What sort of pace to compete in a sportive event

[rockandrollmark]

Following on from the post from Roman in the Thinking of a roadie for 2011 thread (chears for the linky btw) I'm thinking that maybe entering myself into a couple of sportive events this year might be a good challange, but as a relative newbie to this roadie lark, what sort of pace should I expect to be able to keep over, say 50 miles in order to not end up finishing 20 mins after the last competitor?

Are these things super competitive? Also, would people look at me funny if I DIDN'T shave my legs?

[graememac]

rockandrollmark said:

Following on from the post from Roman in the Thinking of a roadie for 2011 thread (chears for the linky btw) I'm thinking that maybe entering myself into a couple of sportive events this year might be a good challange, but as a relative newbie to this roadie lark, what sort of pace should I expect to be able to keep over, say 50 miles in order to not end up finishing 20 mins after the last competitor?

Are these things super competitive? Also, would people look at me funny if I DIDN'T shave my legs?

Sportives are not competitive events so I wouldn't worry too much about pace, as long as you can average about 13-14 mph you'll be fine. I did my first sportive last year and wished i'd done them sooner! Looking forward to a full calender of events this year.
Also I wouldn't worry about shaving your legs either, there's plenty that dont

[anonymous-user]

as said, something between 12 and 14 mph should be fine, half the fun is talking to people anyway so you dont want to go at a pace that renders your breathless.... you'll be surprised how easy it is to maintain 17-20 mph in a group though.

regarding leg shaving, the main aim is to aid the masseur, if you dont intend to have regular massages or self-massage your legs, why bohter?...

finally, make sure the bike is in tip toip condition and your getting all the gears....

[okgo]

Agree with swerni, evans ones are great

[rockandrollmark]

Cheers for the input guys. That puts my mind at ease. Didn't know that sportives were more of a social ride than a competition (always had visions of highly strung guys dressed up to match their bikes and a testostorone fueled sprint over the last km). Definitly have to tick this off my life goals list now.

Will have a look at the Evans' events too. Maybe see some of you there

[anonymous-user]

the guys at the front are racing make no bones about it. the rest of us are there to a) get round, b) have a laugh, c) perv at other peoples bikes.....

[Jacobyte]

When you've done a few sportives and can get under 6 hours for a 100 mile "epic", you might want to try a 4th Cat road race (e.g. 10-15 laps of a car racetrack). That's where a lot of fun begins as you learn about riding in a group, positioning yourself ready to follow a break, trying to decide which breaks to bridge across to, or see if you can succeed in a solo breakaway, etc.

[anonymous-user]

Jacobyte said:

When you've done a few sportives and can get under 6 hours for a 100 mile "epic", you might want to try a 4th Cat road race (e.g. 10-15 laps of a car racetrack). That's where a lot of fun begins as you learn about riding in a group, positioning yourself ready to follow a break, trying to decide which breaks to bridge across to, or see if you can succeed in a solo breakaway, etc.

have you seen how many big accidents there are in cat 4 races these days?!

[Jacobyte]

Yes, usually an accident in every other 4ths race. I've kept clean so far; except in a triathlon where I was hit by a car, despite the police controlling traffic at the junction. But that's another story.

[anonymous-user]

Don't believe that sportives are not competitive, the guys at the sharp end will be averaging 23ish mph, those bringing up the rear and helping clear up the strip , if it is still open, will be doing 15ish.

Edited for typos

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 8th January 22:51