Wiggle Sportive things (MAMIL fest ? )

Been roped into a Wiggle sportive thing.

Are they a bit shit ? will it be a MAMIL fest and FKW.

The concept of paying to pootle about public roads, don't like that...........But........ one of the fellas at work is aiming for Invictus games, one of the other squaddies is stepping up as moral support and i have been roped in under duress as immoral support.

I have never done anything like a big ride out, or have any concept of riding surrounded by people.
We are setting the sights low and doing the 24mile Hellfire corner.
No problem doing that, but 2 of the 3 might not make it round and 1 of the 3 bikes will most likely die a glorious death.
It's a case of just getting one of us around in our own time.

Would i be right to assume these sportive things are nothing like the drunken antics of a SSUK or SSEC or Klunker Classic ?
Does one have to be a bit civilised ?

I have never done anything like a big ride out, or have any concept of riding surrounded by people.

I think that's standard for a sportive ;-)

Sooo rolling up with a 4 pack strapped to the bike and busting some DH and 4x racy moves won't attract attention, and skidding, new brakes are rather good at sudden stops :)

I picture a danny hart look at the wipp on that but its more than likely some numpty will not look where they are going and knock you off or just stop dead infront off you. Standard sportive affair

A bit like some of the mass start mountain bike races i tend to avoid pacef8.

I have to admit the concept of being surrounded by a lot of riders worrys me as i am used to a more TT format of 30 second gaps and chasing down the rider in front. A mass peleton is a scary concept.
Anyways, Mr Invictus is super excited and has no concept of pack riding and being new too cycling has no fear, also being a bigfucker is handy for him as well.
I still can't get over i am paying to ride public roads and not racing :)

It will probably only be a mass peloton for the first kilometre or so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYnOzSNbwCg

Some odd sights there. What is with those white leg warmers? And what do people carry in this enormous seat packs? They're wearing all their kit so not like their pockets can be full of clothes.

I've done a few of these, Wiggle and others.

I've found them to be fun. The ones which aren't closed roads don't tend to be massively busy and you get released in batches so there isn't really much of a mass peleton.

There's a big mix of abilities so riders thin out quite quickly.

I'm paying to have a route marked out and some food stops provided, which not everyone will think is good value, but it gets me round parts of the country I wouldn't see otherwise.

Looking to graduate to audax now.

Best get entered.

Had a chat with no 2 and an arguement on what hipflasks should contain.
Keeping an open mind but i am expecting an element of raciness in the short group :)
we are there to keep No 1 out of trouble and get him round, may take a tow-rope, even ordered some more racy tyres as i am SS riding with geared bikes so every little will help.
Should be a giggle, need to see if they have any pubs on route as i bet wiggle feed stations don't do beer :)

It's why you ride them that's important.

I've been riding for close to 40 years now so grew up with Reliability rides and Audax events. I did the Ride London a few years ago (the wet one) - it was fun but far too many wannabe racers for my liking. I did a local Sportive with a local club a few weeks ago - a nice laid back ride - no one believing they were 'racing' and the signposting was excellent.

Just have fun with your mates and don't treat it as a race - it's not. If you find any beer at the feed stations don't tell anyone on here!

^. totally agree

Ok an update.

The other night i had the event pack email.
A printable map, start times and feed station locations, and some do's and don'ts.

Being in the area anyway and being out earlier on i see the routes have been waymarked today.

No helmet, no ride. Bright clothing, and basic lights reccomended.

Turns out that the short route is not really supported, no feed station so carry what you think you need. Granted it's the cheapest entry, the standard route gets a single feed stop and the epic route gets 2 stops.

Although not a race........ they have given the pointer that an average of 15.5mph on all routes should see you back in a Gold time, so around 5 1/2 hours for the epic and 1 1/2 hours for the short. Maximum of around 8 hours to get round, all riders need to be back by 4pm.

I even bought some lycra leggings today.
As we are a group of 3, i have 2xtubes, tools, pump, 2x500ml thermal bottles, left the rear rack on to carry tool bag and waterproof trousers.
I reckon 2 to 2 1/2 hours tops for us with the bonus of a big fuck off fry up in the Airport Cafe just up the road from Folkestone race course. Ambulance assist has been primed in case we need some O2 or a lift.

Expected to be cold and damp/wet possibly frosty.
Will get some photos and update post event.
Should be a giggle.

Done.
Would i do one again ? proberly not as not really my thing.

What was it like ? signing in was a bit of scrum, timing chip sticker goes on helmet, get number plate, tea&coffee £2.
Get bike ready, find the other 2 i am with and we just sort of roll up to the start/finish.

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Start line was a group roll off every few minutes, all mixed routes.
We became back markers for our roll out, followed a few minutes later by the next batch.

View in front of us at start. Was cold and frosty.

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View behind.

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We stopped at the course split at Newchurch, around 8 miles in.
Start was fairly flat with a good roll down onto the marshes, we topped out at 31mph downhill :)

Mixed bag of bikes, Steves old MTB, James has the Cube MTB and my Dolan.
I saw a few other mountain bikes, a couple wearing jeans, very few with mudguards and racks, overall it was a very sporty lycra affair with several Dentists out there. I did get passed by a green steel single or fixed so i wasn't alone.
The goal was to get James round in one bit as he has never cycled this far before. I reckoned 2 - 2 1/2 hours to get round.

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Some odd bike things.
fair play, i don't know what to call it, but the fella was motoring along.

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Flat lands of Romney Marsh

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Blue sky and sunny.........but cold. Better than wet and windy too :)

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About halfway, and flat becomes a gentle climb, then a big climb, then several gentle climbs then flattens off again.

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Found the feed station on the short route, was a bit cold though.

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Clap Hill into Aldington. Only a few miles left.

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We picked up an out-rider at Aldington.

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This was handy when we hit the A20 a bit further on.

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Yeaaaa, finish line.

Wiggle do a target time to get round in for Gold/Silver/Bronze as we came outside that time bracket we got a Black finishers medal, the primary goal was just to get James to finish.
Job Done. It took 2.48hrs to do 24 miles, we stopped several times.
My actual moving time was 1.56 but i did get a bit racey in the last 2 miles on the A20. The Gold time was 1.32hrs, i reckon i might have been close to that on my own and not stopping.

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