How to ride the Festive 500 in winter

Here’s how to smash Rapha’s Christmas challenge in the lead-up to the new year

Lance Branquinho

Dec 23 2023

December is not a month given to peak training. As winter settles in and social obligations peak between Christmas and New Year’s, most riders resign themselves to the reality of opportunistic fun rides. But the traditional December training dip doesn’t have to be inevitable. In 2010, Rapha created the Festive 500, a challenge to animate training at the time of year when most riders fade from their in-the-saddle commitments.

The Festive 500 is a splendidly simple but challenging idea: ride 500km, between the 24th and 31 December. That’s 310.6 imperial miles, which means a rounded-up of 39 miles a day, but with the unique challenges of Festive Season riding, you’ll need to roll some much bigger days to compensate for those family events and time with friends.

We’ve got some tips to assist you in completing a successful Festive 500 campaign, without straining relations with friends or family.

Get ahead of the mileage

It’s a near certainty that very few riders get to log their ideal breakdown of Festive 500 mileage. A lot of life happens between Christmas and New Year’s, and trying to ride a massive day on the 31st is never ideal.

Get a big day in early, preferably on the 24th. That will allow you some contingency for the rest of your Festive 500 campaign. During the peak Festive Season, traffic conditions are markedly different from most riding days in a given year. And you can benefit from rolling onto a favourite or new route, with much vehicular traffic.

Christmas Day is possibly the best Festive 500 riding opportunity because most drivers will be home with family and friends. That means open roads with remarkably low traffic density. If you will try to tally that big day to get ahead of your Festive 500 requirements, 25 December is probably it.

You can’t control the weather

Unless you are vacationing in a tropical destination, Festive 500 means frigid winter riding. Rain, snow, frost and mud will test your riding commitment. You can’t control the weather, but you can plan around it. If a vicious headwind is predicted for one of your planned routes, be resourceful and try to reroute it.

Maximise your dry riding days. If you will do a 100-miler day during your Festive 500 campaign, choose the warmest, driest day to execute that. Short winter days around December make riding very early or late a fallacy because of freezing conditions and visibility risk. Midday rides give you the best possible temperature gradients if there is any sun.

If the weather becomes nearly unrideable, with snowfall, blustery winds or driving rain, you can ride virtually on Zwift. Not all riders will have their indoor trainer on vacation, but logging those Zwift miles is allowed for the Festive 500 challenge. Riders with young children or severe social commitments during the Festive Season find the indoor trainer a notable enabler.

You can control your attire and timing

Weather happens, and the only thing you can do during a Festive 500 is respond to it. With the quality of winter riding apparel available, there’s no reason to miss one of your Festive 500 riding days.

Don’t dress for Instagram fashion status, but prioritize layering and carrying capacity. You want to be insulated against wind chill, remain dry if it starts raining, and have a jacket with adequate pocket capacity for carrying arm, leg-warmers and rain gear.

Be more vigilant than usual about carrying spares and tools, too. You don’t want to be phoning friends or family to recover you after sunset, because you’ve punctured to ruin or snapped a chain on one of your Festive 500 days.

Don’t forget about the bike

Recommendations for a successful Festive 500 are mostly about gear, weather and intelligent scheduling for those family commitments. But tallying big mileages during the last week of a year, when most bike shops are closed, means you can’t assume that emergency spares and repairs will be available if something goes awry, mechanically.

Regardless of the terrain you will be riding, Festive 500 winter conditions aren’t kind to your drivetrain, bottom bracket, or hubs. Road grime, salt, mud, and rain are all environmental issues that can escalate chain wear and trigger corrosion for hub and bottom bracket bearings.

There is no excuse for lazy bike hygiene during your Festive 500 attempt. Most riders are on vacation this time of year, which means the 10 or 15 minutes required to clean a bike, lube a chain, and wipe it all down, is not a sacrifice regarding schedule or time management.

Be smart about your electronics

Festive 500 riding implies lots of hours in the saddle and if you are riding with electronic assistance, battery endurance should be a consideration.

You don’t want wireless shifting to fail halfway through a 100-miler ride. Colder conditions can decrease battery endurance, so if you are using AXS wireless shifting, it’s worth being meticulous with recharging and monitoring those battery levels.

For some riders, their Festive 500 campaign might start in one location around Christmas and then transfer to another towards New Year’s. New routes create opportunities and risks if you are moving venue during a Festive 500 challenge. Getting lost might add to your mileage, which is an unintentional win, but you might trespass if you are riding a combination road/gravel route.

Having an avoidable land use trespassing issue is never an ideal way to end your riding year. That’s why detailed route guidance with a head unit and one of the associated ride-planning apps, is crucial.

Harness the power of Komoot and Strava’s added value features to discover amazing new routes for your Festive 500 rides and prevent accidental trespassing, especially if you are routing off-road for some of your miles on the gravel or mountain bike.

Being social and riding with success

The Festive 500 is a balance between committed riding and social expectations. It should not become an excuse to avoid friends and family.

Suppose you approach the Festive 500 as pure Festive Season escapism. In that case, it might shape enmity towards your riding, which could linger deep into 2024 and create unwanted tension when a multi-day bike adventure in the Alps, or a week’s gravel riding in Southern Europe, is suggested.

Perhaps the most valuable achievement of a Festive 500, is riding a significant block of base mileage while being present with social expectations.

But what about those big eating and drinking days around Christmas and before New Year’s? Calorie burn rates will be significant during any Festive 500 challenge, so you shouldn’t feel too guilty about consuming several desserts and treats. The risk is alcohol.

If you are going to consume, avoid potent spirits and choose low alcohol percentage wine or beer. The market for non-alcoholic beverages has grown enormously and will allow you to be socially engaged with friends and family, without risking your big riding day, the following morning.

Author block

Lance Branquinho

Lance Branquinho is a Namibian-born media professional who graduated to mountain biking after injuries curtailed his fascination with trail running. He has a weakness for British steel hardtails, especially those which only run a single gear. Lance is an award-winning writer who has contributed to myriad piblications all over the world including Cyclingnews, Bike Perfect, MBR, Topgear, TopCar and Car magazine.