Author Topic: [HAMR] r***a Festive 500  (Read 6861 times)

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #25 on: 28 December, 2017, 07:05:02 pm »
Whether ice is a concern depends a lot on where you live and varies from year to year. I don’t remember even thinking about ice in 2014 or 2015. 2016 was super icy on the lanes but could totally have been done safely by sticking to gritted roads. Living inside the M25 it could totally be done without going near a potentially icy road.

In terms of why people do it... Rapha send you an actual physical badge for free. Sine when did Rapha give stuff away?

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #26 on: 28 December, 2017, 07:37:21 pm »
i really enjoyed it this year - may even do the double 500 (only 260km left). my main motivation was that i was off from cycling and training for more than a month and consequently my fitness suffered. so after 740km this week i already feel the benefits - weight down, power and hapiness up

i think it's a great incentive to kick off a new cycling season.

pics from today's fantastic ride:






Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #27 on: 28 December, 2017, 08:41:29 pm »
i think it's a great incentive to kick off a new cycling season.

pics from today's fantastic ride:

Great advert for it.  I had planned rides, but we had a lot of ice, fair amount of snow and tons of salt, coupled with working in the mornings.  I've settled on some family walks this festive period.

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #28 on: 02 January, 2018, 04:21:59 pm »
Completed it myself this year. Was staying in a hotel so no washing up and no cooking made it easier.
However on a day of pouring rain at Kings Lynn I got the train part way home only to be met by thick snow at Cambridge.
With the mileage down I took a very early start on the Sunday and chose the 'flatter' of the two routes I planned.
Also important to record all the trips no matter how short as every km counts and it saved me having to cycle round the block.
Good fun and an acceptable challenge but not sure I would repeat it. (Not until the next time!).

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #29 on: 02 January, 2018, 04:40:25 pm »
I got lucky with the weather. I knocked out a 200km DIY on Christmas Eve in fair conditions, and could then wait until a suitable good weather window appeared from Wednesday onwards. Saturday turned out well and I enjoyed riding the Around Weald Expedition again, at 215km. The rest of the distance was completed with 2 local loops in the dry on Friday afternoon and Sunday evening.

The challenge got me out cycling more than I might otherwise, so it was beneficial in that respect. If it had stayed icy or terribly dreary, I would have aborted.

Eddington: 133 miles    Max square: 43x43

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #30 on: 02 January, 2018, 06:53:47 pm »
I completed it this year, and while it was nice to be on the bike at least half of my kms were pointless mileage acquisition of one kind or another rather than useful training or "getting out there". I've promised myself I'll give it a miss next year.

(I think doing 250 km over the same period is a better goal unless you have a completely empty calendar or can dash off 150 km rides before breakfast)

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #31 on: 02 January, 2018, 07:23:22 pm »
I completed it as well. Weather wasn't too bad, on the whole - though I wasn't able to ride on Thursday (which was a decent day), and my plans to finish the final 100ish km on Friday were somewhat snowed off (I did manage an ill-advised pootle down the cycle path, before realising that perhaps rutted snow and ice wasn't the best idea and walking would actually be quicker, so I resorted to the roads for a few miles instead). Saturday's weather wasn't good, either, so I waited for a window in the rain to finish the last 50km - I didn't get out until about 4pm, so it was a dark and lonely ride but I actually quite enjoyed it.

My workplace isn't open between Christmas and New Year, so I have it relatively easy. I'm not in to cycling for the sake of cycling, though: I wouldn't bother if the weather was terrible.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #32 on: 02 January, 2018, 07:31:52 pm »
I find this slightly weird. I've never done the Festive 500; I did give a little consideration to doing it this year but there was too much non-cycling stuff going on, it was never going to work this year. Maybe next. But it had never occurred to me to do it other than as a (series of) (DIY) audax-style rides. And AFAICT that's how everyone I know has done it. Some have done it in one hit, others over a series of days, but none with rides with less than 100km and certainly they've all been "bike rides" rather than "riding to the shops". But clearly that's not the way everyone does it! And if the rules allow you to include utility and commuting kms, then why not? 
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #33 on: 02 January, 2018, 07:54:21 pm »
I completed it on Sunday morning probably whilst fighting my way out of yet another muddy puddle during an MTB Orienteering event.  A couple of club rides that I would have done anyway accounted for just over 200k.  It got me out of the door on a couple of other days that I might not have bothered on but once I was out there I enjoyed myself (as usual).  Some of the routes were roughly planned then totally changed because of dodgy roads, black clouds, chasing other riders, high winds etc in a way that I wouldn't have done if I was on a DIY.  It also allowed me to bimble around exploring new routes as I knew that I could retrace my steps without 'wasting' any mileage.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #34 on: 02 January, 2018, 08:21:48 pm »
2016 was done with a ride every day and nothing beyond 90km. The medical folk only let me get back on the bike a couple of days before and frankly I was knackered after every ride due to zero fitness.

2017 was a complete bust and I don't mind, though the total is stupidly low. Such is life, in the words of that great Aussie philosopher.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

zigzag

  • unfuckwithable
Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #35 on: 03 January, 2018, 10:43:47 am »
it was my fourth year in a row and i've cycled more than a 1000km this time, because i wanted and was able to. i'll stick to 500* in the future as i prefer riding in daylight in winter. shortest ride this time was 72km (i froze my hands so much (summer mitts + cold rain) that i couldn't press a gps button). no punctures  or other mishaps during the whole challenge.

* i averaged 500k/wk this year anyway, so that would be just another regular week.

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #36 on: 03 January, 2018, 11:22:32 am »
Some have done it in one hit, others over a series of days, but none with rides with less than 100km and certainly they've all been "bike rides" rather than "riding to the shops". But clearly that's not the way everyone does it! And if the rules allow you to include utility and commuting kms, then why not?

I only did one 100+ km ride this year. I don't have the willpower to stay out on the road that long (or get out of the house earlier) on multiple days at this time of year. Mine was all shorter "bike rides" mixed with utility and social rides and about 50 km of laps.

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #37 on: 06 January, 2018, 08:42:02 pm »
Finally did it!

Xmas Eve, up early and 110km done before lunch so minimal family grief

Xmas Day, sit back and relax.

Boxing Day, 145km, dry, sunny but bloody cold. Main issue was finding a shop open for snacks.

The next day was the biggy, a DIY Perm of 245km to my inlaws to make up the remaining km. Started badly as there'd been loads of rain, and about an hour into the ride it started again. My hands had gone numb by 40km in the freezing rain, after a warming coffee in Wymondham I encountered a flooded road blocked by a fallen tree in Cressington. Not long after I punctured but luckily my foam aerosol saved me from putting a tube in.

The Dutch Hills between Downham Market and Wisbech were tolerable as at least the rain had stopped. As I passed through Rutland it was clear this was were all the snow was and some of the ungritted back roads were sketchy. Slow on the way up as I couldn't stand without slipping and then on the way down so as not to crash!

Made it 228km to Sileby but the road to Mount Sorrel was flooded. So near to the finish I thought sod it and rode through. Nearly made it to the other side but my rear wheel picked up some submerged debris that wrapped the rear mech around the cassette the wrong way. The mech hanger was bent, the cage detached and by the front mech and the chain was behind the cassette. As the wheel was locked I had to carry the bike as I waded through knee deep water.

Sadly a DNF for the Audax but it was enough to take me over the 500km. Maybe next year my wife will relent and just allow 8 short rides.... ;D

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #38 on: 19 January, 2018, 05:05:10 pm »
First go, first completion, so quite content.
2017 was my first year of Audax and first SR (Horsepower, 3Down, Poacher & Flatliner).
I've entered this dark Audax world with big dreams, blind optimism and an unwillingness to face facts, hence I'm loving it.

Although I rode the Flatliner (600 perm) and it was a bit cheeky into the headwinds, I never really had to dig in or approached a state of suffering. So I decided to do the RF500 as a bit of a test, could I be arsed to bang out mindless mileage just because ? It wasn't easy and I found it mentally hard. I did 80% of it off road on muddy, rutted French farm tracks, out and back type stuff, embarrassingly slowly. Fortunately I was ready to go 5 mins into christmas Eve, did 113km and snuck into bed for a few hours snooze before opening presents with wife and 7 yr old. I rode every day and banged it out, no fitter but wiser. This time I had to dig in and did suffer.

I had a laugh at the Malaysian (?) chap, briefly in top place on the str*va leader board who completed in 18hrs ??? and a bigger laugh at the rude comments.

Let them eat cake

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #39 on: 03 February, 2018, 08:32:40 pm »
The badge has arrived and so made the expense of a new chain/mech/hanger/mudguards and my first DNF all worthwhile..... ::-) ;D

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #40 on: 03 February, 2018, 10:06:24 pm »
The badge has arrived
Mine too ;D  The forth over five years, as this has become more popular the presentation and has become smaller, last years came with a beer mat the year before a postcard... I also notice this is the first one that doesn't have the year on it, I hope each year remains unique.

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #41 on: 03 February, 2018, 10:32:32 pm »
The badge has arrived
Mine too ;D  The forth over five years, as this has become more popular the presentation and has become smaller, last years came with a beer mat the year before a postcard... I also notice this is the first one that doesn't have the year on it, I hope each year remains unique.

I didn't get a beer mat with mine last year! :-\

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #42 on: 03 February, 2018, 10:47:26 pm »
The badge has arrived
Mine too ;D  The forth over five years, as this has become more popular the presentation and has become smaller, last years came with a beer mat the year before a postcard... I also notice this is the first one that doesn't have the year on it, I hope each year remains unique.

I didn't get a beer mat with mine last year! :-\
My bad - it was 2015

Re: r***a Festive 500
« Reply #43 on: 04 February, 2018, 05:49:27 pm »
The badge has arrived
Mine too ;D  The forth over five years, as this has become more popular the presentation and has become smaller, last years came with a beer mat the year before a postcard... I also notice this is the first one that doesn't have the year on it, I hope each year remains unique.
I have one from a couple of years ago without a year on it.  Very similar design to this year but different colour.

Some people put an awful lot of effort into their Festive 500 and I'm not just talking about the pedalling:  https://pages.rapha.cc/feature/festive-500-awards-2017