Sportives Archives - Sportive Cyclist

Monty is an enthusiastic road cyclist with only moderate talent. He started Sportive Cyclist in 2013 to record the journey to his first 100 mile ride, the RideLondon 100. Over time the blog has expanded to include training advice, gear reviews and road cycling tales, all from the perspective of a not-very-fit MAMIL. Since you're here, Monty would also like you to check out his YouTube channel and subscribe to receive email updates. Also, Monty really needs to stop referring to himself in the third person.

My Sportive Plans For 2020 (What Are Yours?)

February 23, 2020February 23, 2020 by Andrew Montgomery

It’s time this blog saw some writing action. It’s time my legs saw some cycling action.

The standard approach is to start with the excuses.

Instead, let’s start with what I’m going to do about it.

The first action is to write this post. If you’re reading it, let’s assume I’ve at least achieved that.

The second action is to lay out my ‘race programme’ for 2020.

Finally, and this is less an action, rather a somewhat uninteresting piece of information, I will ‘reveal’ the location of this year’s training camp*.

(* family holiday where I plan to take my bike)

Cliffs and Crepes: My Review Of The RideStaffs Spring Forward Sportive 2019

April 30, 2020April 17, 2019 by Andrew Montgomery

Despite the word being in the title of this blog, my guilty secret is that I haven’t actually taken part in a sportive since 2015.

Yes, I did the RideLondon 100 last year but for some reason I have a mental block around calling it a sportive. It’s a ‘mass participation cycling event’ (whatever that means).

It feels like 2019 is the year in which this situation needs to change. Sportive-a-go-go. And where better to start than a local ride at the start of April. The RideStaffs Spring Forward Sportive.

I was encouraged to participate by the organiser, Paul, who also happens to read this blog (he tells me…).

He piqued my interest when we met and spoke about how he designs his routes (a conversation that led to my recent post about designing a great cycling route).

I wanted to test his route planning credentials in the hot crucible of a live sportive (er, what…?). So I signed up.

The Climbs of Velo Birmingham

May 14, 2017May 14, 2017 by SC Staff

Perhaps surprisingly, until recently there were just three closed road sportives in the UK: one in England (RideLondon) and one each in Scotland (Etape Caledonia) and Wales (Velothon Wales).

The RideLondon event is probably the best known and this race report will give you an idea of what it is like to cycle with thousands of other cyclists on closed roads.

Later this year, Velo Birmingham will become the fourth closed road sportive and having sold out within 4 days, it looks like there will be 15,000 happy cyclists on Sept 24.

Note from Monty: This is a guest post written by Mark from bikes.org.uk, a UK-based blog for cyclists of all disciplines.

French Summer Cycling Routes – Our Top Picks

April 2, 2017April 2, 2017 by Andrew Montgomery

French summer cycling

When it comes to staying active and exploring a new area up-close and at your own pace, there are few options that are better than cycling holidays. If you love cycling then exploring new locations on two wheels should definitely be on your holiday wish-list.

The Grindleford (Half A) Goat: Good Sportive, Lack Of Training

May 21, 2020September 15, 2015 by Andrew Montgomery

So that was painful.

I’m not exactly sure what compelled me to sign up to the Grindleford Goat. But sign up I did.

And pain and pleasure did I receive.

Here’s my race report.

Sportive Review: Peak Epic Sportive

May 7, 2020June 25, 2013 by Andrew Montgomery

In this post, I recount my experience at the Peak Epic Sportive, which took place last Sunday (23rd June) in the Peak District.

Today’s joint sponsors are the driving rain and the howling wind. I would also like thank my friends: mental torment and exhilarated exhaustion.

This post is part of a series of sportive reviews, which I hope to build up as I ride in more events.

As I’ve said before, these reviews are not intended be exhaustive accounts. Instead, I aim to give a flavour of the event, from my own perspective as a (very) recreational road cyclist. Hopefully, from this, you’ll be able to decide whether you’d like to take part in future runnings of the event.

Sportive review: Igloo Peak District Sportive

August 26, 2018April 18, 2013 by Andrew Montgomery

Cycling Peak District — Strade bianche… in the Peak District

This is the first of what will hopefully become a series of posts reviewing the sportives in which I have taken part (I say, ‘hopefully’, because it will rely on me pulling my finger out and doing more events!).

My aim is to give you a flavour of the event, so you can decide whether you’d like to do this event, or a similar one, in the future. The account is clearly based on my personal experience of the sportive, and is probably heavily coloured by my low level of experience and fitness. If you’re in the same boat, I do hope it will give you the confidence to enter a sportive. If you’re a super-fit, experienced rider, maybe it will provide some entertainment…