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Post by adi on Dec 10, 2008 9:51:11 GMT
Hi all, I've signed up for the Hell of Ashdown on February 1st. What kind of training would be good for that kind of event? At the moment I do the Saturday ride and try to cover on average 150km a week, with the odd interval or hill session thrown in. Anything else I could be doing to make the experience a little less painful? Adi
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Post by andyw on Dec 10, 2008 12:06:14 GMT
I must be getting old I remember when The Hell of The Ashdown was a training ride
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Post by X on Dec 10, 2008 12:19:51 GMT
I must be getting old I remember when The Hell of The Ashdown was a training ride Ha ha! My thoughts exactly!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 12:21:48 GMT
..... which raises an interesting question about the competetive nature of sportives?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 12:31:51 GMT
Sportive? I thought it was a Reliability ride
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Post by andyw on Dec 10, 2008 12:38:27 GMT
It certainly raises interesting questions about the rebranding of Reliabilty Rides as Sportives to make them appeal to a new, rich, mud-guardless market.
Best training? Any of the reliability rides that take place on the same roads, over the same sort of distance (but a much discounted entry fee) in the weeks preceding the HOTA
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 13:01:46 GMT
And just to throw my hat into the ring, it's not officially a sportive!
Sportives are massed start events, where everyone is given the same start time, and ridden often on closed roads (like you find in Europe), so there's a feeling of a race about them. These aren't allowed in the UK, so what we know as "sportives" are really glorified audaxes, where riders set off in groups, and are given a route sheet. The only difference between an old-fashioned audax and one of the new-fangled UK sportives is having people in florrie vests standing around at junctions and pointing the way.
Edit: Oh yeah. And the cost!
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Post by adi on Dec 10, 2008 14:33:46 GMT
The Falling Leaves in Autumn was my first such ride so I'm quite new to it all. What's a Reliability Ride when it's at home?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 15:56:44 GMT
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_trialHistorically early season road rides, where your bike had a good shake-down to make sure bits didn't fall off during the oncoming season, combined with a good "base" workout in unfamiliar territory to get some miles in. This is back in the day when bikes/components weren't as robust as they are now. So the word "reliability" is officially to do with testing the reliability of the equipment and not the rider, but some might disagree... There are 6 reliability trials/rides around Kent from January through Feb which have been running since time immemorial, of which the HotA is, or used to, be one. As it is run by Catford CC it was known as" the Catford" Reliability, and they've jazzed up the route a bit recently, changed the name to the Hell of the Ashdown, and use marshalls (I think) to attract a sportif crowd. A delve into the bowels of this forum reveals this tinyurl.com/6o87mc
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 18:06:51 GMT
Hey old timers -sportives are not just training for proper racing. If they publish results, use electronic timing chips, have marshals/ police and clear signage – all of which adds to cost - they can have a fairly competitive / sporty feel. I’ve found the ones in the more remoter / hillier parts of the country to be most competitive.
Adi’s question about how to train for sportives - particularly the longer 150 k plus hilly ones - is a good one
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 18:31:27 GMT
This thread does seem to be a load of old racers being rather patronising about sportifs. In Italy they are full blown races with semi-pro teams competing, often with full back-up and team cars. I doubt anyone in the club would get close to Mike Cotty (from Cannondale) in either a sportif or a 'normal' race if he ever bothered.
As for training, you are not going to need the changes of pace required of a road race, but you will need to be able to ride at or just below threshold if you want to do your best possible time. Longer intervals would be good, but you also need to learn how to ride in a paceline, so get yourself out on the chaingangs.
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Post by chamoniards on Dec 10, 2008 20:42:52 GMT
I wouldn't rely on sportives as training for racing, as you'd be a rubbish racer if you did.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 20:45:06 GMT
Try and get on the Sunday rides, they're a bit longer than Saturday's Check this link out for audax rides you can do as well www.aukweb.net/cal/index.htmI can heartily recommend the Invicta Grimpeur 100k that leaves from Otford, 8th March. The ride out there and back makes it a tasty 150k
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Post by adi on Dec 10, 2008 23:08:55 GMT
I keep meaning to go to the Sunday rides but things always crop up (other than idleness) Races would be good fun but I figured doing a few sportives (or whatever they want to be called) would be a decent first step being as I know diddly about racing.
As for the question at hand, I've read a few pieces suggesting that sportives are more an issue of fuelling than fitness (within reason obviously). Not sure how accurate that is. Suffered a bit in the final third of the falling leaves but that was after a rubbish summer of broken arms and knicked bikes so didn't have all that many miles in my legs for that.
Obviously they're not races but I'd still like to complete it as fast as possible, probably in the low 4 hours area.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2008 23:34:54 GMT
AdamP, don't take these comments seriously What seems to be happening is not a dig at sportives per se, which we'd all agree are jolly good fun, rather a dig at the Catford Reliability Ride (and by extension some other audaxes which have taken to a bit of uptitling), which has unnecessarily (to many) renamed itself the HotA in an attempt to jump on the sportive bandwagon. It was just as competitive when it was a lowly reliability ride, and maybe some people (myself included) are a teensy bit put out that this low-key, under-the-counter, arcane event has had to up its image to get the punters in. I guess there might be an undercurrent of ownership and exclusivity (an interpretation which probably says more about me than anything..), but hopefully you get the gist. Adi - As Andy pointed out, do all the preceding reliabilities, and any of the steadier Sundays that hopefully others will instigate in Bobski's absence. Finding a 3-5 minute hill and caning up it repeatedly until you can barely stand up always knocks me into shape pretty sharpish too.
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