It amuses me how different factions of our cycling fraternity get needlessly stressy about each other from time to time.
Why does one have to be classified as an audaxer, a sportiver, a tester, a roadie, a campaigner, etc?
I have experienced nearly every aspect of cycling and am a cyclist and enthusiast.
There is no doubt that the sportive boom is bringing lots of new people into the sport / pastime of cycling. Other facets of the sport are set to benefit from this boom, and I would identify 3 areas that are likely to feel this upswing the most:-
1) Cycle club membership - new riders who try a sportive and like it will look to push their hobby further and to mix socially with like minded people.
2) Time Trials - Although testing has been in decline, time trialling is an easy next step for a rider who has tried a couple of sportives, and would like to become a little competitive, even on a personal level. The CTT has a very similar "image" challenge to that mentioned above for AUK - ie Not flash, no PR etc etc.
3) Audaxing - An easy next step for a rider who has done a couple of sportives, and who might like to have a go at the longer distances. The thing is , these riders somehow need to stumble across Audaxing first and find out what is on offer.
One has to realise that all the new riders are individuals and will progress their cycling in many different ways. Thats fine, there's no need to get stressy about it, we are all cyclists, no matter what type of bike we ride.
Another valid point above is the one about large numbers of riders in sportives and potential problems to other road users / need for police involvement / any consequent regulation that might be imposed.
If the popularity of sportive riding keeps increasing this is very likely. I suppose all this would be speeded up if and when there is an unfortunate death in a sportive.
Possibly the sportive boom is reaching its peak , or will it become more popular still?
Who can call the top of a boom - Did anybody call the top of the tech boom or the house price boom? - Chapeau if you did!