Rapha Festive 500 2021 Plan.

2021 will be my 5th Rapha Festive 500. Each one has had its own twist. I have used them in the past to kick start getting back to fitness, start my base miles for the following season or just as a personal challenge.

This year is different as it lands towards the end of my first season of my new found passion, cyclocross. I have the British Nationals on the 8th January and 2 rounds of the Wessex League left. So, my plan is a mid race season base fitness boost without cooking myself. No hero miles like I have done in the past, like 125 miles in the dark, cold and rain last Christmas eve while the family were at home in the warm watching Christmas movies, that wasn’t a great idea.

This year it will simply be about dividing the 500km over the 8 days and making it happen. Steady as we go.

“I knew I was going to be awful to the bike”

The Bike.

My Forwards GR20 Gravel Bike, build 2.1 in winter training mode which included the following.

Sector GCA 700c Wheels with Hutchinson Overide 700 x 35c Tyres with 100ml of Stans sealant.
Fend Off mudguards.

I knew I was going to be awful to the bike. I had set it up in winter mode with our custom Fend Off mudguards, put a new pair of tyres on and given it a full service. Other than that, I will pump up the tyres to 50psi before every ride (I am 70kg), lube the chain and use WD40 to disperse any water after wet rides. No washing to be spoken of, I won’t have the time. It was going to be brutal time crunched maintenance only and the bike may well be crunching at the end.

It’s going to be a real world way to test the bikes durability mind.

Breaking down the challenge.

As I am sure you know the Rapha Festive 500 runs from Christmas Eve on the 24th December to New Years Eve on the 31st December inclusive. I have included the dates incase you didn’t know them! Sarcasm aside, that’s 8 days total to cover 500km or 62.5km per day or 39 miles per day with a little rounding up. The key is to not let any missed miles run away from you. Catch them quickly or you’ll have a chunk at the end of the event to find when you maybe tired.

What I did.

24/12/2021 Morning Ride 2:03:33 37.19 mi
25/12/2021 Morning Ride 2:27:57 35.23 mi
26/12/2021 Morning Ride 2:48:23 47.85 mi
27/12/2021 Morning Ride 2:32:52 43.03 mi
28/12/2021 Zwift - Watopia 6:26 2.11 mi
28/12/2021 Zwift - Watopia 7:33 2.46 mi
28/12/2021 Zwift - Watopia 2:00:39 45.41 mi
29/12/2021 Lunch Ride 2:54:44 51.43 mi
30/12/2021 Morning Ride 1:23:58 23.88 mi
31/12/2021 Lunch Ride 2:11:22 38.68 mi

My plan was to make sensible and steady progress through the challenge. I had some technical hick ups on the 28th with my Kickr bike meaning I had 3 entries. The weather here in the UK was very wet and windy but at least here in the south it wasn’t too cold for the most of it so I didn’t crash like I did last year on black ice.

How did the bike hold up?

The bike was awesome but you’d have guessed that right? I only had the following issues.

2 punctures - 1 was a large one from a flint and 1 was just a small hole. Both needed me to stop to repair them. the bike was set up tubeless.
1 lost bottle - Well, not really lost, it was more squashed by a car when it jumped out of the cage when I hit a pot hole.
1 chain - Post event it was measured at 95% worn so off to the metal recycling bin with it. It had done plenty of miles before the event anyway.

Maintenance during the event was limited to WD40 after the rides to disperse the water and chain oil to lube the chain. I fixed 1 puncture at home with a really cool hack that I will share soon and pumped up the tyres before each ride. That was it which you’ll be able to tell from the images below.

Rapha 500 Summary.

The Rapha 500 is a great event and is a real challenge because of when it lands but, if you can spare 2-2.5 hrs a day over the period it’s really quite easy to fit it in. I’ve previously set goals like 500 miles rather than 500km. 700km and 800km but, in hindsight, these really ruined it for me. You just spend hours out on the bike, mainly on your own, in poor weather over a time that maybe you should be chilling, even if it’s just a bit.

For me, this year, I nailed it. Solid base miles over the Christmas period without being stupid.

Oh yeah, and I got to watch Christmas movies with the family as well.