CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
Only found out about Etape Loch Ness on BBC site this morning, but their twitter page says they are fully booked. Why press release something thats fully booked already?
Being from that neck of the woods, I would have loved to have done this.
Anyone here doing it?
Totally gutted!!!!
Co-incidentally, I just noticed a thread on it at BikeRadar this morning:
Etape Loch Ness coming next May on closed roads
Event website (Well, page, as the site is "coming soon".)
Strange in this day and age to have an event closed to entries before a website goes live. Not only that, but according to a post on the BikeRadar thread, "Entry for the 2014 Etape Loch Ness will open at midday on Thursday 21 November and will be capped at 1000 places for the inaugural event. As you've signed up to our e-news, you will get an exclusive window of opportunity to enter before the website goes live to the general public on Saturday 23 November." So, fully booked before they advertise it properly?
I have a rule of thumb - no sportives of less than 100 miles. Basically, if I'm paying to do it, i want my money's worth ;-) But it would be interesting scenery-wise. I've certainly never cycled that far north.
A few comments about the price of £55 (probably forgetting the cost of road closures, followed by the most recent response of, "but I suppose it is for charity." But is it? After all the fuss caused by finding out Etape Caledonia wasn't actually a charity event despite Marie Curie being the headline "beneficiary", are MacMillan actually getting a cut from everyone's entry fee?
@focus, "I have a rule of thumb - no sportives !!" edited that for you... :D
Suppose the organizers will be happy as its sold out very soon. Same happened to a similar event this summer. The Highlands Audax round the West side of Scotland sold out before it appeared in the Audax magazine, but at £10 entry basic event I guess everyone who entered thinks, they don't have to do it if they don't fancy as its not a large outlay to loose.
I guess I'll have to book up some 2014 audaxes before they run out then ;)
I knew an anti-sportive comment would appear soon enough! ;-p
I can't claim to be anti-sportive having done quite a few. However there does seem to be a herd mentality aspect to them, in the sense that some sell out very quickly and others struggle to get the numbers. In the latter category I'd put the Bethany sportive. That has a lovely route, quiet roads (closure not needed), and starts near to a major population centre. I don't claim that this phenomenon is limited to sportives - just human nature (e.g. 4x4 sales)
I wasn't taking offence, hence the tongue smiley.
I think by their very nature a sportive encourages the herd mentality as you describe it - a mass start event where everyone is naturally going to bunch together on the road (except for the whippets and the stragglers). As for the selling out aspect, sportives are "cool", audaxes aren't (though ironically maybe you'd get more people who actually say "cool" on an audax than a sportive?! LOL*)
I agree on the Bethany, having done it the last 2 years. I've got a love/hate relationship with it as I look forward to it, suffer on it, and am glad I did it! It would be nice if it were more successful, especially as it's probably one of the most genuine charity rides out there (in terms of volunteer set-up and money going to the cause). But then it's also quite nice that it's almost a family atmosphere because there are relatively few people doing it.
I wonder what it would be like if there were a sea change in popularity and audax was then the "cool" option welcome would that be with the more traditional riders? Would they welcome an influx of "speedy lycra sheep" or might there be a worry of spoiling the audax atmosphere? I don't know because I've yet to try audax (though I do remember I have the offer to join in!).
If you were in charge of bringing more sportive riders into audax how would you go about it? Simply saying it's usually cheaper probably wouldn't work, judging by the value of many bikes on sportives (mine's hardly cheap but I've seen many far more expensive). I think one of the appeals of a sportive is it's like a race but not (officially) a race. You get to pretend to be in the Tour de France for a few hours (if your imagination's good enough). Even I succumb to a little bit of that in the sense of it being a mass start event and I can try to set a good time. I don't race though - it's still me against me rather than against the other riders.
Just like the last time we had this discussion, I still wonder how you go about converting (not necessarily completely) sportive riders to audax. How to make it "cool".
One word.
Cake.
Seriously, I'm not sure Audax will ever become as popular as Sportives. Sportives appear to be large comercial ventures to make the orgs and the charities - to a much lesser extent?? money.
Audax is a not for profit organisation. The member organise the rides, and aim to cover their costs only, rather than make any profit. Also its not a race and if any rider arrives at a control too early they won't get their card stamped until the control opens. Speeds are set (generally) at 14.5km slowest and 30kph fastest (I may be inaccurate on the max speed?) average over the whole course. Controls open and close within this band of time. At the end there is no ticker tape, usually just cake (there is that word again) and a brew. Its a self navigation and self sufficiency exercise, though other riders will usually stop to offer help if they can. Some rides are offered as 'basic' events where you collect the card and route sheet at the start, collect till or bank receipts along the way and then post off your card with proof of passage to the organiser at the end.
I think it is the greater self-sufficiency required for an Audax that may put some off... not just the navigating (actually I found following a route sheet relatively easy) but the fact that if you have a mechanical you are responsible for getting yourself home - thankfully my gear cable broke when I was in Fife & could limp to the nearest train station, and not when I was somewhere up the Lecht on the Snow Roads...
On the Snow Roads, there were a couple of people who had a support vehicle following them round, which came in for some comment (criticism, even?).
That's probably the most reasonable answer. In the end, the most important thing is that both can thrive independent of the other to offer the particular experience each rider desires.
As I've said previously, sportives have appealed to me for a number of reasons. The "almost a race" thing is a minor attraction but it's there. Breakdown support, though I've yet to need it, touch laminated chipboard. Organised feed stations, provided they are properly stocked.
I'd like to see it mandatory than all sportives make it clear how much of the entry fee goes to charity, if any. Many people are duped into thinking they've made a nice financial contribution to a cause in return for an organised bike ride, only to discover that the charity receives little or nothing direct from the event. It's all very well the charity knowing that and doing it for the publicity, but it's not ok to mislead the participants. (Of course, you could just do an audax and give the difference in cost to the charity direct, before anyone points that out!).
Back to the appeals for me... even though I often find myself doing large stretches of sportives without company, there's still a more social aspect to it than riding solo, which is what I do the rest of the year. I don't get to do many sportives (cost, distance from Edinburgh for an non-driver and other commitments see to that), so I see them as a "luxury" change from the norm, something to aim and train for.
Maybe at some point in time, I'll grow a big bushy beard, put a carradice saddle bag under my saddle and wear too short shorts in a nice shade of beige and do an audax.
Did somebody just say "out of date stereotype"? LOL
No, it does sound like where DaveC is going. [ ;) esp to DaveC]
On a 200km audax, you will see quite a variety of different styles. Some are speedy/minimalists, others go for the ready for anything approach.
It's good to have variety - the choice is for the "consumer". It has to be said that end of ride spreads can be wonderful at some audaxes. One even had wine.
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