[Closed] Subtracting your stop and rest times from a timed event- would you do it?

I rode a sportive a year or two back in company with a friend and the 'mate of a mate'. There were 60 and 100 mile options, the latter achieved by adding a loop on.

Said mate of a mate took the wrong way, doing the 100 mile route rather than the 60 and was so incensed at 'losing' to myself and friend that they got the organiser to chop off the extra loop from their data so they didn't look as bad.

I was bemused, but didn't think any more of it than that.

Nemesis; thanks - have make a note!
Sounds like there could be an STW squad amongst the entries.

qwerty - Member
Or.... invite him out for a ride at his proclaimed average speed

The absolute best solution.

Praise him for his time, and get him to come out for a ride - and apologise that you may be holding him up a bit, but you'll do your best.

Then, as they say, rip his legs off.

It's not a real race IMO, although I personally would treat it as one I wouldn't expect others to and wouldn't care too much about how others timed themselves.
A real race would have the organisers take the start time and end time minus any mandatory stops, breaks for equipment failure and random ice cream stops are just tough luck.
On casual rides I always time myself but put the pause on when stopping for lunch/beer etc.

I could crack a 4 minute mile if I did 16*100m sprints (+ a wee bit more) - that'd be fair...

I couldn't even do a 4 min mile it if I extrapolated from just one 100m sprint 🙂

I'm also echoing the "what the chuff did he do for 2 hours, if it wasn't riding??!!"

I mean, I think your 'time' is the time it takes from crossing the start to crossing the finish...stop once, or 50 times at your peril..

But 2 hours resting.. did he have a nap?

DrP

15 minutes to fix a puncture? Did you stop half way through for a cake?

it takes a long time to blow up a fatbike tyre with a hand pump.

Things about sportives i dont really understand....

The array of bikes used.. the people taking it all very serious (who actually call it a race) with Tri bars, aero helmets and TT type bikes Vs normal road bikes. They take it all very serious but then have a massive advantage using aero equipment. Of course they will be faster.

The really slow unfit people who cant ride up the hills. Surely if you are that unfit and unprepared to ride 70km/100km its not going to be any fun. Recently caught the tail end of a sportive on my way home from work and really tried to encourage a few stragglers up a few hills. I was Literally gobsmacked when they just hopped off and started walking at the bottom of a hill.

I was Literally gobsmacked when they just hopped off and started walking at the bottom of a hill.

70to 100km is not a problem, but at 16st when I meet 20% inclines I tend to find I do a bit of walking. The 10 to 15% inclines just involve struggling.

Still enjoy it though.

If you want to get respect and admiration you have to enter an actual race.

Nonono, to get respect and admiration you have to actually [i]win[/i] a race. Preferably a good one like the Tour De France.

Not all cyclists are racers. 100miles for a new cyclist is a big achievement. I was quite chuffed when I did my first.

[quote=davidtaylforth ]Nonono, to get respect and admiration you have to actually win a race. Preferably a good one like the Tour De France.

You reckon? http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/chris-froome

Probably safer winning a sportive

Anyway, not given my opinion yet. I should point out that I take Strava seriously and hunt KOMs, I take sportives seriously, aim to go as fast as possible, stop as little as possible and have been know to ride straight past rest stops.

My reaction to this? Er, meh. Couldn't really care less what somebody else wants to claim, even if he was claiming he went faster than me. If it makes him happy, fine. I was a bit bothered once when in a sportive I was fastest in they listed somebody who'd done the shorter route on the long route with a faster time than mine - but there were probably only two people who ever noticed, and I may be over estimating that by 100%.

[quote=codybrennan ]And he's (IMO) a nice bloke.

so don't do any of the gittish things others are suggesting to out him.

[quote=cloudnine ]Things about sportives i dont really understand....
The array of bikes used.. the people taking it all very serious (who actually call it a race) with Tri bars, aero helmets and TT type bikes Vs normal road bikes.

Really? I've never seen that in any Sportives I've done, and I've seen plenty of people riding them who I know own such kit. I thought aero bars were banned from them anyway? Makes no sense at all to me to use such kit in what is a group rather than a solo event - are you sure you didn't see a triathlon?

The really slow unfit people who cant ride up the hills. Surely if you are that unfit and unprepared to ride 70km/100km its not going to be any fun.

I've walked up a hill in a sportive (when not fit enough for my gearing). Rode the other 99 miles though, which was fun. I imagine those people walking a few hills are still having fun.

She should invite him for a bike ride

Play the long game. Take next years official data compare to this years claimed.
Method depends on him doing same next year.

so don't do any of the gittish things others are suggesting to out him.

This. You say he's overweight, just getting into it and enjoying cycling now. He's probably just chuffed to have done it. Don't put him off now, if nothing else he's getting fitter and will be saving the nhs money in the long run!!

Thing is, some people like to push themselves to see how fast they can complete a challenge in. To the majority of people in this country, riding 100 miles is a big challenge, so why should they not time themselves? I personally set myself a target to complete it in. My main competitor in anything is myself which is why I have an interest in timing myself on stuff rather than racing.

I think if you are in an event with sensors at the start and finish line, then your time is set when you cross the lines. With that in mind, however, I would have little interest in those times if I had been sat in an enforced stop on Leith Hill for over an hour (as friends of mine were).

A lot of snobbery on here between racing and sportives - two completely separate activities in my opinion. I happen to do both, and have an interest in times with either.

I've not read all this ^^^.

Who cares? Massaging your terrible event times so it looks like they're decent is a bit lame, but it's no skin off anyone else's nose.

For what it's worth, my times for a 100mile ride are way better if I do the ride over a 2-week period, and don't count the days when I'm not riding. But that would be really silly, so I don't.

🙂

I'm still failing to see how the OPs wife's PBs are affected by the behaviour of this other chap. It looks more like she's miffed that other folk will think she isn't as fit as she thinks she is.

TT bikes in a sportive - really? Most, if not all, the sportives I've done explicitly forbid them.

If you look at a Strava activity you get both moving and elapsed times.

As for walking up hills: everyone does it at some point but there's a big difference between someone who's just starting cycling, is overweight or whatever and someone who cycles regularly but simply can't be bothered. Lots of riders end up walking the later hills of the Ride With Brad (AKA Pendle Pedal) but I've also seen riders walk up slopes at Swinley.

Usain Bolt running the 10 000m is not simply 9.58s x 100. So yeah it's stupid but it'd be massively petty to point that out. The question is, do you want to correct him and be right, or do the right thing and keep quiet?

A close relative of hers has fairly recently got into cycling as a means to fitness. Fair play to him, I say, as although he's lost little to no weight, he's still getting out there and doing something, and thats to be encouraged. He completed a high-profile cycling event yesterday, Sunday (clue: it was on a road), and posted a rousing picture of himself on FB, bike aloft, with a good time considering his fitness and considerable bulk.

I fixed it for you.

Surely if you are that unfit and unprepared to ride 70km/100km its not going to be any fun.

I don't get the complaining about riders walking, etc. It's the bike equivalent of the London Marathon and to the general population (ie: not us elite riders on here) it's a heck of a long way and a massive achievement to be able to do it. It's only us types who knock out centuries before breakfast who see it as a bit meh.

I don't see people moaning at marathoners because they needed to walk for a bit, or because they can't break 3 hours. I just see people pushing themselves a bit harder than most are prepared to do, to prove a point, or earn a charity some cash, or ...... and i tip my hat to them. Same as to anyone that did the Ride London PARTICULARLY if you thought it was hard.

Yes, taking off your own optional rest stops times to give you the fastest possible appearance time is a bit bellendish, but who are they a/ kidding and b/ hurting. Smile knowingly, and move on.

Every ride I do is a race. Against a field of one - me. I like going faster, cornering better, riding further up the impossible rooty climb. I always win and I always lose.

Unless I'm just pootling.

I'm struggling with this too. I did the aforementioned event on Sunday with a friend, we started and finished together and stopped twice for a wee. He was running Strava and as we finished, I asked him what our time was...5h 28. Stupid me posts it on Facebook, thanking my charity sponsors, only to then have the official results clearly show me doing it in 5h 59. Don't think anyone has noticed the extra half an hour yet, though I'm sure it didn't take me that long to relieve myself...

The really slow unfit people who cant ride up the hills. Surely if you are that unfit and unprepared to ride 70km/100km its not going to be any fun.

No, they've just been onto STW to ask a question like "should I get a triple or a compact for my first sportive" and got the usual big hitter answers like "I once rode twice up Everest using a 52t front chainring, 11-21 rear cassette - just man up"

I once ran a marathon in under two hours. I did subract the times I stoped between sprinting but it is still valid.

I once ran a marathon in under two hours. I did subract the times I stoped between sprinting but it is still valid.

My sprinting speed is so slow that it would add up to over three hours 😳

Yeah but if you set you min log speed > your max speed you can complete the course even quicker!