Rapha Festive 500 (2018)

I hear you. Last year in sunny Brighton a bunch of clubmates and I went for it and one day we happened upon a stretch of black ice at the bottom of a hill caused by a drain overflowing from a leaky pipe (it was otherwise bone-dry, which lulled us into a false sense of security). One of us snapped a collarbone and broke a tooth. Another of us hit her head and got a concussion - didn’t know where she was or why she was there. I got off lightly with torn bibs, a massive bruise on my hip and a sore neck. We all gave up after that :frowning_face:

Can’t even attempt it this year due to work, but I might prefer to train inside anyway after that :slight_smile:

1 Like

Sounds pretty horrific. Thankfully the patch I rode through was on the flat and I skidded into some grass.

Injured my pride, scuffed my saddle and ripped my winter jacket. Thankfully Rapha do free repairs for crash damage!

Here in the UK look like weather will be ok. By that I mean 20% chance of rain and very mild.

Still a good chance to get some aerobic miles in, will be a welcome break from the turbo. I’m hoping the majority of people will be too hungover in the morning aka empty road. Fingers crossed!

3 Likes

I’ve done my full share of stupid stuff. Festive 500 has never appealed. I’ve done a 300km ride in February, in East Anglia (Eastern England for those who don’t know). Twice, in fact. The first one, was riding a 200k Audax event with an 8am start, and then ride 100km home to Cambridge - I recall stopping outside some farm and asking directions - in the dark at probably 10pm.

“Where are you going?”

“Cambridge”

“Where have you come from?”

“Norwich”

“You’re mad” etc

Think I got home about 1am. I recall it being very spooky in Thetford Forest at 11pm. And I wasn’t alone - there were Travellers around.

I did one straight from home about 2 weeks later, and it was properly cold, -8C by the time I finished, so that when I turned a little towards the wind, my eyelids stopped opening and shutting properly and my water bottles had frozen to slush. Fortunately it was very dry so there was no ice.

No thank you.

Here in Bristol there is an organised 500km event to get it done in one go.

http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/18-507/

I have the excuse that rowing training for the winter season starts that day.

3 Likes

I’ve just had a look and my part of Scotland is due to be 6-10°C and dry next week. If it was like that last year I could have completed.

Don’t worry folks, climate change will only make completing this in future years easier and easier!

2 Likes

When we all ride aquabikes?

1 Like

Finished today, had a lot of fun and a few challenges with the heat along the way. Congrats to the ~72 in the TrainerRoad Strava club who’ve finished so far, and those just finishing off.

I don’t have an on-bike powermeter, but by TRs estimate it was 821 TSS in the week, a bit of hike compared to my regular low volume plans.

2 Likes

Just finished today with a few hours to spare. Was all about planning. Get the right ride in and if you can do it with others it’ll make it that bit more bearable.

Glad I did it, will certainly help jumpstart 2019 in a more postive way. Nice way to start the new year with a couple of recovery days!!

1 Like

I managed it but the increase in training has made me unwell so I hope my fitness doesnt drop too far while I recover.

Being someone that only really rides 3-5 hours a week I’ve really enjoyed being able to get out there more often and hope it’ll allow me to take on more tss in the future

1 Like

Nice graphic

There should be a festive 5000 tss or something challenge for the indooers tribe who doesn’t want to to out (even when living in a sunny place during Christmas)

To be honest…I shoulda done it this year, the weather here was dry & warmish for a change. Woulda been an easy roundel. Oh, well.

Finished it off on Sunday with just over 500Km, which was good, as I was totally cooked. We had pretty amazing weather in the Bay Area, cold (at least for us) but it only rained the first day.

1 Like

That’s a really awesome graphic. Congrats.

1 Like

4 posts were split to a new topic: Rapha Festive 500 (2019)