Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Anything relating to the clubs associated with Cycling UK
Post Reply
LANDSURFER74

Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by LANDSURFER74 »

Reading this weeks Cycling Weekly it was nice to see the listing of Sportive rides for the next few months in a simple and easy to read format.
Although no fan of the commercial Sportive industry, it's joined up nature appeals to many.
Is there a single national listing of all CTC area / division events that we that spend weekends away could use to book rides out with local CTC groups?
Could it be presented in a similar format to the Cycling Weekly listing?
I am currently sitting in my caravan in Redruth and would have loved to be able to plan in advance a ride out with local members if there was a national listing of reliablity runs etc.
I suppose i could trawl through the various local area websites but if there where a national list, published in advance, i would travel with the caravan and wife to new areas just to take part.
Last edited by LANDSURFER74 on 13 Feb 2011, 7:53pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
meic
Posts: 19355
Joined: 1 Feb 2007, 9:37pm
Location: Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by meic »

I suspect that the Sportives pay money to get in that list but that is OK for them as if they get more riders they earn more and can put up the prices.
The other groups do not really have much of an incentive to advertise for riders.
The odd visitor or couple of visitors is very welcome but if our groups of up to 10 riders were doubled it would probably ruin the event.

The list in the CTC magazine seems very random about which rides and Audaxes it includes, which probably comes down to which organisers can be bothered to jump the hurdles necessary to be included.

This is all my personal opinion and I dont speak for CTC DA's not even my own one.
Yma o Hyd
LANDSURFER74

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by LANDSURFER74 »

Thanks meic. As national club, sorry charity, a national listing would thought to be a fairly resonable expectation..
User avatar
meic
Posts: 19355
Joined: 1 Feb 2007, 9:37pm
Location: Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by meic »

Yes but the National club/charity expects that the volunteers at a local level will do the National Offices job for them.
So it isnt surprising if we dont get round to it when we dont appreciate the benefits it brings.

Or at a more cutting level, when local groups DID need the support and advertising from National Office because they were running camping events (perfect for your caravan) like the Loughborough, Meriden and New Forest Rallies (though New Forest doesnt need any more numbers) it was very hard to extract from them!
Yma o Hyd
User avatar
robgul
Posts: 3088
Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 8:40pm
Contact:

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by robgul »

meic wrote:I suspect that the Sportives pay money to get in that list but that is OK for them as if they get more riders they earn more and can put up the prices.
The other groups do not really have much of an incentive to advertise for riders.
The odd visitor or couple of visitors is very welcome but if our groups of up to 10 riders were doubled it would probably ruin the event.

The list in the CTC magazine seems very random about which rides and Audaxes it includes, which probably comes down to which organisers can be bothered to jump the hurdles necessary to be included.

This is all my personal opinion and I dont speak for CTC DA's not even my own one.


You suspect incorrectly - the comic's listings are free .. I am involved in a few of the events listed this week.

On a broader view the availability of an online all-singing all-dancing listing of cycle events with dates, type of event etc would be useful, but in reality probably impossible to achieve for various reasons - there are 2 or 3 "commercial event organisers" that would want to resist any conflicting promotion ... as would, one suspects, various other organisations with vested interests.

That said for all of the CTC DAs/Member Groups/Affiliated clubs or whatever they now call them to publish an online, consolidated "runs list" would be useful [If you read the Winged Wheel history of the CTC book a UK-wide runs list used to be published in printed form in, I think, the 1930s along with the magazine]

Perhaps the new CTC website could have this facility :idea: ? [It would be very easy to set up and allow the local groups to self-maintain at no cost ... but hey, we're not a charity :twisted: ]

Rob
Last edited by robgul on 14 Feb 2011, 1:07pm, edited 1 time in total.
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
User avatar
Si
Moderator
Posts: 15191
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 7:37pm

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by Si »

there was a link* to the list of all the open events hald by MGs in the last Cycle Clips..afraid that I haven't got time to dig it out now. Would have hoped that it is also on the NO website somewhere?



* well, the ones** that MGs have sent to NO.


** apart, it seems from the one that the article was about!
User avatar
philg
Posts: 611
Joined: 7 May 2009, 12:13pm
Location: Porlock, Somerset

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by philg »

Check the Audax rides on the website calendar, a lot of them are CTC DA organised though you'll have to look at each ride page to find out which - my own local event (The Chiltern Hills Brevet) is very well organised by the S Bucks DA (shameless plug here)

http://www.aukweb.net/cal/index.htm
The weekend comes, my cycle hums
John Catt
Posts: 113
Joined: 21 Dec 2009, 6:08pm

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by John Catt »

Would this meet the bill?

http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/events/ ... t_2011.pdf

You reach it via:
Activities & Events
On Road Events List
Complete List of Events.

Hopefully it will be easier to find once the new website is up and running.
User avatar
robgul
Posts: 3088
Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 8:40pm
Contact:

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by robgul »

John Catt wrote:Would this meet the bill?

http://www.ctc.org.uk/resources/events/ ... t_2011.pdf

You reach it via:
Activities & Events
On Road Events List
Complete List of Events.

Hopefully it will be easier to find once the new website is up and running.


New website !! you jest.

The list is missing what is supposed to be one of CTC's "flagship" national events - the Meriden Service in May - part of the Heart of England Rally which also has two CTC Audax events .... the information was sent to CTC about 8 months ago ... with promises that after the lack of promotion in the last two years all would be well.

The format with a flat document is useless in this day and age - the content needs to be in a usable, accessible form - to create a calendar based, dynamic, searchable database of events .... simples.

Rob
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
User avatar
Si
Moderator
Posts: 15191
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 7:37pm

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by Si »

robgul wrote:The list is missing what is supposed to be one of CTC's "flagship" national events - the Meriden Service in May - part of the Heart of England Rally which also has two CTC Audax events .... the information was sent to CTC about 8 months ago ... with promises that after the lack of promotion in the last two years all would be well.


Yep, that's what I was refering to upthread - glad I'm not going mad, but when there is an article about Meriden that refers people to this document for more info and the document doesn't even mention Meriden there does seem to be bit of a problem somewhere!
User avatar
robgul
Posts: 3088
Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 8:40pm
Contact:

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by robgul »

... and I thought I was going mad too .... but it's obviously the forum software ... Si message is timed at 1147 today 15 Feb - I have a "notify" set on this and the message I got was timed at 1639 ... what's going on? [AND I am aware that a few posts I've made in the last few weeks, along with those of other people, have disappeared into the ether]

... and I shan't mention the enquiry I sent to CTC HQ on 24 January and despite THREE follow up requests have not had the courtesy of an answer (save for an "out of office" when I sent it originally)

Rob
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
User avatar
MarkW
Posts: 73
Joined: 2 Mar 2007, 2:23pm

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by MarkW »

Up-to-date details of the 2011 Heart of England Rally have been up on the CTC website for a number of weeks now at this location: http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3876.

For any event to be listed in the 'official' full list of events on the CTC website, the appropriate form needs to be sent to the volunteer Events Co-ordinator, Bob Kynaston. If this is news to anyone, then I should mention that Bob has been doing this work for more years that I could possibly remember. The system that Bob operates is passed to member group Secretaries each year in an (often unsuccessful) attempt to get groups to send in details of their events as early as possible so we can publish the information as early as possible. Sadly this year, the list went up very late with a very reduced number of events shown. We're not quite sure why. Many member groups who normally send in details of their series of events simply have not done so this year. Have they decided not to run them? Do they no longer have sufficient people to organise them? Are there new events in the area which satisfy their eventing needs? Many possible reasons exist.

No one is saying the system is perfect and changes to the organisation of member groups has proved an enormous headache for Bob; nevertheless he struggles on without complaining and is worthy of much praise.

The message here is please send in your event details towards the end of the preceding year, to Bob at westerley@boltblue.com, prefereably on the appropriate form and he will see to everything.

MarkW

PS I notice that the two audaxes associated with the rally aren't shown on the events list either.
User avatar
robgul
Posts: 3088
Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 8:40pm
Contact:

Re: Sportive / Reliability / Audax type rides

Post by robgul »

As Mark suggest everyone appreciates what Bob does BUT it does beg the question of how the event details are promoted and are accessible to members, and indeed other interested parties, who may become members. To find "what's on" is pretty clumsy.

Today's technology makes it very, very simple to create a "database" of events segmented with various "classifications" and with of course date and contact details ... a sort of all-singing, all-dancing calendar to present all events to everyone - and the input of events and details can be delegated to the local groups, organisers etc.

AudaxUK has been doing this for some time ... and even a local group can do it - see http://www.ctc-heartofengland.org.uk and the way we present our events (and it all runs on no-cost open-source software) (BTW - you can enter the Audax rides Mark mentions, online at the site)

Perhaps this is planned for the new website ... whenever that may emerge?? ...... and why should CTC be selective and list only its events - why not ANY cycling event .... a single point of reference for ALL cycling?

Rob
(I have to own up to being the CTC-HoE webmaster)
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
Post Reply