Beachgrad05

Last year I did the challenge and got my patch. Heck. The fact there was a TANGIBLE reward made me gut it out when it was cold and even rainy. I have some of my cold weather gear as a result of doing this last year as it was cold and wet in So Cal that week.

Throwing in a ride up GMR to the Village during this week as well on 12/29 if anyone wants to join us (doing with team Unlikely Cyclist)....of course weather permitting.

JReade

I'm going to give it a shot, I'm not going anywhere for the holidays so I SHOULD be able to ride a lot that week. I'll probably bike commute the whole time, and extend my rides home by a few miles to make those numbers up.

jsigone

I might have to be a mileage junkie that week I have some cold gear already but ordered some more earlier this week. Defeet wool gloves and shoe covers + a more breathable outer shell w/ crap load of vents made from The North Face

IBOHUNT

San Diego and 'cold gear' CANNOT be used in the same sentence.
*ONLY* going to get to 59 today. Break out the Everest Gear...

jsigone

Haha I know right!!! Last night's ride was low 40s burr...and san diego is epecting snow tomorrow in our mts at 3300 ft. Should make for nice views on sundays ride as I break in the new stead.

IBOHUNT

New steed?
Didn't happen without the obligatory pictures following rule #26

https://www.velominati.com/the-rules/[h=3][/h]

jsigone

haha can't conform to that rule yet, I pick it up tonight. It was was shipped from your neck of the woods. Went from PA to Maryland then made it's way before the ice storm hit middle US. I honestly thought it was going to get held up.

Chitown_Mike

I saw that and was told by my doctor that if I have the majority of my movement back in my finger I can ride, so we will see. I really want to do the challenge but don't know if I have enough cold gear to stay out long enough. But I can always improvise and just be bulky when riding.

But 311 miles in 8 days after not riding for 7 weeks at that point may not be smart.....but I don't always claim to be anyway!

kgoings

I think I might do this! I am on vacation during this time and I am not going anywhere so I should be able to find the time!

volosong

Thanks for the tip. With so many days off work that week, it is something that might be possible. At first, I thought "No way, I can't ride 500 miles in December with it being so cold." Then, I saw it is only 500 kilometers. "Okay, that might be doable. That's only 310.7 miles." Then I saw that it is only one week, but thankfully, Christmas week...with a lot of time off work. So, I joined. With five days off, (Dec 25-29), it's looking better and better. Six half-centuries, with a short "recovery ride", will put the mileage over the top. (Or five metric centuries.)

Do we have seven or eight days to complete the task?

Beachgrad05

You have 8 days to complete the challenge.

Here is the thread with my ride reports from last years challenge:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ha-Festive-500

bconneraz

I told myself yesterday that once I completed the Fall 40, I was done for the year. My first Rapha challenge was Rapha Rising this year; made two trips to GMR to finish that one. Loved the patch. Would love this one too, but I'll be traveling over the Holidays, so I'll enjoy hearing about your rides!

CommuteCommando

First week in Dec. and I totaled less than 10 miles. Tough time of year for me to build miles, but I'll give it a go.

bigfred 

I'm in. Wife is covering at work on the non-statutory days, so, I should have a pretty good chance.

bbeasley

Is this the Rapha Festive 500 ?

bs63366

I was thinking about doing this but then i realized that I would need to do three back to back centuries and a little more to get those miles as I will be on vacation so I don't think that I will be able to this year but hopefully next year I will be able to do my first one.

Beachgrad05

Yes - forgot to put the Rapha part on title

TrojanHorse

I signed up. Hopefully I'll do better this year - I went out in the rain last year (had a ball too!) but I got sick as a dog.

Send me a note if you do GMR - I need some motivation this year. I'm terribly slow right now if it's any comfort. It's a side effect of slacking.

SethAZ 

I'm doing the Festive 500 again this year. I was reminded by my riding buddy of a conversation he and I had last year when we were deciding whether or not to attempt the Festive 500. I was very intimidated by the mileage requirements, and wasn't at all certain my body could recover enough between days to actually get this thing done. We signed up anyhow, and killed it. I was finished in like 4 or 5 days, on a mountain bike. All that exposure did get me sick, though, so I stopped racking up additional miles with a day or two left.

This year I'm a much stronger rider, weigh ten lbs or so less, and I now have a road bike, so this isn't as intimidating to me as it was last year. Still, if you take the entire 8 days to finish, you gotta ride like 37 miles a day. So the trick is to ride two or three times that per day at first and buy yourself some headroom in the challenge in case something happens, family plans get in the way, you get sick, etc.

IBOHUNT

Stop the slackin' Son!
I did not sign up. Doubt I'd have decent days to go out and try to complete it. Spent a few hours yesterday shovelin the 7" of sunshine that fell on us. Does make it easy to see where the woodland critters are travelin though

TrojanHorse

Family always gets in the way, it's Christmas! (It may be worse for those of us with small kids) I got tons of stink eye last year.

bigfred 

Easy solution: Last year Mrs. Fred and I committed to a cycling tour with another couple over the holidays and used that to go visit her parents, who provide sag support and baggage transfer between accommodations. Lots of cycling and just enough family, combined with a couple of friends that we were really happy to spend some time with. =Win!

TrojanHorse

That would be splendid!

How did your ten year old and 13 year old do on the tour?

Wife's been talking up one of those cycling vacations for a while and I can't wait to pull the trigger on that.

bbeasley

Okay, I'm in. Got me a new cycling jacket the other day, might as well use it.

Beachgrad05

I just picked up some LG Element thermal tights from The Unlikely Cyclist in Costa Mesa so I'm READY