- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Festive 500_Credit Rapha_Colton JacobRapha Festive 500 returns for 12th year – are you up for the challenge?
It’s December, and besides the usual seasonal shenanigans, for thousands of cyclists around the world – including many road.cc readers – that means one thing, the Rapha Festive 500 is coming.
Now in its 12th year, the challenge is simply to ride 500 kilometres (311 miles in old money) over eight days from 24-31 December, although you can do it in less time if you want – Matt Page, for example, knocked it off in just 19 hours on Christmas Eve last year.
> Matt Page smashes the Rapha Festive 500... in one day, on Christmas Eve
More than 65,000 cyclists globally completed the challenge, which is hosted on Strava, during 2020 – and for those who finish, you’ll get the prized Festive 500 finisher’s roundel for your trophy cabinet.
You can sign up for the challenge here, and as ever entrants are encouraged to share their adventures on Instagram using the hashtag #RaphaFestive500.
There are also prizes for the most inventive submissions from the likes of Wahoo, POC and Whoop, and all finishers are eligible to enter a draw to win a Cannondale bike, provided they complete the appropriate form and their entries are in by 9 January.
As with last year, if the elements, or the situation with the pandemic, means you can’t venture outside, you can also take part virtually via Zwift.
And as in previous editions, Rapha has also launched its Festive 500 collection of clothing and accessories, with this year’s theme being calendar chaos – full details of the range can be found here.
Finally, whether you’re a first-time participant or a returning rider, be sure to check out our tips on how to best prepare for the challenge and ensure you complete it.
> 15 tips to complete the Rapha Festive 500 and knock off the kilometres with ease
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- mdavidford 24 min 45 sec ago
Anyone ever seen them in the same place at the same time?
- bikeman01 40 min 4 sec ago
Dont know why you didnt just send in a muted video if it was only your language that was incriminating. Did the or anyone else even hear you...
- Boopop 43 min 23 sec ago
Bravo! I'd love to know what modifications were made to it. I would hope going up huge hills means he had lower gear than standard.
- mdavidford 51 min 24 sec ago
We might equally pertinently ask: does this stuff come with less rubbish/trash/litter/landfill/etc. than an equivalent product that comes in...
- brooksby 1 hour 5 min ago
I think that they are 'access' or 'deliveries only'. Seems weird that these people appear to think that cyclists are a death-causing menace...
- Paul J 1 hour 28 min ago
Where do you get those numbers? I have their Power Shield Pro and Power Shield RPM pages open here now and I read this, C&Ping from the pages...
- Beatnik69 2 hours 15 min ago
I have a funny feeling that Translink don't allow bikes on trains before 9am, which is ridiculous. They ned to bring back the guard van that used...
- Daveyraveygravey 2 hours 24 min ago
+1 for my Proviz jacket. It's a proper one although I think I got it half price for £50....
- eburtthebike 2 hours 48 min ago
Much better than what I was trying to concoct.
- chrisonabike 3 hours 5 min ago
Was it you that stole my bike?...
Add new comment
12 comments
Other virtual cycling platforms are available.
I think about it each year... then look at the weather and the lack of light, and all the Films and TV shows I have to watch, and the booze and people who tolerate my presence, oh and work, and the fact that I would never ride this far in the height of summer, and I get nothing but the right to buy some more kit that I can't afford anyway, and think nah maybe one year...
I treat it like my own version of that famous Olympics phrase, it's the taking part that counts,not the completing.
SAD, that is a lot of people who dislike their immediate families
Or don't have a lot of immediate family.
Even if they do, I'd suggest it's not healthy to spend every minute of every day with the same people. Nipping out for an hour on the bike or for a run often benefits both the person exercising and those staying at home. I'll certainly be trying to get out over Christmas (running rather than cycling) - get up and out early and you're back before everyone else wakes up anyway!
Or people who have a healthy relationship with their families where everyone acknowledges that people need their own space for their interests. Or people who ride with their families, I know plenty of husbands and wives who cycle together (as Mrs H and self do) and/or with their children, grandchildren and even, in the case of one 85-year-old of my acquaintance, great granchildren. Or people who don't have much family living or at least living nearby. Or people who last year couldn't get to see their families because of Covid (we didn't do the Rapha but did spend Christmas Day riding 200 miles on Zwift for charity for that very reason).
No shame in admitting that 500km in 8 days is too much for you. No need to be a keyboard warrier to those that can 'A' fit this in around family life and 'B' can do the distance ✌🏻
Exactly. Apparently the average Briton will watch two hours per day of TV over the holidays, plus ninety minutes a day of streaming video and another two hours or so on the internet, social media and video games. Even a sedate 25km/h pace only requires 2.5 hours a day to make the 500 in 8 days, so if you eschew the TV and movies, which is only family time in the sense of all sitting in the same room looking at a screen, in favour of the road or the pain cave you won't actually lose any meaningful time with the family anyway.
fwiw I dont think 25km/h over a 3hour ride is particularly sedate pace, or is repeating it 8 days in a row.
Id never criticise anyone for focusing their time to do it at Christmas, I admire anyone who manages to knock it off relatively easily, but Id also not downplay it is a significant amount of mileage, and is not as simple as just devoting a few hours a day to it
I did it last Christmas cos there was basically nothing else to do, full lockdown being in effect. Enjoyed it, in a way, but not planning to repeat this year as there are family plans. Unless we go back into full lockdown and there's nothing else to do...
Did it last year. That itch is now scratched and my family wouldn't thank me for giving it another crack!