It’s back! In conjunction with Strava, the Rapha Festive 500 is on again this month and challenges you to ride 500km – that’s 310 miles – in the eight days over the Christmas holiday period starting from the 24th until the 31st December.
Last year I tried to complete this challenge, but I didn’t really put much planning into it and came up short [insert random excuse here]. This year my circumstances mean that I’ve got a bit more time to ride, so as long as the weather doesn’t wreak havoc with snow or widespread black ice I’m going to have a proper crack at it.
I’ll need to plan my rides around a couple of Christmas events, but on the whole I’m free to ride on most of the eight days the challenge runs for.
On paper it doesn’t look difficult, eight days at 40 miles per day is doable. Winter weather ups the stakes. Take a day off and it means 80 miles the next day, or only ride for five of the eight days and it becomes 62 miles each ride. Any deficit can easily derail your progress so it pays to keep on top of the miles. It may be time to start figuring out how I’m going to attack this! #festive500
Tempo Cyclist - Tasmania 
I completed this last year. My advice; get a banker in early as it doesn’t get any easier as the days go by! I was out in all weather and mainly in the dark. I broke it down into 2 rides a day in the end. Worked well for me.
Good hard work, but this year I’m putting family first and putting on a few kgs to give me something to burn off in the new year!
Good luck and may the wind be behind you all the way.
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Thanks for the advice. I plan on getting in a long ride on Christmas Eve (the first day of the challenge) so I can get ahead of the average needed, then hopefully stay ahead from there!
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That’s exactly what i did. You’ll sail through it ;)
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Good luck chief! 🚵
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