Cycle Sportives

I'd like to - @Cycliste has done it, but I never have. But it's the day after the Tour Transalp finishes, and while we'll conveniently be in Italy at the time, doing the Maratona straight after the Tour Transalp might be a bit of a big ask.

yes i got myself a lottery ticket. first time i ever got lucky.
I will be joining a few sudtiroler fiends of mine who are from the area.

thanks, i am trying to motivate some friends for this, i'm planning on the long one mostly out of ignorance...

@LuigiDolomite where are you from? I'm asking because you seem to ride Liege too? Are you Belgian?

It will be my third Maratona, did it in 2012 and 2013. Love the region for both hiking and biking (and eating...).
I don't think I will ride Liege but as my brother lives a step away from Vecquee and Rosier, I will be on those roads frequently coming spring and early summer.

And you have to be drawn at the lottery... This year nearly 33.000 candidates for only 9000 starting tickets.

Tour Transalp sounds fun. :)

Tour Transalp sounds fun. :)

It was this year. Apart from the day's racing that they cancelled.

I am not belgian but french.
Lived in Belgium an odd 15 years ago and i haven't been back much since. Looking forward to a bit of road spray, i just confirmed with a few friends.
maratona should be pretty good, especially with some locals friends taking part, we'll make sure to stash some grappa along the way beforehand.
I'll give you a shout closer to the event i don't know at all how many days i'll be spending there..

I realise these should be my first sportives.

Anyone else doing the Chiltern 100 this year?

When is this taking place? Friends live in Great Missenden and I would like to do the 100 one day.

Sunday 15th July.
http://www.chilterncyclingfestival.com/

Thanks for the link!

Don't supposed you or anyone else that rode this had your Garmins on for it?

I'm trying to build a more complete heat map of where I've ridden but I didn't get a Garmin until someone gave me an 800 for doing some work for them so I don't many of my rides in GPX form before 2012 or so.

No bother if not @cliveo at least you'll probably read this and have a chuckle :)

Looks like one of the few closed roads sportives wont be running next year, due to local complaints apparently.

https://tourotheborders.com/the-end-of-the-road-for-tour-o-the-borders/

Do wonder whether the use of cycling as another proxy in the endless fucking culture wars has had an impact on the number/vehemence or otherwise of complaints.

At this point we have no data on the level of discontent our event causes in this area, and have only heard from a small number of individuals. It’s worth noting that the last survey carried out in the community (2016) showed majority support for Touro amongst the local population.

In a wider context, SBC’s own public survey (2021) asked if the public
were supportive of the event: 87% were ‘very supportive or
supportive’. Only 11.6% were ‘not supportive’.

But the decision has been made, and from our perspective, it seems out
of balance and unfair. We understand SBC want to keep all communities
happy, but in the real world it’s a hard challenge. Some people in
Ettrick and Yarrow may be pleased with this outcome, but for us the
reality is actual job losses and a threat to our entire events
programme. For local hotels and tourism businesses around the area it
also means loss of income – not only for the event weekend, but for
the repeat or pre-event visits we know many riders make.

Remember, we’re talking about a few hours of road closures, once a
year, for an event that generates millions of pounds in visitor income
and has done much to put the Scottish Borders on the road cycling map.

Fuck 'em.

Fucking councils ruining shit for the majority because of a couple of noisy nimby arseholes.

Spend your money elsewhere.