News : Why do some cyclo-tourist marches succeed and others do not?

We are in full season of cyclo-tourist marches. The cyclists that participate in this type of events are in full peak of form and that is in the months of May and June is when the best cyclo-touring marches in europe.

Given this we wonder why some of these cyclists are successful while others see how the next year they are forced to lower the curtain and give up a new edition.

It is evident that the public, in this case the cyclists, values ​​different aspects but It's time for someone to wonder what exactly leads some to succeed and fail some others. For this reason we will analyze different aspects and conditions that users take into account when registering or not in a certain event.

Price

Obviously the price is a conditioning factor for many of us. If it were not for the price and for the necessary time we would all like to be able to enjoy pedaling around the world in one of the the most beautiful bicycle trips in the world.

The price factor is important but at the same time it is curious how this aspect seems to be overlooked in some occasions. Participating in an Ironman (official franchise) costs more than 400 euros and the truth is that this disproportionate price does not prevent each year thousands of people participate around the world in Ironman events.

As usual the price conditions more the newly created sporting events. In this way, events that enjoy a certain reputation and that year after year fill all available places allow the luxury of raising prices and that this does not affect the number of registered. After all, even if all this is sport, it is also governed by the law of supply and demand. Fortunately, many organizers continue to seek the satisfaction of the participants and thus compensate each of the euros invested in the registration process.

In my opinion the price is relative and you always have to relate it to the quality of the event and the services received. You would not be the first one who, for a price that seems too high, loses a spectacular cyclo-touring march, refreshments and spectacle.

Provisioning

You would not be the first one to leave, relying on the aid stations of the cyclist tour and ending empty and catching a championship pájara.

Those of us who have participated in many cyclist tours are used to seeing everything. Most organizers comply and the truth is that in many of the marches the cyclist can not complain at all. The refreshments are generous and varied, but always appears the typical race that skimps on food and drink and leaves the last classifieds almost without fuel.

The quality and variety of the provisioning is another factor to take into account when scoring a given cyclist tour. In any case and as a personal recommendation I advise you always leave with some food in the jersey for what you can find. It's better to prevent than to cure.

Logistics

Another important point that slows down many cyclists is the issue of logistics. In terms of logistics, I refer especially to the point of departure and arrival. Circular routes that start and end at the same point are easier to manage. In fact some groups of friends even take advantage of to spend the weekend together and rent some apartment or rural house near the area. Non-circular routes are also successful but most marches that work with this format are very well-established sporting events, for example, of monuments such as the Tour of Flanders, the Milan Sanremo, the Liege Bastogne Liège or the Paris Roubaix that every year They bring together thousands of cyclists to participate in its cyclist version.

Travel

I could not miss the variable of the route. We live in a time when it seems that if you do not participate in long distance tests you are nobody. The ultra-fund is fashionable and this trend leads thousands of people to seek the achievement of personal challenges in sports events.

It is important to have clear limits and face the concept of ability to overcome with consistency. If you have not done cyclotourist marches of 150 kilometers, it does not make any sense for you to register for a 300-kilometer one, no matter how much your neighbor or your friend did last year.

In the case of cycling the journey will be conditioned by the distance but also by the unevenness. Some cyclotourist marches in Spain face more than 5000 meters of positive altitude in less than 150 kilometers, a real barbarity for which it is convenient to be properly trained (I can assure you in the first person).

If you are enrolled in a cyclist tour, you are lost and you do not have very clear how to face the training I recommend you visit our post: Training to prepare a cyclist tour. Advice and warnings

Competition

The line that separates cycle tourism from competition is getting finer and finer and although on more than one occasion this has generated some discrepancy, it is undeniable that a large number of cyclists continue to attract the competitive edge.

The cyclotourist timed marches offer the possibility to the cyclist to improve their brand every year and this is an incentive for all those who want to overcome their best record. In addition, the official times of certain marches sometimes serve as a letter of introduction to the grupeta. Tell me what time (brand) you have in ... and I will tell you who you are.

It is important not to confuse cyclotourism with competition cycling. No matter how many times the competition is, it's another story, and that's where you really learn to shoot in the peloton, visualize career tactics and manage your energies. In any case of all this we will talk on another occasion why the subject gives to talk long and hard.

Environment

Oddly enough, some cyclists still enjoy the bicycle in a non-competitive way. The majority of these cyclists enjoy the pleasure of doing sports close to nature and the possibility offered by the bicycle to see the world and the landscape at low speed. Some cyclo-tourist marches are registered only for the spectacular nature of their route and thanks to the natural areas through which the route transits. Without a doubt, the bicycle is a great alternative to discover the most spectacular corners of the planet. If it were not for the bicycle few people would have known the spectacular mountain passes of the Pyrenees and the Alps.

Gifts

It may seem silly but from the first to the last we all look at the inside of the broker's bag. Gels, bars, advertising, discount vouchers, jerry cans, shirts, jerseys ...

Each race is a world and it is impossible to find two events with the same content. It's true that nobody registers for a couple of gels more (or so I think), but that the sum of different elements can condition that a cyclist repeats or not the following year.

The organizers are aware of this and for this reason some marches have already gone from giving away the typical simple maillots full of publicity and that end up forgotten in the drawer to offer quality jerseys although for this every cyclist has to pay a small plus.