[shabbyhouse]

Am I alone in thinking that the world of the sportive is now well over-blown? I just got an alert from Wiggle about this latest one. I live in the Yorkshire Dales, and have partaken in many, but I’m beginning to wonder whether they’re becoming just another way for the likes of Wiggle to make a load of money without due care… Why? Because regarding this event, I suspect that no-one from the organisers have ridden these roads: many are tiny, broken up and with grass growing up the middle. Furthermore they’ve used the word “moors” for “Dales”, and place names taken straight off the OS map, which aren’t the names these roads are known to cyclists by. They market it as following the Tour de France, except they’ve got the route the wrong way round… And at 1800ft in late September the weather can be truly lousy: follow a tough climb up Yorkshire’s second-highest road with a 3-mile 25% technical descent (in parts), and you’re looking at the need for true fitness and bike handling skills. Not mentioned. All this is, I guess, fine, and I’m not suggesting that riders shouldn’t take part in challenging events. It’s the organisers that I’m aiming at here: I suspect that they have little idea of what they’re proposing and are putting riders at risk who (and no blame attaches) don’t know what they might face. If it’s aimed at local riders, they’ll know the roads anyway and won’t need yet another sportive.

Finally the logic of this route is beyond me; it looks like it’s been put together after a lot of red wine with a couple of maps and a calculator set to currency, mixing the flat lands of the Vale of York with the hills of the Dales and crossing (on bridges) the A1(M) motorway twice. Hardly the most attractive proposition.

Far too easy a bandwagon to jump on. By all means ride the fantastic roads of Yorkshire, but make sure you know who’s behind your event and why.

Topic

[mike the bike]

I have, in a small way, been
I have, in a small way, been a customer of Wiggle for some years and loved their service. With their Haribo freebies they seemed to bring a sense of fun to their deliveries, combined with the best returns policy in the business.
I have also been a loyal follower of Wessex CTC, often cycling their well established Gridiron Ride through the beautiful autumn New Forest.

But the two halves of this story do not dovetail together, with Wiggle deliberately choosing to run their New Forest Sportive on the same date from its beginning five years ago. And this year they also chose to use many of the same roads which might, to a neutral observer, suggest an intention to cause difficulties for the Gridiron.

This clash, entirely engineered by Wiggle, means I no longer shop with them. I can’t imagine their Chief Executive is exactly wringing his hands in despair, but I feel a line has been crossed and Chain Reaction Cycles, here I come.

[fatcanclimb]

I entered the Yorkshire tour
I entered the Yorkshire tour this year (the 100mile one) and found it to be a great day out! Very well organised, well signed, great supplies AND at the right level…
The course was given 5/5 for difficulty so I expected it to be hard; and it was, but all perfectly ridable.
I’m not sure why you doubt the aesthetics of the route or the way in which it was marketed.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and will shortly be signing up for next years…

[Northernbike]

you make a bike ride around
you make a bike ride around the english countryside in autumn sound like a winter assault on the north face of the eiger :/

[sergius]

I’m sure the Yorkshire Dales
I’m sure the Yorkshire Dales are challenging, I personally make it my life’s mission to stay south of the Watford Gap whenever I have any say in the matter – so I wouldn’t presume to know the area at all.

I don’t see the Sportive being challenging as a problem, assuming it’s labelled as such of course… If they are aiming it as “family friendly fun” or suchlike then yes that’d would be bad.

Generally* most people won’t travel huge distances for a Sportive (*straw poll of my cycling colleagues at work), so I’d kind of assume that most of the riders will be vaguely local and have some experience of the area/conditions.

I’d be surprised if a novice cyclist chose a (relatively) high-altitude Sportive at the end of September, up in Yorkshire – without some idea of what they are getting into.

[oozaveared]

sergius wrote:I think it

sergius wrote:

I think it depends on your PoV to be honest, this year I’ve done three Wiggle sportives:

New Forest
Ups & Downs (Dorking)
Chiltern Classic (High Wycombe)

Of those, the 1st and 3rd were “new” areas for me to ride in, so a new experience in an area where I’d not normally ride. The Dorking one is 15 miles down the road from me in an area where I normally ride most weekends – other than the weather, it was fun to be out riding with others than just going for a spin on my own.

I think it depends on what you want from a Sportive, they are fun events for me and as I don’t race it gives me something to focus/train for.

The three I did were all well planned routes, certainly the Dorking one was a great circuit that took in some good hills and showed me a few new ones that’d I’d missed previously.

For me, I do Sportives for fun and as a rare opportunity to ride in a group. I’ll do ones that are either local to me or in a convenient location (I have accommodation easily available near both the New Forest and High Wycombe for example). I’ve never felt particularly ripped off doing them, I know you can ride the roads for free – but they are a fun experience and with the Wiggle ones you get £15 or so of High5 stuff (assuming you book in advance) + a t-shirt, along with the social experience, for the £30 cost.

ahem

I live in Surrey and work in Dorking and I have done a few sportives. ( I don’t think they are good value mind so don’t do them anymore). But the New Forest and the Surrey Hills is not the Yorkshire Dales. I went and camped at High Bradfield for the tour and did some riding around that area. Those roads and hills are in a different league of difficulty. Add the height and the exposure and it’s going to be seriously challenging. I have been riding since 1973. Done my share of hills. I hadn’t been to Yorkshire cycling before July. I won’t say I was caught out but let’s say the planned 50 mile route ( a regular Sunday ride for me) was binned in favour of …..discretion. That being the better part of valour.

[Chuck]

Re using the names from the
Re using the names from the OS maps- I should hope they do!
One of the reasons I do them (well, did them- I’ve gone off them this year) is to ride somewhere I’m not familiar with, with a reasonable chance of a decent route, or at least one that’s likely to be better than one I’d put together myself with no first-hand knowledge of the area. So yeah, when I’m looking at a map, that’s how I’d like to see things named- not using the local inside knowledge.

EDIT Oh, and personally I wouldn’t interpret “following the TdF” as necessarily meaning it was going to be exactly the same route they took.

[sergius]

I think it depends on your
I think it depends on your PoV to be honest, this year I’ve done three Wiggle sportives:

New Forest
Ups & Downs (Dorking)
Chiltern Classic (High Wycombe)

Of those, the 1st and 3rd were “new” areas for me to ride in, so a new experience in an area where I’d not normally ride. The Dorking one is 15 miles down the road from me in an area where I normally ride most weekends – other than the weather, it was fun to be out riding with others than just going for a spin on my own.

I think it depends on what you want from a Sportive, they are fun events for me and as I don’t race it gives me something to focus/train for.

The three I did were all well planned routes, certainly the Dorking one was a great circuit that took in some good hills and showed me a few new ones that’d I’d missed previously.

For me, I do Sportives for fun and as a rare opportunity to ride in a group. I’ll do ones that are either local to me or in a convenient location (I have accommodation easily available near both the New Forest and High Wycombe for example). I’ve never felt particularly ripped off doing them, I know you can ride the roads for free – but they are a fun experience and with the Wiggle ones you get £15 or so of High5 stuff (assuming you book in advance) + a t-shirt, along with the social experience, for the £30 cost.

[Author]

Replies