Author Topic: Sportive 'code of conduct'?  (Read 12532 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #25 on: 28 October, 2014, 06:53:15 pm »
This thread really makes me want to ride a sportive, just to see if it really is as bad and sad as everyone's saying!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #26 on: 28 October, 2014, 07:01:05 pm »
This thread really makes me want to ride a sportive, just to see if it really is as bad and sad as everyone's saying!

I've been thinking that for a while.  I'll give it a go just as soon as I work out how to attach a Brooks and Carradice saddlebag to my recumbent (might as well go the whole hog).

Basil

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #27 on: 28 October, 2014, 07:14:58 pm »
This thread really makes me want to ride a sportive, just to see if it really is as bad and sad as everyone's saying!

I've been thinking that for a while.  I'll give it a go just as soon as I work out how to attach a Brooks and Carradice saddlebag to my recumbent (might as well go the whole hog).

Made me smile, if you figure it out, you're quite welcome to borrow my Barley.   It lives in brum , so is always available.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #28 on: 28 October, 2014, 08:29:17 pm »
"Sigh!" - yes, unfortunately the 'sportive effect' seems to be all pretty negative, really. Only done one this year [Walden Velo TdF route], but similar mentality also recently witnessed on a certain popular Audax:

-numpties veering all over the road
-riders crashing into the back of others, who like them have overshot the turn
-stopping suddenly at turns to check the route
-stalling on hills because they're in the wrong gear
-not pointing out holes etc
-giving funny looks or blanking altogether if you say hello

Serve me right for trying to keep up with the hares, next time I'll ride my shopping bike with the nervous, elderly, infirm or overweight at the back of the field.


That's awful. Is there any way we can pre-educate the refugees from the Sportive world that Audax is rather more genteel and civilised before they come and ruin our days out?

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #29 on: 28 October, 2014, 08:43:53 pm »
This summer on Harris, on the island for twenty minutes in fact and on single track road in our MH we encountered four cyclists. We were half way between passing places, they were at one. They continued riding towards us, I thought there was adequate room to pass, and looked to check there was, yes, though just. Next thing the older guy is banging on my vehicle ranting about lack of consideration! English accent. I considered advising him about the etiquette of single track riding (who ever is nearest to the passing place waits or reverses) then thought sod it why waste my breath.

We drove down Harris which turned out to be mobbed by Italian MH's and left for Berneray. It's not just the big events that are souring....

PH
Bees do nothing invariably.

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #30 on: 28 October, 2014, 09:30:37 pm »
I wonder if it's all a case of people riding bikes the same way as people use cars.

The difference is that people who have been cycling for years mostly know how to behave on the roads properly whereas people who originally just used a car to get to work and do the shopping etc just do the minimum to pass the test. Of course, passing a test makes them an "expert."

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #31 on: 28 October, 2014, 10:22:14 pm »
This thread really makes me want to ride a sportive, just to see if it really is as bad and sad as everyone's saying!

I rode one this summer as part of my training for RideLondon. I only did it because I couldn't find anyone else to ride with and liked having a fully signposted route, and it was good training. I think I wrote about it in my 'training for my first 100 miles' thread.

I found the other riders fine, but then I was mostly at the back so didn't have as many interactions as a faster person might have, though I got overtaken a few times. When I slowed to a stop as someone passed me, he did check I was ok before carrying on. I did also come across riders pointing out holes etc. Then again I deal with the very shit standards of London commuting riding so I'm probably fairly inured to it.

The main thing that pissed me off was that I was planning on making back some of my entry fee by eating lots of cake and energy gels, and the bastards kept clearing out the feed stops before I got there! It was a really good thing I'd brought plenty of my own food; I'd have been stuffed if I'd relied purely on what was supplied, and at the end of it I still had to buy more from the station.

Morat

  • I tried to HTFU but something went ping :(
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #32 on: 31 July, 2015, 04:07:28 pm »
There are exceptions to every rule, I was on a family oriented charity ride this year when I saw a local(ish) club take up almost both sides of the road on a downhill. Oncoming cyclists had to stop, let alone cars. Seems a pretty silly thing to do when they were all wearing their club strip...
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Wowbagger

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #33 on: 13 August, 2015, 06:12:16 pm »
Mrs. Wow and I rode a "sportive" once. We were on our old tandem, the Claud Butler Majestique Twin. I remember writing a ride report about our experiences at The Old Place.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #34 on: 26 August, 2015, 10:31:04 am »
This thread really makes me want to ride a sportive, just to see if it really is as bad and sad as everyone's saying!

I did that - the 5 Dales.  The weather was pretty rubbish, strong headwinds and rain. In the middle of nowhere I encountered a rider with a broken chain.  Streams of cyclists had already passed him without a glance and he would have had a long walk to anywhere.  So I stopped and used my chain splitter to bodge a repair that got him to the next feed station.  Not a single cyclist stopped whilst we were wrestling wi't'bugger on the windswept hillside to enquire how we were doing.

So yes from that experience there is code of conduct and it's very simple -

Every man and woman for their ain sel' and de'il tak the hinmaist (and anyone who gets in the way).   

I think the more famous and prestigious the event the more that applies.
Move Faster and Bake Things

Wascally Weasel

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #35 on: 04 September, 2015, 11:51:53 am »
The Vitruvian tri event I took part in last weekend (I just did the cycle bit as part of a relay team) had a fairly strict code of conduct and disqualified about 1% of total participants - there's a penalties board on the day where you can go and check if you have a time penalty or disqualification and the numbers of the penalised are there to see, along with the reasons.

Several were DQed for reckless riding, several for littering, one for nudity in the transition area (it's a mixed event in a public place and the rules are clear) and one for using someone else's kit (I think he nicked someone's helmet or something similar).  There are also two minute penalties for drafting which isn't permitted in this event (I think you get DQed if you're seen doing it several times).  Further, any disqualification bars you from all future events held by the organiser.

The end result on rider behaviour is pretty good - I think I had two close overtakes that I thought were a little reckless but other than that the standard of riding was pretty good.  I also saw virtually no litter - a few gel wrappers and a few bottles that I presumed were shaken out of their cages and lost.  I don't know how much of the experience was self selecting but it was a really enjoyable event with a great atmosphere.

Otto

  • Biking Bad
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #36 on: 04 September, 2015, 12:03:45 pm »
I've got a sportif this sunday.. my first one.. although 60 members of my club are going along so it may be ore like a supported club run

mattc

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #37 on: 04 September, 2015, 12:49:04 pm »
The Vitruvian tri event I took part in last weekend
...
That sounds a very good setup  :thumbsup:

It perhaps emphasises a key point here - Triathlons are ACTUAL RACES. Sportives are (in theory!) very much not.

I suspect participants take a REAL race much more seriously.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Hummers

  • It is all about the taste.
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #38 on: 24 September, 2015, 07:32:39 am »
To be fair, I have been on Audax events (e.g. The Watership Down) where some clubs have had a large attendance and have been shocked at the way these cyclists behaved. Blocking the road, leaving litter, cycling as if they owned the road etc. If you want to see horrendous and dangerous cycling, try riding in the Vedette group of PBP!

Races aside, it isn't a Sportive vs Audax issue, it is cycling discipline in large groups that you should learn in clubs or on big rides where there is normally a group captain.

H

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

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Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #39 on: 24 September, 2015, 09:15:07 am »
+1

I wouldn't be the first to cast a stone at another rider's quality of riding, irrespective of how I thought I was riding.  The rider who never cuts a corner, takes a chance at a turn, slows or flinches because of something real or imagined, never gets out of formation, always does their turn in a group....  doesn't exist.  Like Hummers I have seen some shoddy riding on Audax events too.  Occasionally it has been my own, especially when tired, hungry, sleep-deprived or just generally demoralised by umpteen hours of rain.
Eddington Numbers 130 (imperial), 182 (metric) 571 (furlongs)  114 (nautical miles)

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #40 on: 17 February, 2016, 08:43:33 am »
If you want to see horrendous and dangerous cycling, try riding in the Vedette group of PBP!

IMO there was some pretty poor etiquette at the back end of PBP too.  Just clipped this from my post-PBP write-up:

I had been getting increasingly irritated by the behavior of some of the other riders, particularly those who insisted on riding in the very centre of the road even when going slower than those all around them. This seems to be a peculiarly American habit, but I also noticed a large number of Asian riders adopting the same approach.  If they had held the position it might not have been too bad but many had an equally annoying tendency to drift across the front wheel of anyone trying to overtake them.
 
Overall, I was shocked at the poor road sense displayed by many riders this year and the inability of many to ride in a bunch without causing difficulty to other riders. On several occasions I simply rode away from groups, having gotten fed up with people either sitting on my wheel without contributing or coming to the front and then immediately slowing down. And on the long climbs, where tired riders started to weave all over the road, I generally found myself taking the left lane and simply grinding past everyone.


Anecdotally, a lot of the bad behaviour seemed to be from people who were "travelling light".
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #41 on: 17 February, 2016, 08:57:47 am »
I thought a lot of the poor road sense was down to tired riders in an unfamiliar environment.

Poor group discipline is different, but I think some of it is down to different expectations and inadequate communications. Certainly with an unfamiliar group, especially the loose ones that form on an audax, it can be difficult to know whether an attempt to help at the front will be welcome or useful (and I'm generally struggling to hang on anyway). Add in language difficulties, and shyness, and it can all get a bit hopeless.

Redlight

  • Enjoying life in the slow lane
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #42 on: 17 February, 2016, 11:51:28 am »
I thought a lot of the poor road sense was down to tired riders in an unfamiliar environment.

That's probably true, I acknowledge.  Most of the really unpredictable or thoughtless riding that I encountered was between Villaines and Dreux.

It may also be that my grumpiness was down to my own tiredness accentuating my normally high level of intolerance of the rest of humanity even further.  :-[
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #43 on: 17 February, 2016, 12:22:30 pm »
Fecking twats riding in the centre of the road.  I abandoned 30+ years of roadcraft and experience of never undertaking as I got so bored of moving all the way from the right hand side of the road to overtake them. 

It does seem to be a RUSA thing - anyone know why?  I thought shoulders were generally pretty wide in the US and photos of rides during the day usually show riders using them, particularly on busier roads? 

As for the wobblers, I am going to write to ACP and suggest abandoning the SR qualification requirement and simply have a test of riding 50 metres in a straight line. 

I think it really pissed me off this time around as much of 2011, I was up amongst the quicker touristes and slower vedettes and rode in some very disciplined groups (Germans and, surprisingly, Italians).  This time, I was most definitely in the bulge for the majority of the ride and there were some pretty sketchy riders.

Ah well - all part of the fun.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #44 on: 17 February, 2016, 01:38:53 pm »
To be fair, it's mostly a question of keeping your elbows out and riding defensively. 

And shouting your presence when necessary.

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #45 on: 18 February, 2016, 08:29:17 pm »
they are all a bunch of wannabee racers too s**t scared to enter a road race
its only a matter of time before ACPO wake up to the fact that these are just sham races
WEAR A NUMBER, TIMES TAKEN, FINISH TIMES PUBLISHED
aka a TIME TRIAL/ROAD RACE

now, where did I see that parapet :demon:

Re: Sportive 'code of conduct'?
« Reply #46 on: 18 February, 2016, 08:30:36 pm »
they are all a bunch of wannabee racers too s**t scared to enter a road race


Some are.  Many aren't.