Anyone going to try the Rapha Festive 500 this year?

Anyone going to try the Rapha Festive 500 this year?

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Discussion

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 30th December 2017
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Well done lauda

This morning I went on an 81km ride with a group including the trio in our club that are chasing the badge. One is home & hosed, the other two will get it done on tomorrow’s club ride

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Sunday 31st December 2017
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lauda said:
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!
Similar numbers here.

113.3 km tonight, in some really grotty weather, saw me home with a total of 509.9 km.

My wife has requested that I don't do it next year too. Third year on the trot now, but I'd agree that it's probably too much time away from 'family time' at home, and most definitely some real filthy conditions to ride through. It won't have done my best (and currently only) road bike much good either.

Best of luck to all who are still rolling - keep pushing to get yourselves over the line! thumbup



anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 31st December 2017
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Nice one yellow jack, well done

WaferThinHam

1,680 posts

129 months

Sunday 31st December 2017
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zippyonline said:
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!
Savage, well done.

lauda

Original Poster:

3,446 posts

206 months

Sunday 31st December 2017
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Well done to those who managed it. drink

Happy 2018 everyone and I think I can safely say that I won’t see you here same time next year!

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Friday 5th January 2018
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Just looking through the stats on the Festive 500 club page (on Strava), and I thought I'd have a look through to see what the percentage was like for finishers to those who signed up.

8,260 participants in the UK according to Strava.
1,999 finishers.

So the percentage (of registered Strava users) who completed the challenge was a smidgin over 24%. Not a bad attrition rate given that it's no easy feat to achieve.

'Athlete' number 2,000 on the list managed 498km out of the 500. So, so close.

I featured at 1,011 out of the 8,260 (with 510 km ridden), so way off the top riders' mileage. But then that was one "Steven Abraham" so perhaps his 2,242 km (448% of the required distance) was not so surprising.

A big "Well Done!" to all who attempted this, congratulations to all who achieved the distance, or who achieved their personal goal within that. Commiserations to anyone who didn't make the finish line. Especially so if it was an injury or a cruel mechanical failure that knocked your challenge off course.

My wife has asked me not to do this again after this year. I thought I'd been considerate, doing a lot of the riding in the dark and wet, not at times when the weather was better and we could have time out in the open air together. But apparently it's still "a silly obsession" and I "need to have a break from it for at least one year..." We'll see how things are closer to the time, but this might well be my (third and) last crack at this now.

AlasdairMc

555 posts

126 months

Sunday 7th January 2018
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I had the best of intentions before it, then I bought and built up a fat bike just after Christmas and decided to simply have more fun instead of grinding out the miles. My fitness is now suffering as a result of the lack of miles...

lauda

Original Poster:

3,446 posts

206 months

Wednesday 31st January 2018
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And my reward for all that effort has arrived. This has made it all worthwhile!


yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Friday 2nd February 2018
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Mine arrived too...



...unlike the 'Rapha Rising' patch from earlier in the year.


I read somewhere on Strava that they're going to include "virtual" kilometres and simulated vertical metres in future challenges. If so, it'll be the last time I bother chasing such a challenge. The whole point of the #Festive500 is that it's hard to do because you have to make the time to get outside and ride a proper bicycle on proper roads at what, for most in the Northern Hemisphere, is a rotten time of year to be riding a bike.

Not sure if it's "fake news" or genuine bad news though...

SoliD

1,112 posts

216 months

Friday 2nd February 2018
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Mine turned up Wednesday, third year in a row. Any adding of Zwift miles to Strava challenges just degrades them, it takes away from the whole point of the 500 especially which was using the bike to visit friends, family and spend time with friends who enjoy your mutual hobby. Not to mention I've seen a 108mile 6+hour zwift ride completed at 163w average for someone weighing 75kg, never going to happen outdoors! even if pan flat,.

lauda

Original Poster:

3,446 posts

206 months

Saturday 3rd February 2018
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I agree that allowing Zwift mileage to count undermines the whole point of something like the Festive 500. Part of the challenge is pushing yourself to get out and ride in filthy weather when you’d rather be settling down in front of the fire with another piece of Christmas cake.

I personally never give kudos to any of my mates for their Zwift ride on Strava. If you can’t be arsed to walk out your front door, you haven’t been for a bike ride.

idiotgap

2,112 posts

132 months

Saturday 3rd February 2018
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I feel a bit mean, but I don't do kudos for indoor rides either. It troubles me a bit, because it's not as if there's no pain in an FTP test etc. Maybe I'll relent one of these days. Don't think I'll be buying a zwift setup any time soon though.
I think it's funny when a zwift ride appears in one of my flybys, central London seems to be a popular zwift place.

JustinF

6,795 posts

202 months

Saturday 3rd February 2018
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Including virtual miles is not by default it's by discrection of the event organiser, Strava's own monthly ones don't include it despite the change for example.

mcelliott

8,626 posts

180 months

Saturday 3rd February 2018
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lauda said:
I

I personally never give kudos to any of my mates for their Zwift ride on Strava. If you can’t be arsed to walk out your front door, you haven’t been for a bike ride.
For some people it's not always possible to get out on the road, some of my hardest rides have been on zwift.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 3rd February 2018
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I think the roundel earned for an indoor Rapha 500 should be much smaller than the one earned for completing the ‘proper’ outdoor version, especially for those riders completing it in their winter.

Generally I start from the point that anything that gets more people doing more pedalling is a good thing

However, despite the fact that there are both easy miles and hard miles outside and inside, I think event organisers will need to tread carefully for a while here. The credibility of an event could be tarnished in the minds of many potential participants if the leaderboard / finishers list becomes dominated by indoor riders

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Sunday 4th February 2018
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JustinF said:
Including virtual miles is not by default it's by discrection of the event organiser, Strava's own monthly ones don't include it despite the change for example.
Yes, I noticed that when I re-read the Cycling Weekly guff about it.

Seems to me like the Le Col challenge (the first one to take advantage of the 'virtual miles' rule change) is including indoor miles as a sales driver. After all, there's no free 'roundel' as a prize for completing theirs - just a '£50 off' voucher. The more vouchers they send out, the bigger the pool of customers who might be tempted into shopping there for the first time. It's also billed as a "season starter" based on riding time, not distance nor elevation. So it sort of makes sense.

I suppose I feel differently about it because I'm not really focused on racing (I ride a few MTB races, usually over winter/spring) so I don't have a defined "season" that starts and ends, I just ride all year round, all outside, and accept that during the winter months my mileage will be less, and it'll all ramp up again during the summer.

Hopefully this means that the #Festive500 will remain an all-outdoor affair...


lauda

Original Poster:

3,446 posts

206 months

Friday 16th November 2018
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lauda said:
Well done to those who managed it. drink

Happy 2018 everyone and I think I can safely say that I won’t see you here same time next year!
What is it they say about never say never? Having floated the idea of doing it again this year and not immediately having my reproductive organs removed by my wife, I think I’ll be in again.

Anyone else planning to have a crack this year?

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Friday 16th November 2018
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lauda said:
What is it they say about never say never? Having floated the idea of doing it again this year and not immediately having my reproductive organs removed by my wife, I think I’ll be in again.

Anyone else planning to have a crack this year?
It might be a bit much for me this year. I've only ridden 5 times since breaking my leg. But on the bright side, I'm up to 33 miles in a ride already, so there may be a small possibility of giving it a crack again this year. But the weather will have to play nice, as I'll not be keen on risking a slip/fall on the road...

...I won't decide until closer to the challenge, though, as I'm knackered after riding right now, so I'll see what kind of endurance I can build in the next month or so.

PomBstard

6,728 posts

241 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Well, I’ve not done this before but when mentioned to Mrs PB, the response has been to plan how this could work. I think she wants me out of the house over the period. A lot smile Or it’ll be a bargaining chip for all the triathlon training she has planned for 2019...

Local roads mean it’ll include no small amount of climbing - I reckon I’ll be up for about 6-8000m - which combined with my sort of pace means I’ll probably be rolling for about around 20-25 hours total.

So, what’s the preferred way to hit 500 - a couple of bigger rides of 100-150km with a handful of 50km to top up, a steady 65km a day, or two big 250km days? Note, the single 500km bimble is not an option...

SoliD

1,112 posts

216 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Literally just talking about this with a friend last night and due to the way christmas is this year and with no time off/commitments on the weekend it's looking like the first time in 3 years I won't be able to complete it. I'll be giving it a good go but will just enjoy the rides rather than just going out for hte sake of it in awful weather as has happened in the past to get the miles in. Although 80% of them are usually fun and enjoyable catching up with people the 20% can be a nightmare.