Low Emission Sportives

[landsurfer]

I have to drive to the start of a sportive...
32 mile drive.
Ride comes within 6 miles of my house.
Surely in the cause of low emission events you should be able to start at any point around the route, send in your Garmin, Strava etc data and be credited with finishing.
Start numbers sent by post or print off email.
Chips not required .... Garmin, Strava, GPS track is accurate enough.

Is this just too obvious ?????

[531colin]

You could always just "go for a ride"
Genuine question.....what is it that you get from "riding a sportive" that makes it sensible to pay to ride on public roads?

[PH]

Surely in the cause of low emission events

What cause? They don't seem to be set up or run as low emission events,do they promote themselves as such? All those I've seen start/finish at somewhere with lots of parking.
Audax give a bit more flexibility, you can ride extra kms for extra points, or do it on a different day and start at different points on the route, but if you ride it on the day you still need to ride it from the start at the correct time. It'd be an organisational nightmare to do otherwise.

[landsurfer]

Surely in the cause of low emission events

What cause? They don't seem to be set up or run as low emission events,do they promote themselves as such? All those I've seen start/finish at somewhere with lots of parking.
Audax give a bit more flexibility, you can ride extra kms for extra points, or do it on a different day and start at different points on the route, but if you ride it on the day you still need to ride it from the start at the correct time. It'd be an organisational nightmare to do otherwise.

1. But why not run them as a low emission event.

2. How can it be a nightmare to get entrants, give them a start window, and let them ride your beautiful course.

3. People could cheat, but so what, they cheated and they would know it....

Areomodelers have been having postal events for over 50 years.
"At this time, on this date, fly your model and send in the best 3 times "
It really is that easy.

[landsurfer]

You could always just "go for a ride"
Genuine question.....what is it that you get from "riding a sportive" that makes it sensible to pay to ride on public roads?

I think it gives people the feeling of taking part in an "event" .
Competition lite.

I have previously posted that I have "got over" sportives.
I'm off back to club time trials.
Where I will be paying to ride on public roads again...

[PH]

1. But why not run them as a low emission event.

Well simply because they chose not to, these are commercial organisations doing what makes commercial sense, you can ask why not, they're just going to ask what's in it for them.

2. How can it be a nightmare to get entrants, give them a start window, and let them ride your beautiful course.

Well the point was Audax specific, different riders starting at different times from different location would mean the controls would have to be staffed at different times. You'd be getting to the end control, where some rides are validated, without having completed.

3. .... Areomodelers have been having postal events for over 50 years.
"At this time, on this date, fly your model and send in the best 3 times "

Audax has also been doing this for years, postal and online, permanents and DIYs (Prior to that the Mesh) Anytime any day, just enter your own plan, do the distance and have it acknowledged. What they can't do is offer you the support of a calendar event outside of what's been organised.