Anyone going to try the Rapha Festive 500 this year?

[BMWBen]

I'm going to be in Tenerife for christmas, so hell yes!

[ALawson]

BMWBen said:

I'm going to be in Tenerife for christmas, so hell yes!

Lucky you, will just mean doing about 30k meters of climbing!

[BMWBen]

ALawson said:

BMWBen said:

I'm going to be in Tenerife for christmas, so hell yes!

Lucky you, will just mean doing about 30k meters of climbing!

Yeah there are some possible downsides...

[ALawson]

BMWBen said:

Yeah there are some possible downsides...

Upside is 30k meters descent at 45-50kph average.

[GOATever]

I usually do this each year, I’ve got a lot of charity cycle touring / charity riding coming up next year, so I need some motivation to keep the mileage up, over the winter. This should do nicely.

[lauda]

Sign up is now live on the Rapha website:

https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/stories/festive-500

Go on, you know you want to...

[z4RRSchris]

no traveling this year so hopefully i can do it for the first time.

[yellowjack]

I'd already signed up on Strava. As every year, I'll give it a go, but not sure if I can fit it in with family commitments this time. It's the first year my son has lived away, so there could be more travelling and driving for me this time around.

[whatleytom]

Managed to actually finish it last year, mostly because the weather was pretty perfect throughout. Not sure this year will be the same. Became a bit of a drag towards the end too.

[keith2.2]

Planning to do it in one ride - it was going to be the induction for my new 24h tt bike but a friend has expressed an interest as well so 1) can't back out and 2) will probably be on the XR4 instead. It'll take longer but it's the bike I'll be using for Revolve in Aus in March so it's no bad thing.

[GOATever]

I’ve been plotting a 600Km ride, Im loathed to call it a ‘diy Audax’, but that’s kind of what it is, but to be fair, I really can’t be arsed with a one hit wonder this year. I’ll see what happens. If I manage it that’s another badge for my jersey, if not, never mind.

[Solocle]

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-507/ for me

[GOATever]

Solocle said:

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-507/ for me

That’s interesting, and a 9-10mph minimum ( if my maths is right) as the organiser says though, the weather can be 4 seasons in one day. I’d be more inclined to cherry pick any better weather days, and do it over the whole period I think.

[GOATever]

whatleytom said:

Became a bit of a drag towards the end too.

That’s the hard bit, keeping going towards the end, if you need to.

[yellowjack]

GOATever said:

whatleytom said:

Became a bit of a drag towards the end too.

That’s the hard bit, keeping going towards the end, if you need to.

Definitely. You get, say, 450 km cracked, then take a day (or two) off before finishing it, and then the weather, or family plans change and you end up doing daft things like "nipping out at night for a few laps of the lake", or riding in the pissing rain just to "finish the challenge". Which almost defeats the point really, as I'd far prefer to finish it on an inspiring daylight ride in nice weather. But yes, you can become a bit of a slave to your gps with this one.

[TheFungle]

ALawson said:

Upside is 30k meters descent at 45-50kph average.

53.1kph

[GOATever]

I checked the bike I intend to do most ( if not all ) of this challenge on. It’s a good job I did, the brake pads were pretty much kaputt. It’s good to go now though. Time to take a deep breath, and crack on.

[lauda]

I'm all set to get cracking first thing tomorrow. I'm supposed to be at work but I'm also leaving my job in early January, so fk it.

Plan is to get roughly 150km in the bag tomorrow around the New Forest, take Christmas Day off and then chip away at the rest of it by riding to and from various family visits whilst the wife and kids go in the car. The weather down south isn't looking too bad and the roads are starting to dry out a bit now too. The only slight problem is that one of the half-decent wheels on my winter bike failed the other week and it's now back on the crappy budget ones it came with so it's now going to be that little bit harder work.

Still, at least I'll be burning a few more mince pies off.

Good luck to everyone having a go.

[yellowjack]

lauda said:

I'm all set to get cracking first thing tomorrow. I'm supposed to be at work but I'm also leaving my job in early January, so fk it.

Plan is to get roughly 150km in the bag tomorrow around the New Forest, take Christmas Day off and then chip away at the rest of it by riding to and from various family visits whilst the wife and kids go in the car. The weather down south isn't looking too bad and the roads are starting to dry out a bit now too. The only slight problem is that one of the half-decent wheels on my winter bike failed the other week and it's now back on the crappy budget ones it came with so it's now going to be that little bit harder work.

Still, at least I'll be burning a few more mince pies off.

Good luck to everyone having a go.

Good luck!

I might see you out and about in the New Forest over the challenge period. I'm going to try for it again, but I've got a lot of driving to do while it's going on, getting my son back and forth from where he lives/works to us on Christmas Eve, and back in time for work again on Boxing Day. Then the same palaver at New Year. Damn SWR and their guards striking! But we don't see much of him, so if I get to have the whole family around the table for Christmas Dinner, then failing to earn a Rapha patch will be worth it. Gotta hope my wife doesn't get called in to work on the 25th now, or Christmas Dinner might end up as Christmas Supper. Or worse still, I'll end up cooking it...

[GOATever]

I’m hoping to head to Bournemouth, through the New Forest and back, for about 165 Kms tomorrow, I’m off out for Christmas dinner, on Wednesday, so no riding will be done then. SWR and their guard strike limit my options somewhat for the rest of the rides, but they’ll be a mix of 100 and 160 Km rides.