Why do people flock to Sportives but not to Audax?

[Fab Foodie]

Perhaps some don't mind being fleeced?

Baa-llocks ....

 

[middleagecyclist]

Baa-llocks ....

I was trying to work 'Baa' into a reply. Guess I better stop ruminating on it now...

 

[Fab Foodie]

I was trying to work 'Baa' into a reply. Guess I better stop ruminating on it now...

Guess so, you're too woolly headed at this time of night ....

 

[middleagecyclist]

Guess so, you're too woolly headed at this time of night ....

Yep. I'm going to hoof it up to bed. Night, night.

 

[ColinJ]

Oi you two - this thread is open to everyone - you don't have to hogget!

 

[middleagecyclist]

Oi you two - this thread is open to everyone - you don't have to hogget!

Colin. I considered telling you to flock off but that would be both very rude and the incorrect noun. Running out of material now so it's the last you have herd from me on this post.

 

[Nebulous]

When you're part of a group - be it a hobby, occupation or whatever, then it can be very difficult to break in from the outside. People just absolutely don't get that, because they think 'we're all welcoming and friendly.'Which may well be true, but its surprising how few 'idiots guides to cycling' there are, which actually tell you what to do.

I can be a bit of a loner. I spend a lot of time interacting with other people at work, sometimes in quite difficult circumstances and the attraction for me of cycling is partly the solitude.

The great thing about a sportive was I didn't need to negotiate- show my ignorance - try to prove I was worthy. All I needed was an internet connection and a credit card.

I've done about 5 of them in the last 18 months or so and have just signed up to my first audax - the snow roads 300.

 

[the_mikey]

You don 't need a chequebook and a trip to the post office for a sportive. I can register for a sportive using my smartphone, I can't do the same for an audax. That said, I don't like sportives much and would much rather take part in an audax.

 

[martint235]

Despite the mix of people you get on Sportives, it is quite clear that many Sportives are sold to those that like the idea of racing but won't/can't/don't actually race. They are quite the event for those who want to complete an event and tell their non-cyclist friends what they did and rejoice in the admiration of the ignorant who think anything over a couple of miles is madness!



The audax time limits are hardly exclusive though (15-30 kph, i.e. crawling - steady tempo pace).

I don't much like either format's, but I would pick an Audax over a Sportive any day.

This accurately sums it up for me. I've never entered a Sportive and I don't think I ever will. It always strikes me as I'd be paying a lot of money to someone else just so I can go out and ride my bike.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I can't be arsed to sign up for Audax rides, or anything else, that requires me to write out a cheque, fill in a paper form, find two envelopes, buy two stamps and faff about like it was still 1980. I don't understand why Audax UK don't have a central online entry system, but I guess that may be all part of the appeal.

and it is a cliché but in a Sportive you pretend you are racing whilst in an Audax you pretend you are not.

 

[DCLane]

I did one Audax ride this year and about 10 sportives. Next year it'll be 3-4 sportives and a few Audaxes plus a couple of triathlons.

The directions assistance is helpful tbh, plus the feed stations, although I don't use them much However, control points on an Audax do basically the same thing.

Sportives have a better actual name, what does Audax mean to the average person? Also, sportives tend to be a shorter length; most riders I've seen go for the sub-70 mile sportives, where on an Audax you're just getting started. Finally, it's the greater amount of marketing/promotion that's done by the companies promoting sportives, including the magazines and media. How many Audax write-ups do you see in mainstream publications?

 

[Rob3rt]

I can't be arsed to sign up for Audax rides, or anything else, that requires me to write out a cheque, fill in a paper form, find two envelopes, buy two stamps and faff about like it was still 1980. I don't understand why Audax UK don't have a central online entry system, but I guess that may be all part of the appeal.

and it is a cliché but in a Sportive you pretend you are racing whilst in an Audax you pretend you are not.

They do, but only some organisers make use of it. I recently entered one via a central online entry.

Sending cheques is a hassle, but many cycling event's operate this way, in many cases you have to post a cheque off to enter an open TT for example, I don't like doing this either, but I have come to accept it. In some way's it is nice to see your money go to a club's account etc rather than disappear into some online payment process whereby you don't know where the money is actually going.

Sportives have a better actual name, what does Audax mean to the average person? Also, sportives tend to be a shorter length; most riders I've seen go for the sub-70 mile sportives, where on an Audax you're just getting started. Finally, it's the greater amount of marketing/promotion that's done by the companies promoting sportives, including the magazines and media. How many Audax write-ups do you see in mainstream publications?

IMO the words Sportive and Audax are equally non-descriptive or non-intuitive to the non-initiated.

As for write up's etc, maybe the Audax crowd aren't as gullible with regards to all the latest gubbins that the magazine's sponsors, investers and advertisers are desperate to sell to them, unlike the sportive crowd.

 

[totallyfixed]

I agree with Rob3rt, Sportives are a money making exercise, Audaxes are much more traditional "old school" events and from my experience attract a different type of rider. I've done one sportive, first and last and only did that because it was the TdF route. Too many nutters for me, RLJing, p*ssing off motorists and dropping litter, not seen that in an Audax and long may that continue.

 

[jdtate101]

Rightly or wrongly...audax have the image of being the preserve of old men on tourers, sportives have the image of being the preserve of MAMIL's on carbon racing steeds. I think this maybe to do with the popularity of each type, as the MAMIL is in ascendance right now.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Sending cheques is a hassle, but many cycling event's operate this way, in many cases you have to post a cheque off to enter an open TT for example, I don't like doing this either, but I have come to accept it. In some way's it is nice to see your money go to a club's account etc rather than disappear into some online payment process whereby you don't know where the money is actually going.

Which is why I said...

I guess that may be all part of the appeal.