Cycling UK Forum

For 100 miles around Norwich your current training sounds fine. Fellow riders help give you the last bit of motivation for the last bit of long rides. The only thing I'd avoid is going off too fast, it really isn't a race. I only ever eat normal food on bike rides and take water in my bottles, others will have all sorts of concoctions to keep them going. IME once you have the base fitness the rest is between the ears.

hamster wrote:It's worth it perhaps so you can judge the riding condiitons with lots of other riders.

Quite right

hamster wrote:
Speaking personally I rode a few sportives and then quit as they seemed to attract either testosterone-filled idiots who want to pretend to race (but won't get a licence) or alternatively a lot of people who are frankly dangerous to ride near - dangerous swerving etc.

Yep, I call them LCNAHs (Lycra clad narcissistic buttock hatters). Although they really aren’t in the vast majority, they are the ones you tend to remember more. This is one reason I rarely ride Sportives. I do the PRLS each year, because the hills sort the wheat from the chaff quite nicely, and it’s a good excuse to have a weekend out in the smoke, catch up with old friends etc.

mattheus wrote:Do we need sugars/carbs to ride a bike for a day?

Look-up how fast we can get energy from our fat supplies; it's only elite athletes who put out larger power levels for 4hours+.

Unfortunately, if you always train with high sugar foods, your metabolism does grow dependent on them.

Depends on you. I eat a low carb diet normally including days I commute to work (30 mile round trip) and find I need carbs on longer rides (or a protein rich meal and a post prandial snooze). Not sure snoozing and sportives mix.

Hudson1984 wrote:Now, I've never ridden a sportive before so wondered if it's worth me doing a shorter one or two before hand.

The answer is 'yes'. If you're in preparation for an 'endurance' ride, then preparing by riding other endurance rides would be a great idea.

Paulatic wrote:My advice would be keep your money in your pocket and just keep riding a little further every week.
A Sportive is no different to a bike ride except there will be some at the front treating it as a race. Best to avoid those sorts as they don’t stop at cafes.

100% Agree ..... I've entered and paid for 12 sportives and as a result joined Audax UK . (!) .... Keep your money in your pocket .... My experience is of Sportives is the plastic space ship brigade zooming off the front ... why don't they just enter 4th Cat road races or TT's ...

landsurfer wrote:My experience is of Sportives is the plastic space ship brigade zooming off the front ... why don't they just enter 4th Cat road races or TT's ...

Some of them probably tried and got banned, the way they ride! These are the ones who talk about "winning" the sportive and silly things like that. If you notice them riding around you, let them go far in front so you can watch them crash and avoid the wreckage.

I rode a few sportives until the rules changed to ban plastic-free riders. Then I did a few riding along with friends who still did them (taking my own food and drink and/or buying from shops near the feed stops), until the last one, where I had the unpleasant experience of being overtaken by double lines on both sides when we hadn't left room on our left for any sane person to fit. That sort of dangerous riding seemed to be growing without sanction, so I gave them up. I did try a few Audaxes but they're nothing like and generally I don't understand/enjoy them (as discussed in other posts) so now I just do a few mass-start rides each year (Camcycle Reach Ride, London Freecycle, Critical Masses), sometimes a foreign sportive (no hat rule!) and small group rides other than that.

iandusud wrote:

st599_uk wrote:Build up slowly, you've probably got the base fitness, but it's the fuelling strategy that tends to put people in a heap at the side of the road.

There was a letter in Cycling UK's magazine a little while ago stating that a good target for carb intake whilst cycling was 1g per 1 kg bodyweight per hour.

I'm assuming that was for average riding - it seems to work for me, eat less than that whilst riding and I end up feeling awful. I also find that energy gels are terrible for normal riding, huge quick hit followed by huge quick drop. Cake and chocolate work better.

I totally agree about gels. But find what works for you. Personally I can go all day on bananas and flapjack. I made the mistake a couple of years back, riding the étape du tour, of using the energy drink provided at stops. This led to a massive drop in blood sugars (provoked I assume by excessive blood sugar levels being dumped) and a Tom Dumoulin moment halfway up the final assault of the Izoard.

Or the guy at the world last year who went out the race like a novice racer!
Made the chuckle that even the best have those sort of days!!!

landsurfer wrote: why don't they just enter 4th Cat road races or TT's ...

Because they’d have their backsides handed to them, and that’s no good for their egos. A lot of cat 4 races ( particularly crit’s)are raced by people who are transferring from track racing. These guys are super fit / powerful, and know how to actually race. The Sportive / Cat 4 brigade, have no idea how to race, and it shows. They get put in their place, and spit the dummy, then retreat to riding sportives, like they are races, but still don’t know how to race.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:Because they’d have their backsides handed to them, and that’s no good for their egos. A lot of cat 4 races ( particularly crit’s)are raced by people who are transferring from track racing. These guys are super fit / powerful, and know how to actually race. The Sportive / Cat 4 brigade, have no idea how to race, and it shows. They get put in their place, and spit the dummy, then retreat to riding sportives, like they are races, but still don’t know how to race.

Not sure where you get the idea that 4th cat races are full of track riders transferring to the road, as most competitive riders will do both, assuming there is a velodrome near them. And it's obviously possible to gain 3/2/1 category licences on the track as well. The whole point of 4th category racing is to bring riders up to a standard where they can gain the fitness, bunch experience and licence points to progress up the ranking system. So you can hardly blame them for being inexperienced. Your sneering attitude is unfortunately at odds with the truth - and not for the first time.

thatsnotmyname wrote:

Marcus Aurelius wrote:Because they’d have their backsides handed to them, and that’s no good for their egos. A lot of cat 4 races ( particularly crit’s)are raced by people who are transferring from track racing. These guys are super fit / powerful, and know how to actually race. The Sportive / Cat 4 brigade, have no idea how to race, and it shows. They get put in their place, and spit the dummy, then retreat to riding sportives, like they are races, but still don’t know how to race.

Not sure where you get the idea that 4th cat races are full of track riders transferring to the road, as most competitive riders will do both, assuming there is a velodrome near them. And it's obviously possible to gain 3/2/1 category licences on the track as well. The whole point of 4th category racing is to bring riders up to a standard where they can gain the fitness, bunch experience and licence points to progress up the ranking system. So you can hardly blame them for being inexperienced. Your sneering attitude is unfortunately at odds with the truth - and not for the first time.

methinks there is a 5th cat lurking behind some of the replies!

foxyrider wrote:

thatsnotmyname wrote:

Marcus Aurelius wrote:Because they’d have their backsides handed to them, and that’s no good for their egos. A lot of cat 4 races ( particularly crit’s)are raced by people who are transferring from track racing. These guys are super fit / powerful, and know how to actually race. The Sportive / Cat 4 brigade, have no idea how to race, and it shows. They get put in their place, and spit the dummy, then retreat to riding sportives, like they are races, but still don’t know how to race.

Not sure where you get the idea that 4th cat races are full of track riders transferring to the road, as most competitive riders will do both, assuming there is a velodrome near them. And it's obviously possible to gain 3/2/1 category licences on the track as well. The whole point of 4th category racing is to bring riders up to a standard where they can gain the fitness, bunch experience and licence points to progress up the ranking system. So you can hardly blame them for being inexperienced. Your sneering attitude is unfortunately at odds with the truth - and not for the first time.

methinks there is a 5th cat lurking behind some of the replies!

Try a cat E. you’d be on the money then.

Jamesh wrote:

iandusud wrote:

st599_uk wrote:Build up slowly, you've probably got the base fitness, but it's the fuelling strategy that tends to put people in a heap at the side of the road.

There was a letter in Cycling UK's magazine a little while ago stating that a good target for carb intake whilst cycling was 1g per 1 kg bodyweight per hour.

I'm assuming that was for average riding - it seems to work for me, eat less than that whilst riding and I end up feeling awful. I also find that energy gels are terrible for normal riding, huge quick hit followed by huge quick drop. Cake and chocolate work better.

I totally agree about gels. But find what works for you. Personally I can go all day on bananas and flapjack. I made the mistake a couple of years back, riding the étape du tour, of using the energy drink provided at stops. This led to a massive drop in blood sugars (provoked I assume by excessive blood sugar levels being dumped) and a Tom Dumoulin moment halfway up the final assault of the Izoard.

Or the guy at the world last year who went out the race like a novice racer!
Made the chuckle that even the best have those sort of days!!!

That’s true, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour, unfortunately that sort of rider rarely does discretion, they wouldn’t be at that level if they did.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:

Jamesh wrote:

iandusud wrote:
I totally agree about gels. But find what works for you. Personally I can go all day on bananas and flapjack. I made the mistake a couple of years back, riding the étape du tour, of using the energy drink provided at stops. This led to a massive drop in blood sugars (provoked I assume by excessive blood sugar levels being dumped) and a Tom Dumoulin moment halfway up the final assault of the Izoard.

Or the guy at the world last year who went out the race like a novice racer!
Made the chuckle that even the best have those sort of days!!!

That’s true, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour, unfortunately that sort of rider rarely does discretion, they wouldn’t be at that level if they did.

Poor bugger was hardly the first to do that on 'wet Sunday', there were a lot of exhausted riders that day, i think you could reasonably argue that anyone not on their knees at that point wasn't close to being in contention.

Can't see why anybody would pay £40 to ride on public roads, somebody is making some serious money. The Birmingham Velo is £75 to enter but it is on closed roads.
Last year I did the 3rd 'Ride for Joe' event, £10 entry, 50 mile ride, a lap of Aldersley track at the end and all money raised goes to the air ambulance.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:Try a cat E. you’d be on the money then.

Category E is a BC masters age group (age 50-54) - not a licence category.