The Rapha Festive 500

I saw the police tapes and one of those ominous blue tents by the edge of the pond when riding around too and suspected the worst. Poor soul. Grim that you saw it.

Done. Time to forget about it for another year until it seems a good idea again.

Finished it off today. 6 days riding, 2 days off. Quite enjoyable.

Well done all finishers, got nowhere near 500 but had some lovely rides and looking forward to a 100 tomorrow

Early bumb for this thread...
I would like to do this for the first time, how do you guys normally train for this? Is doing a few concecutive long training days a good idea? I haven't done much cycling this year unfortunately so trying to make a plan for the next 6 weeks...

@Chopsicle could probably advise, but aim to do it in one or two long rides, then have no misery for the other 6 days

@Chopsicle can do a Cent Cols having only done four rides in the twelve months leading up to it. Don't listen to him.

I have spread it across multiple days but I have also done it one go on a single speed. It was by far the fittest I had ever been. It was the final ride in my Randonneur Round the Year, I had done a Cent Cols that year (with @Chopsicle no less), had done Bryan Chapman and rode to and from Chepstow from London.... I was riding so, so much. Doing it in one go was easy breezy. Just cold.

Other years where I've done it, I was riding regularly, but nowhere near as much and it still wasn't that hard. You just have to have the time. It's only a challenge if you don't have time, IMO. If you have lots of time, just tap it out.

There's some of @Chopsicle words on the matter here. But I'm sure he's probably got fresher feelings about the endeavour.

This is a fair take. @kjlem I've seen a number of people doing a short to medium AM ride and then another in the PM, rather than hoofing out big chunks of KMs in fewer days. But that does mean it makes it hard if you miss a ride.

Sorry that was not really what I meant, I wrote it in a weird way... I meant how do you train for this in the weeks before the actual event?
I read about different approaches;
-2 or 3 easy longish training rides every week
-1 long ride every week and plenty interval stuff
-every week multiple concecutive training rides etc

That's my point Re saying 'tapping it out.' There is no right or wrong to 'training' for this. Just ride your bike. It really is about just tapping the miles out, so the thing that will help you, is spending time in the saddle in whatever way you're able to. It's an endurance and time management event, not a race. So don't bother with intervals.

Thanks:)

I think what I was trying to infer (badly) is that if you do many smaller rides, then you shouldn't necessarily need to train (unless you're an infrequent rider), and therefore to JB's point about having enough time.

“For me it’s not a mile chasing, head banging, bar chewing, macho thing. It’s really about getting out there, enjoying being out on your bike and being with other people or visiting other people. It’s about the spirit of Christmas. OK, maybe not the first 1,000km, that was a one man against the elements kind of thing. But otherwise.” - @Chopsicle

I like to start with a big ride on day one, say 160k. That will motivate you to complete as you’ll have taken a chunk off. Then just ride every day, without needing to put a number on it you’ll probably be hitting 50-80k. You might need to ride longish on the last day to complete.

Also, you don’t need to rope all your mates into doing it, but it is nice to have someone committed to joining you on a few of the rides. Then you have another reason to get out. It’s a lovely time of year to catch up with people.

your mates

greatest hack is to have none

Straight to golf club with that sort of talk

Probably if I was to do it again, I'd spend the previous 12 months riding a lot more than I do at the moment and then do 3x 100mi+ days to pre-defined locations. Daytrippin', if you will.

Do you want to do it all outdoors? I think these days indoor is accepted too.
Obviously the only real way of doing it is all outdoors and in a place where there is some sort of winter (short days, cold... you know what I mean).
You can break it down to 40 miles a day including the 25th and it's not too daunting, but realistically there might be a couple of days when you can't ride for various reasons (ice, booze?).
My advice is keep an eye on the weather forecast and ride accordingly. If a good day is on the cards, make the most of it by doing a longer one, if it's wet or dangerous, see what you can do when it's safe to ride.
I have stop doing it when they stopped giving out the cloth roundel... I kind of liked receiving it in the post, feels a bit like a trophy at the club awards night... without that carrot, I really don't feel the urge to complete a particular set distance, so I don't even enter it anymore.

indoor is accepted too.

Not by the rest of us it's not. hisses

I agree, but ultimately this thing is run by Strava. The challenge has been significantly watered down in 2020... now that lockdowns are a thing of the past outside China, it should be reinstated as outdoors only.

Yeah I never did it for the Strava/Rapha/whatever stuff. It was always just a funny idea for a challenge that kept me riding over the xmas break.

Thanks! Yep what I like about it is the challenge to do it in the middle of winter and I don't own an indoor trainer.
This year felt like a good year to do it to have a goal to work to because I haven't been cycling much and want to get in shape again...
I understand that getting the patch makes it feel more special and its fun to collect.

In past years, my partner has raised some dosh towards Harrisons Fund while doing the Rapha 500 and they have sent out a suitable patch. I would guess that they are likely to do so again.
https://register.enthuse.com/ps/event/FESTIVE500-2021

Looking forward to this, after many years of tentatively trying to get greenlight for this, and work out how it would fit in with various location and family plans, finally giving this a crack this year or planning to.

At the moment thinking a strategy of 24th: long, 27th: medium, 28th: long, and 30th/31st: medium. Got the routes and the spreadsheet all ready to go!

Might as well try this, bit more motivation. Strategy is to do half on the first day, if the weather isn't horrendous then eek out the rest.