Gran Fondo Fatigue: Are Sportives Worth It? | GCN Show Ep. 594

Are sportives REALLY worth it, or are they a waste of money? Is it possible to have the same epic riding experience for free these days? We dive in - weighing the pros, cons, and middle ground!

Hank & Manon also cover the latest cycling news, including the end of the Giro d'Italia, retirement announcements, the winner of our Pirelli tyre competition, and much more!

0:00 Welcome to the GCN Show!
0:49 Are sportives a waste of money?
1:27 What are the pros of sportives?
3:33 What are the cons?
6:02 What about a middle ground?
7:11 The future of sportives and our experiences of them
9:08 Cycling Shorts!
9:18 End of the Giro d’Italia
10:13 Pogačar getting flagged on Strava
12:07 Netflix’s release of "Tour de France: Unchained" Season 2’s trailer
12:30 Pauline Ferrand-Prevot announces her retirement
13:09 82-year-old woman climbs Mont Ventoux for Gaza Aid
14:02 New Guinness world record attempt
15:22 Pirelli Competition announcement!
15:50 Shimano’s new GRX
16:32 Hack/Bodge Of the Week
21:56 Caption Competition
24:14 Comment Of The Week
26:35 This Week On GCN

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What do you enjoy more: solo adventures, or big bike events? 🚵‍♂️

Let us know in the comments! 👇

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📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images

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[gcn]

What do you think of sportives? Let us know in the comments 👇

[kennethward]

Closed roads or highly controlled roads are a huge benefit of organized Sportives versus feeling like a real life version of "frogger" in automotive traffic.

[ZOB]

“Top tube mounted portable speaker” should automatically prevent you from getting a “hack” rating.

[djkim]

As an average-level cyclist, local Fondo's were fun events to ride as a big blob a couple times a year. There is a sense of community and comradery. Feed stations and a meal/beer at the end of the ride is special experience. The problem is that cost has risen quite a bit in the last few years that I find it hard to justify paying more than $100 for a ride through mostly public roads, plus travel/lodging. My ride group now plan occasional long rides ourselves for essentially free.

[eaad]

A concerning trend is local sportives getting bought out by big organizations like GFNY, which then double their price. And then instead of nice rootgrass events with tons of local riders, you have event with mostly rich international participants (nothing against attracting foreigners, I just mean that locals can't participate anymore or chose not to). Same thing happening with triathlons, to a lesser extent.

[threeshirescyclist]

"free food"....hardly given the prices for sportives.

[jonthornton]

Audax is huge in Victoria Australia. Our unsupported rides cost $6. Our supported rides cost more, but are still great value for money. Most of our rides are now on gravel. Our gravel routes are curated by locals who know the best local backroads. We offer single distance, season and lifetime medals for riders who like to collect bling.

[Thomas-fyyc]

I did the Hincapies Gravel Fondo Merced last month…Not only was he awesomely friendly before and after the event with fans, but it was a great fun event that covered areas that normally would be inaccessible due to California being covered with private ranch lands.
The accountability helps a lot, as the cost of the hotel and entrance fee got me out of the house, when I knew it would be muddy mess (which it was). Glad i did and will do it again.

[CheeseAlarm]

Im a grumpy solo rider and audaxer. A very un-Sportivey person you might think. But I absolutely love Ride London. Just once a year, its on my doorstep. Closed roads, riding faster than normal. A fantastic change for a day. Now its back to being grumpy and unsociable (and slow!) for another 360 days or so.

[inz_uzi]

9:45 "... making it the biggest history in margin" 😂
Nice one, Manon.😊
But Hank's "lovely part of the show" was equally brilliant 😂

[OriginalTrev]

RE: replaced broken seatpost with tree branches in order to continue riding is definitely a 'HACK'...only deemed a bodge because you didn't understand that one branch replaced the broken carbon seatpost and the other branch was used to prevent excessive movement of the first branch. Hank patting himself on the back for using electrical tape around his seatpost because he lost a seatpost clamp screw was #overrated as a hack

[chrisridesbicycles]

I love them, especially on closed roads and when they are on the same day/weekend as a pro race. Also riding together is great. 7 hours in the rain on muddy cobbles alone would have been pretty bad but riding alongside that is legend Cillian Kelly and cheering on the kid that almost made it up the Paterberg made it a great memory.

[andrewmcalister]

Love that Hack is displayed on the drive side, while Bodge on the non-drive side. That's a Supernice in the Bike Vault.

[endcensorship]

The best part is meeting other riders, the support, and having a reason to party at the end. I don't think I would do such an epic ride all on my own, but to have others there with me really makes it.
I really like the support; my favorite Gran Fondo (Oregon Gran Fondo) has awesome support, food and technical. The route is literally in forests, and there are hardly any communities to stop and get a drink, let alone if you have a mechanical.

[Alfadrottning]

No question for me - although i am not exactly a cyclist .. but i do running. Its live events any time over solo. The entire experience to be with others is much more catching. Also, competitiveness is stronger when you do it with others live rather than solo or virtual.

As with most things .. you can have a part of the experience for free/alone ... but you only get the whole experience at real events.

edit: since english is not my native language .. sportive is a fully blown race event? semi/professional i mean ..

[zoufyj]

One word "solution": Randonneuring! Why did it take me 40 years of racing, local event rides and club rides to discover rando?

[MikeMassey-fiof]

We love Gran Fondos and appreciate those who sponsor them!

[Outsideville]

A Fondo that generates lots of money for charity is pretty cool to me. No, i don't expect all the funds to go to charity. It's still s good way to contribute to that local community.

[dksocal]

One thing to add to the "pro" column: a lot of sportives/fondos/centuries benefit local charities and communities. Knowing my money is contributing to a good cause is one of the factors that will convince me to register when I might otherwise skip an event.

[playandteach]

I always get nervous on any group ride and sleep badly, underperforming too. The trick for me is to ride with a group who are no faster than you. I did the skyrider version of the Haydon 100 a couple of years ago and was about to join the broom wagon, when my mates came along 20 minutes or so later, full of beans, saying we'd cracked it. After an uphill road into the wind, averaging 4mph, we turned a corner and were downhill with a tail wind, hitting 50mph. I hadn't realised I'd already paid in the miles, and it was a free ride home for the last 20 miles.