The What, Why, When and Hows of 2018 Sportives Thread

Felexicon

Hello

I started cycling late last year and as I'm getting more in to it I want to sign up for a Sportive or 2 to have something to work towards for the year.

Great and all as that is I haven't a breeze what to expect or which one to choose.

Just looking for some advice on what level of cyclist you need to be to participate/enjoy and also is it ok to just rock up as a lone ranger?

Any suggestions or places to find info for specific events would be greatly appreciated too.

Cheers

Skrynesaver

The Royal Heritage tour offers a very handy 100Km, there's also the Skoda Tour of the Boyne valley locally.

Edit to add Cycle Ataxia spin from Ashbourne which also offers free beer and Ice-cream at the end (ice-cream beer floats were a failure however )

By all means register and rock up on your own. However there are friendly clubs all over Meath and most have an improver's spin at least once a week. Joining one has several advantages, learn from more experienced riders, have someone else on the spin and of course you'll have someone to spur you on on sportives (though obviously it's not a race...)

Macy0161

You can rock up on your own, but it's handy to have experience of group riding, as even on your own you end up forming/ joining groups in my experience.

I can't think of a reason not to join a club to be honest, even if you only got out with them every few weeks or so.

triggermortis

Cycling Ireland web site has a calendar with the years events on. Not sure how quickly it is updated, but the bigger events are probably already in there now.
The An Post series are good as there is a mix of routes on the day, usually something like 40kn, 100km and 160km, so you can pick which one to go for (when you apply - not on the day) and are well ran. There are a few of them on through-out the summer around the country. TBH I've never done a badly ran sportive, there's usually food and music at the end and some sort of memento like a jersey or medal. If you like climbing, you get a free beer after the Reservoir Dog in Wicklow - but you really need it as it's a tough ride!!
I've done every ride solo as I'm not in a club, but you always get chatting to people around you and more often than not, meet someone from on here. You find yourself with a group of even pace and ride with them for as long as you want/like. It's all quite sociable

daragh_

The Newbies Guide to road cycling events /sportives thread is worth a read if you are new to Sportives.

Felexicon

Cheers for the feedback folks. Have looked at a few events and trying to narrow down which will be practical(new arrival in 5 weeks)

What kind of average speed should I be looking at so I'm not trailing in last and keeping people hanging around waiting for me to finish?

Was looking at Haul D'Naul in March. Anyone done this before?

py

Felexicon wrote: »

Was looking at Haul D'Naul in March. Anyone done this before?

Did it last year, was a grand short spin to start the season. Bargain for what's on offer when you get to the end but also supporting a great cause. Was well signed posted around the course and pretty much flat for the entire trip. Found it quiet enough for most of it. Will defo be doing it next year.

py

To add to the list, you should look at anything run by Naas Cycling Club (Tour De Foothills, Tour of Kildare) and The Reservoir Cogs (Lap de Gaps, The Reservoir Pup/Dog) as they're very well run by 2 great clubs and they support great causes.

Takca

Felexicon wrote: »

What kind of average speed should I be looking at so I'm not trailing in last and keeping people hanging around waiting for me to finish?

This will vary between events with the route being a big factor, what I did last year when trying to figure out the answer to the same question was find somebody who did it on strava in the previous year and then take a look at the flyby's to see what kind of a mix was there.

If doing this there is probably 2 things worth remembering

1. Look at the flyby for one of the slower rides (faster rides sometimes only include flybys of other faster activities)
2. Don't forget the people not on strava i.e. the lowest average on strava possibly isn't the lowest overall.

Whyner

Some dates:

Apr 08 - 3 Peaks Arklow
May 05 – Orwell Randonee
May 27 – Mick Byrne
June 03 – Tour of Louth
July 01 – Leinster Loop
July 29 – Meath Heritage
Aug 12 – Tour de Kildare
Aug 26 – Pedal the Peaks
Sep 02 – Reservoir Dog
Sep 09 – Tour de Boyne
Sep 23 – Great Dublin BR
Oct 13 - Slieve Bloom extreme challenge

ednwireland

14th April Magee Spring Sportive, donegal town ! https://www.facebook.com/donegaltowncyclingclub/

Wishbone Ash

ednwireland wrote: »

14th April Magee Spring Sportive, donegal town ! https://www.facebook.com/donegaltowncyclingclub/

Jesus I'm still the poster boy for this! :D

I'd better enter then so.

seanin4711

ednwireland wrote: »

14th April Magee Spring Sportive, donegal town ! https://www.facebook.com/donegaltowncyclingclub/

full stop

straighttohell

In my experience Sportives vary from being laid back to highly competitive. I found the smaller local ones with one distance the hardest as there tends to be a bit of competition between the different clubs and they all tear off.
My avg speed on a hilly route is very early 20kmh and that wasnt quick enough for some.
My advice, stick to the bigger ones.

Weepsie

straighttohell wrote: »

In my experience Sportives vary from being laid back to highly competitive.

They're not races. If someone wants to zipp off chasing other groups leave them to it.

As with all things go at your own pace, find others happy to go at that pace etc.

straighttohell

Thats good advice, but when it gets to the point where you look behind you and think 'where is everybody gone', and you thought you were doing ok. There are definitely ones I'll avoid in the future unless I can increase avg speed of 25kmh plus which is unlikely. IMO any ones with dual distances are fine, the standard really increases if you go long!!
There's something soul destroying arriving at a food stop wrecked and they're packing away everything and they want to get away.
Different topic, but is it me or are the numbers in sportives/ fund raisers dropping compared to previous years? I'm talking about 2017

seanin4711

folks getting tired of forking out 50+ euro for a gilet and to cycle the open road (charity or commercial entity).
fill your bottles and pockets with food ,copy the file to your bike computer and do it yourself.
 i try to do ones to support the club thats hosting it!
thats what i do!:)