TheBigYin
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I've ridden a couple of sportives and as a veteran of maybe 20 years of club cycling and racing I have generally been astonished at the terrible quality of group riding on show... Far too many people who think that buying themselves a £4k Pinarello and an outfit from Rapha, then watching the highlights program of the final half hour of the TdF sprint stages means that they understand the dynamics of group cycling etiquette...
To be honest, I've no inclination whatsoever to go and ride another one - apart from getting charged £50 or more for the "honour" of being given a start time to be there for, riding with a bunch of no-wits who just want to get a fast time on Strava, and getting to ride normal roads, with cars still allowed to mix in with (and become profoundly annoyed by) the hundreds of large unweildy groups of Mamils, and then get a "goodie bag" of some gels that taste like celulose paint remover and a t-shirt that is fit only to wipe the bike down with... No thanks, if I want to challenge myself over the course, I'll wait until the week after, find someone who rode it on Strava, download the route into my Garmin 800 and go ride it myself, starting at a more sensible time (after a good breakfast). At least if I fail, it'll be because of bad legs or a mechanical, not because some all-the-gear-no-idea tosspot has fallen off directly in front of me...
To be honest, I've no inclination whatsoever to go and ride another one - apart from getting charged £50 or more for the "honour" of being given a start time to be there for, riding with a bunch of no-wits who just want to get a fast time on Strava, and getting to ride normal roads, with cars still allowed to mix in with (and become profoundly annoyed by) the hundreds of large unweildy groups of Mamils, and then get a "goodie bag" of some gels that taste like celulose paint remover and a t-shirt that is fit only to wipe the bike down with... No thanks, if I want to challenge myself over the course, I'll wait until the week after, find someone who rode it on Strava, download the route into my Garmin 800 and go ride it myself, starting at a more sensible time (after a good breakfast). At least if I fail, it'll be because of bad legs or a mechanical, not because some all-the-gear-no-idea tosspot has fallen off directly in front of me...