last 80km.

Arequipa

When you are doing 160km & a group goes shooting by you, its hard not too jump onto their slipstream if u have it in your legs!

Sometimes its only 2/3kmph difference but it adds up over 5/6 hours!

jinkypolly

Why go to the sportif to cycle on your own, can you not do that any day of the week? I'm sure by now your mates know how much better than them you are so maybe you could...I don't know...cycle with them.

ashleey

Thinly disguised 'I'm better than you' thread?

Arequipa

In no way, am i saying i am better than anyone!
Just happens that we are all at different levels of fitness at the mo... I am busy at work the next 5-6 weeks so by August/September the lads will be stronger than me! I do love the weekends away & we have a great laugh!
Just interested how other groups cycle sportives!

DirkVoodoo

Arequipa wrote: »

Just interested how other groups cycle sportives!

Just like that, as sportives.

Why not level the playing field?

1) Tow your friends around for the entire day
2) Go hard on the climbs, turn around, go back and do it again. Repeat until you summit at the same time
3) Do a cycle before the sportive so you're a little less fresh

I'm not sure what the point behind this thread is, I've done sportives with people far fitter than me and it's never been an unpleasant experience. You either stay with them, sheltered for the day, or they go off at their own pace and you regroup at the food stops.

shaka

Dirk voodoo makes a good suggestion , tow your friends around like a super domestique

Kinda tough , I usually do/did sportives with fellas stronger some weaker and some same ability as me. I along with fellas around my own ability usually tell the fliers to fec off up the road and thus stop me from having heart attack trying to keep up. Then the group around my own ability will stay with weaker ones for the chat and crack . Sometimes if everyone is going ok a few of us will plough on for last 30 odd km. for me sportives are social days out so not interested in hammering away on my own.

Everyone to their own.

ashleey

Was only joking but you have raised a good point.

Sportives are supposed to be fun and some days others do all the work and some days you can. That position also changes during the day also. Pulling along a tiring mate is as satisfying as getting help yourself.

Go for racing if you want to hammer it.

Arequipa

Yea, is always better crack staying together...
To be fair i pushed too hard in the last sportive & was ansolutely fc**ed in the last 30km, but I really enjoy them...
Wait til August/September & i'll be struggling to finish!
Apologies if i came across cocky/ pompous: didnt mean to!

ashleey

Put yourself down for the Leinster Loop. If its like last year it will be a blur of suffering

el tel

If your friends don' treat their Sportives as races for pretend racers then they need dropped

You can't be expected to hang around with leisure riders when there's scalps to he taken
!

The Noble Nudge

You need to introduce one of these. Costs less than a score in a your local toy store.
Have presentations at the end of each event........:D:D:D:D
Endless hours of fun with texts afterwords(below me polishing it)
Warning: What you thought were good buddies will change! Cycling etiquette goes out the window, Loud sniggers if they go by you if have a mechanical, Lads not taking food stops sneaking by and changing tops to throw you off the scent........:D

petethedrummer

You could ask your mates how they feel. They'll probably say "ah you're grand, go on ahead" and bitch about you behind your back.

Arequipa

Ha ha!! 'Yea, go one go ahead ya ba****d!'

It seems that some lads push quite hard at sportives and wanna finish in a better time than the previous year: but everyone I chat to along the way seem really sound!
I like the fact that most people offer help if someone is on side of road with a puncture/mechanical...

Overall the sportives are a great day out, but with the opportunity to test yourself, your fitness etc & hopefully not test your friendships!

petethedrummer

as long as the weakest or the least mechanically minded is looked after then I don't see the problem in ploughing on.