- You've done all the preparation you need
for your first sportive, you have trained hard,
you've eaten well, and your bike is in perfect condition.
- But there are a number of mistakes
everyone makes at some point,
here are our top mistakes to avoid
when riding a sportive.
(playful music)
Now you know whether you're the kind of person
that usually arrives late for events or bike rides,
but that's no excuse.
Obviously if you're normally late, don't be.
- The thing you really have to take into account,
for an event like a sportive,
is the traffic and the parking.
- Got it, yo!
- Even a quite small event can have
a couple of hundred participants,
and a big event like the L'Étape du Tour
can have 15,000 riders,
that means parking near the start,
is often really difficult,
so give yourself an extra 15 minutes,
in case you need to park further away,
and ride to the start.
- What did happen with James?
- I don't know I thought he said
he was starting in our block, but...
- He's going to give him thirty seconds delay.
- Oh, there he is!
(upbeat music)
- This one's a classic, isn't it?
- Absolutely, it's so easy,
to get so excited before your first big event.
The adrenaline of the day makes your legs feel amazing.
- So, you push on, riding with groups that,
are perhaps a little bit too fast for you,
and are almost fine to start with.
But after a few hours, your legs fall off,
and you're left just crawling to the end of the sportive.
- Instead, just relax in the first hour,
and take it easy, look to maintain,
or perhaps even build your effort throughout the day,
to finish strong.
- This is especially important for hilly sportive,
like the Maratona dles Dolomites because there's literally
nowhere to hide if you blow up on a long climb.
- Hey, James?
What's happened?
- Water? - Yeah, sure.
- You were going so well before.
- It's not that far there's only, like,
I think there's only three climbs left, you'll be alright.
- We'll see you at the finish, yeah?
- Yeah. - Alright guys.
- This often goes hand in hand
with starting off too fast,
the excitement of the day gets on top of people.
And the nerves stop them from feeling hungry.
Just remember though, by the time you get hungry,
it's already too late.
It's important to remember to eat a little often,
if you struggle to remember, maybe you can set
a timer on your head unit or on your phone
to help remind you.
Start from the beginning of the ride,
to avoid a big crash in energy levels later on.
- This is a mistake I made on my first sportive,
I stopped at every food station
and I ate so much flapjack that I had terrible indigestion.
Now, even though the sportive might be the longest
and hardest bike ride you've ever done,
it is still just a bike ride,
and if you stop at every single opportunity
and eat all the food you can get your hands on,
you'll only make yourself feel bloated and unwell.
Just try to eat like you would normally
on a bike ride perhaps just a little bit more.
(playful music)
These days sportives are generally very well sign posted.
Organizers will try to make sure that every important
junction has a sign to stop you getting lost.
Is this the wrong way?
And there are normally a good number
of marshals to help as well, but,
it is possible that one disgruntled local
could take down or move a sign,
which means you could quickly be sent the wrong way.
So if you've got a bike computer,
make sure you download the GPS route file,
almost every sportive will have this posted
on their website, and for safety,
maybe even take a paper map as well.
After all, paper never runs out of battery,
and it can't lose a GPS signal.
- This way!
- That way? (sighs)
(upbeat rock music)
- A big event like a sportive,
should above all else be a good fun day out.
You might suffer through some hard moments,
and enjoy some fantastic ones, too.
But it's important to remind yourself why you're doing it.
You're spending the day out on your bikes,
hopefully with your mates.
- So, don't get stressed,
looking for the gold, silver, or whatever the medal.
If you want to stop, take in the view,
or even get a selfie with your mates.
Or even, chat to the guys in the feed zone.
Go and enjoy it, not too serious.
- She's going way too hard.
(soft acoustic music)
(upbeat rock music)
- Well, I hope this video helps you to avoid
making the same mistakes as me,
because I still feel really unwell from all that strudel.
- If you have any mistakes you've made yourself,
that you'd like to share with us,
why not leave a comment in the box below.
- And give us a thumbs up and be sure
to check out all the other videos,
on how to prepare for a sportive.
Just down there.