First Sportive - what should a newbie know before sallying forth?!

[Cyclingfun]

At the end of June I'm going to try out a 33-mile sportive (part of the Virgin Cyclone in Northumberland, UK). This is a first for me and I just wondered if anyone has any wise words on riding out with masses of other people around?

[pll]

Let's see... with 33 miles, one stop at a feed station should be enough. Keep your stop short and sweet: refill your bottles, eat something small, some light stretching and go. Have a spare tube and levers, in case you get a flat tire. As you ride, ride close to the left edge (UK, right?) of the road and always look back before passing someone or otherwise moving to the right. You will have a ton of fun.

[azfiddle]

If you can practice riding in a group before hand, that might make you more comfortable on the event day. Give yourself enough space when you ride so that you have time/room to maneuver if there is a dropped bottle or someone ahead of you makes an unpredictable move.

My understanding is that sportives are not competitive, so I'm guessing you won't have to worry about staying out of the way of faster riders at the start- but position yourself further back if that might be a problem. How many riders will there be?

33 miles is quite a reasonable distance to manage- you should have a wonderful time.