What are you looking for in a sportive? Lots of miles, lots of hill climbs? But you wouldn't expect a flat short course,would you? But why not??
Well I went to a very anormal sportive in Duncton near Portsmouth this Sunday. There was a 25k short-course and a hilly 50k ride through the South Downs at the but the key thing was you could do whichever you fancied, and you could ride as little or as much as you liked. Some just did the flat 25k, one chap blasted round it 4 times! Other riders just did the 50k hilly ride a couple of times, whereas most did a combination of the two, stopping off the sustenance and Wattbike training in between sessions.
The event was the Sportive Training Day run by SouthernSportive.com, and riders came to and through from the hub location in Duncton. It was a really good format as novice riders got to sample the longer rides, and keen cyclists got to attack the same course twice to improve their times.
When not on the road, riders relaxed with a technique analysis and power testing on the Wattbikes as well as nutrition advice from SIS. Improving your cycling technique really drew in the cyclists and they loved the instant feedback the polar view force curve gives you. Lots of the riders said they were very interested in the Wattbike and are going to buy or hire to get some really time-efficient training in at the start and end of the days.
