Anyone going to try the Rapha Festive 500 this year?

[idiotgap]

I doubt I'll see it through but chalked up 102.1km today.

[anonymous-user]

Same here. The 80k club run turned into an 80 mile one so I’m further on than expected

That said, I don’t have a strava account, so there will be no badge for my swimming trunks anyway

[lauda]

I chalked up 111km this morning. I plan on a quick 30km tomorrow before the kids wake up and will cycle to a family event on Boxing Day which should add another 80km.

That will break the back of it so the next five days should be pretty manageable. Weather here is looking reasonably favourable too, so no excuses...

[idiotgap]

Sneaked 50k in this morning. I might actually do this after all.

[lauda]

idiotgap said:

Sneaked 50k in this morning. I might actually do this after all.

Good work

I weighed up the chances of divorce and managed to sneak in 29km today before the kids woke up. But my wife has now gone down with d/v bug which may put the kybosh on a good ride tomorrow.

Bloody inconsiderate, really.

[yellowjack]

lauda said:

Good work

I weighed up the chances of divorce and managed to sneak in 29km today before the kids woke up. But my wife has now gone down with d/v bug which may put the kybosh on a good ride tomorrow.

Bloody inconsiderate, really.

I had a strop on Christmas Eve. I'd been promised time to ride, but things didn't pan out. So I went out at 10 pm for nearly 4 hours. That'll learn her! 85 km sorted right there.

Then today I'd resigned myself to not riding, as my wife is on call at work. But she got called in about 5.30 pm so I went out while she sorted a patient out. Another 30 km bagged up.

So i'm at about 23% (116 km) complete, with nearly 25% of the time elapsed. She's had to go in again too, so I'm toying with the idea of dragging the bike out again. It's awfully windy out there though, and quite wet with it...

[idiotgap]

Chalked up another 90km today and broke into 7000km for the year. Surrey hills was the order of the day, I bumped into someone I met on Saturday on a taster ride with a local club and cajoled him into coming along which made it more fun.

It might all come to a grinding halt now with us driving up to visit family up in Yorkshire tomorrow unless I can squeeze a road bike in the boot alongside baggage for 5 and presents.

[SoliD]

107 miles on Christmas Eve, followed by a couple of 40 milers Christmas Day and Boxing Day has left me about where I wanted to be, will aim to get 35 in after work tonight and same tomorrow to leave me just over one day (39miles) short to complete on either Saturday or Sunday.

[lauda]

I did a brutal 73km today in rain, sleet and snow with a pretty much constant headwind. And when there wasn’t a headwind, there was a crosswind instead. I’m up to 275km now, so over half way, but I hope the weather improves a bit.

Chapeau to everyone else who’s been getting out there and racking up the miles. We can at least feel guilt-free about the amount of food and booze we’re consuming.

[opm]

Signed up for this, first time for this challenge. Always sign up and do the climbing challenge and the Gran Fondo ones. They were harder this month as missed nearly two weeks of cycling earlier in month due to ice and snow so been doing a lot more climbing recently to catch up.

Gran Fondo was completed a week ago with a scenic route to Twycross zoo, climbing challenge I am on 98% today so only about 300ft of climbing sees that done and Rapha 500 I currently sit at 53%.

Now weather here looks pants for friday so if I miss that day leaves me 3 days to finish challenge, works out 48 mile a day. So will do 50 a day to make sure 😁

I want that badge 👍

[idiotgap]

I'm giving up unfortunately just under half distance. Had to spend yesterday in hospital because my 4yr old son developed a weird rash, later we drove across the country to visit relatives and will be there for a few days. I didn't manage to fit a bike in so if I do more, it's likely to be on my brother in law's MTB. To cap all that off I've picked up a horrible cold and the weather looks grotty. My whole family are telling me to enjoy the downtime, tickle the kids, be merry and rest up ready to get back on it for the commute next week.

Best of luck to you guys sticking with it!

[z4RRSchris]

too icy round me to get on the bike

[opm]

Bit icy in places today but managed to do 53 miles, finished the climbing challenge off so just this one to do now.

[Brads67]

I signed up but then the world conspired against me completing even a KM of it.

On the upside, the Rourke build is started.

[zippyonline]

Hi All,

Just logged onto Strava to log my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/1330367200 (stupid idea by the way, I got borderline hypothermic fingers in the torrential rain and took sanctuary in a church overnight!)

Anyway, looking at the PH strava club page, there's two of us with Festive500 complete so far.

Good luck anyone else, I've had enough of bikes for 2017 now ta!

p.s. 8 lots of 62.5km rides is a lot easier than one loop of 500km!

[lauda]

Bloody hell zippy, that is a seriously impressive ride. Completely bonkers, but seriously impressive. I have to admit, I’m looking forward to just getting it done now. I enjoy cycling but I’m just grinding out the miles for the sake of it now. It will definitely be nice to leave the bike in the garage on New Year’s Day.

idiotgap - sorry to hear you’ve had to abandon and hope your boy is on the mend.

I can hear the pissing rain outside now and the bike beckons as we’ve got friends coming over for lunch. Glad I got a race cape for Christmas....

[anonymous-user]

Chapeau zippy!

[bigdom]

First time i've ridden to the office this week as it's been to icy/snow, pissing down and sleeting today - that's only 12 miles!

I have 85 miles to hit my year end target, no excuses now.

Amazing effort, I couldn't get anywhere near that distance in one day.

[zippyonline]

I don't recommend doing it in one ride - it was a stupid idea. I'm no stranger to long days in the saddle, through the night, overnight stops, lugging gear with me, bad weather and rain etc. but normally it's in summer and on the mountain bike. The rain really got to me, and it was soo cold - it rarely gets that cold raining, add in some headwind, and too be honest it was horrible at times! I could have done with some faster roads too, I did a lot of little lanes, some sea walls and gravel tracks, and some of the roads had turned into rivers (as in bottom bracket high!). For clarity - I did have two overnight stops, so I wasn't pedalling for 25 hours straight - but i was lugging the gear with me. I'll post a photo later.

Cheers all - to anyone else having a go, just keep pedalling - that's all there is to it!

[lauda]

A final 113km this morning saw me cross the finish line with 502km total. Glad to have done it but I think it’s safe to say I won’t be signing up again next year. Too much time away from family at the most important time of the year and pretty stty riding conditions as well.

Good luck to anyone still going, not long to go now!