So, I have been approved into the IMJ Group. I have not ventured in yet. Any recommendations?
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Don’t tell them you can swim? 
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It said no self promotion on sign-up didn’t it? I can see lots of wannabes asking people to view their vlogs about some inane Sportive they did.
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People still do sportivez? 
Pay money to ride on open roads on a route which is publicly viewable?
Erm, I’m okay thanks.
I’ll download your route and ride it another time.
When I’m not in fear of some knobhead taking me out on a sketchy descent.
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Yeah, don’t
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I’d start by telling them about your 300km Audax and take it from there 
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Should I tell people I did a 400km Audax; would they be immediately impressed, or uninterested as there is no crowd to power you to the merch tent?
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There’s still, well at least according to the algorithm, a bunch of companies trying to coin it in on virtual events! I saw one the other day that was tied in to LOTR!! You got these fancy medals that all linked in, with a ring that hides in the middle of them all. No flippin idea what the convoluted ‘event’ element was. Think you had to run X amount in Y time. I guess it’s motivation to get out there for some people? Far enough, but i don’t get it!
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Cross post 
(ahem 405km)
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I’ve dome some cracking sportives and some nightmare ones. I honestly prefer racing, it seems seems safer. 
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Make sure you tell them you didn’t train!
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Every time you mention this, I think of the the Brian Chapman Memorial Audax.
It’s inside my Rapha rain cape and every time I don that, I also think of it.
Then every Festive500 season, I think I’d rather do this in one day than eight 
One year, Rodney, one year …
(Mind you, going back to what @gingerbongo says about Virtual Events, reckon I could easily - virtual diet - do it in 12 hours on the Tick Tock course)
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The longest ride I did before that was 107km iirc, and a bunch of 3h rides. Ultimately it’s just about pacing and eating enough…and having at least one other (random) person to share the experience with, as it’s lonely otherwise! I ate two proper meals along the way; total down time was around 3h in a 19h total; some of that is waiting to get served!
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Proper brevet cards?
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I remember when they were called reliability rides and you paid a fiver and got soup and cake at the finish, now its called Hell of the Gruelling Legend ride and they charge £50 and dont even give you cake
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Reliability rides are a bit different to Audax though (or used to be). I never really liked the idea of them (but have never done one admittedly).
Reliability rides differ insofar that they’re meant to be held to check the reliability of your summer bike.
Hence they’re held in early spring/late winter.
But yes, there used to be a FANTASTIC one near @mw22 …
Starting at the old post office, head down to Spondon, then just absolutely smash it on the A52 from Derby to Newhaven 
Then ~15km of downhill down the Via Gellia (A5102)
Onto the A6 back to Derby at some ridiculous pace.
Get dropped? Yer fooked!
It snowed one year and I got dropped
They’ve changed the route now, as cyclists are utter woke-snowflakes these days and think riding at 23mph in groups of one to three dozen down main road is somewhat a “bad” thing?
Pansies. The lot of ‘em.
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We do bemoan the have-a-go-heroes on IMJ. But even in my own experiences, it’s actually quite surprising what you can do with a decent ‘base’ and plenty of experience.
Not just that Audax off no more than 3h rides, but that OW Swim I did in the summer off one swim the day before; I was actually quite nervous as it was going to be a pretty lonely and ‘exposed’ crossing, with nothing like the safety you get in IM…or buoys! Just aim for that building 2.5km away, if you can make it out from the swell
I was on an Audax forum beforehand trying to get tips and saying I was a bit nervous; but one poster said “if you can race 180km you can ride 400”. He turned out to be the former 24hr World Champ guy I rode 350km with!
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I was thinking that I haven’t done a sportive in quite a while then remembered I have done the Giant (bike brand not massive people) Lincoln one a few times over the last few years. Doing it makes it easy for me to see my mum, friends in Lincoln for couple of beers and have riddent it with a mate who needed a tow and also my brother. It’s well run, isn’t expensive and usually fits in well with training in terms of date, as well as the social aspects.
I haven’t done any around here for a few years but when I have it is a ride with mates as they want to do it. There’s some that are way too expensive, like the Tour de Yorkshire one which I have never done.
I wouldn’t mind doing the Etape du Tour again or maybe la Marmotte though.
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