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Nice stories to read here. My status:
150k done on mountain bike
150k done on road bike
100k done on turbo today, just to recharge cos was really feeling tired.
Got 100k to do tomorrow.
Good luck all, and super respect to those who haven't reached for the turbo, wherever you are.
For balance, I've been out every day on the bike since the 24th.
I've only done about 75km though, all on the MTB.
Looking forward to being able to get back to Mallorca next year!
All done, finished it all off on the SS at Sherwood. Really pleased to have finished!
Finished today with 75km on the hardtail round the Cotswold lanes. Lots of ice, slush and mud so glad I didnt take the winterbike (it still needs lots of TLC from the preceding 430km).
Well done to all who attempted, inside or out. No idea how anyone uses a turbo for enough time to do this kind of distance- I would rather get cold toes and windburn!
i am gonna fail with only 30 miles left to do
bike broke today while out on a ride, managed 62 mile, but had to spend the last 10 mile smashing the left crank back on with a brick. lost the crankbolt on my square taper bb.
and i dont have a spare bike.
bit fed up after my efforts.
anyone got a xl bike i can borrow ??
@MrSparkle your sparkle appears to be missing in the last picture. Today was character forming?
120km done today, leaves 73km for tomorrow. Legs are feeling it but I'm better off than a mate who did one more loop this afternoon round his estate to tick over the 500km and was knocked off! Only badly bruised but his bike is a write-off. He was planning to go out tomorrow anyway so didn't need to do the extra 3km, such bad luck.
62km left to do tomorrow 🤞
Finished it with a day to spare with the rather nicely judged 501km! (all outdoors)
106km needed and it turned out at 106.8 on the Garmin but I guess the rounding of previous rides has added up too. Had a bit of a near miss towards the end - indicating to turn left off the road onto the canal towpath and because it was a very tight narrow junction to drop onto it and also quite icy, I swung wide (still indicating left), turned in...and the car that had been behind me was trying to pass on my left. She slammed on and I asked which part of the indicating left she'd failed to understand. Close call. Ironically, I was trying to get onto the towpath to get away from the shit standards of driving, it hadn't been my intended final route in.
I’ve decided, external circumstances permitting that I’m doing this in sunshine next year.
The west coast of Scotland is just not cricket for this kind of endeavour.
@Merak - I did that in '17 and '18, went to Gran Canaria. A few of us had had enough of the shit weather, the expectations to be running around between family and dealing with the abysmal driving that seems more prevalent over Christmas. Was lovely, riding in shorts and short sleeves every day. Bloody hilly out there, it was normal to have 3500+m of climbing in a 100km ride but dry roads, warm weather and lots of decent little cafes everywhere somehow made up for all of that! Various friends and acquaintances have done Majorca, Lanzarote and Malaga for the duration as well.
Finished off before dinner, despite the setback of losing ~25% of my outdoor distance towards the tally today, when my commute home didn't save!
Ton...56cm cannondale synapse any good for you? Bolton based.
Last 28km to do tonight. Will square that off in the next hour.
Anyone else with 100k or more left?
I feel like I left my homework until the night before listening to you guys 🙂
I have 61km to do tomorrow. Today was the first day it felt like hard work. Dodging the ice on the roads this morning then again on the mountain bike this afternoon.
Mole
Free Member
Ton…56cm cannondale synapse any good for you? Bolton based.
Mole, thanks very much for the offer, but i have resigned myself to the fact i will drink beer all day tomorrow instead.
cheers man
Sandwich - the face was frozen but the sparkle still remains! 😉
Mole - top man for your offer to Ton. 👏
I'm done too. 60km today in the Gloucestershire slush took me to 514km with a day to spare. I've been solo so far but a mate fancies a ride tomorrow so I'll add a few extra km's on top. Well done to everyone who has completed and keep going to those nearly there.
No worries Ton..you got closer than me and I shall raise a glass tonight & tomorrow with you!
Conundrum for me now is if I bag another 58k tomorrow that would bring my annual mileage up to 16,100k/10,000 miles.
And the correct answer is: 'but of course, chop chop...' 😉
I've 97km to knock off (ooops, poor choice of words) tomorrow to complete the 510km - all outside. Coincidently, I also finished my arbitrary and quite contrived 12x12 (12 half marathons x 12 imperial centuries) on Tuesday. Happy with that as I started riding and running again during the last week of April 2020 after my c5/c6/c7 were rearranged Volvo vs bike stylee last year...
Happy New Year everyone 😉
Sorry to hear that Ton mate 🙁 440km more than most though.
Picked a cracking day for my 200 today - freezing but bloody gorgeous. Sticking to gritted routes for my first 100km loop worked brilliantly. Should have done the second loop in the same way - thought it would have melted by then but don't think it got above freezing in some places, and there was plenty of ice on the lanes. Kept things interesting though, and I survived unscathed.
Just 23km to do now but won't count my chickens.
All done now, 501km all outside. Feel quite pleased with myself, the weather certainly has been against us. Just got to do 46km tomorrow to take my distance for the year to 10,000km.
Well done everyone for at least attempting it, even if it didn't work out for some.
Freezing cold in the New Forest this morning but tapped out the last 40km I needed. Ended on 510km / 5200m ascent.
I’ve just kept chipping away at it. My longest ride was 101km (x2) but I got out every day for a couple of hours at least. Most days I was back before the kids were up so it’s not really interfered much with family time. No way would I have had the motivation to go out in the dark / sleet / cold otherwise so it’s been good to have a target.
Did the full 506km on the turbo as working and have 6 month old baby. Got up at 3:30am yesterday morning and did 97km in 3:10 then went to work. Came home and got straight back on the turbo for 109km also in 3:10. Some tightness in left hip but glad I finished yesterday so can relax with a couple of glasses of wine tonight. Well done to everyone trying and completing it. Outside looked really Baltic!
Managed to box it off yesterday. Bloody good job, woke up to a dusting of snow that has now melted then froze so no chance of riding today. Done the challenge a few times now and this was definitely the coldest. All three rides this year I’ve set off in sub zero temps and the mercury never really raised much.
First ride
104 miles 167km 19.8mph coldest -1 av. 1
Second ride
123mile 197km 18.8mph coldest 0 av. 1.5
Third ride
105mile 170km 19.4mph coldest -4 av. -2
I finished my 500 this afternoon. Split the ride today. All outside and enjoyed some fantastic rides and some sketchy icy roads like today.
Well done to everyone who has finished.
Time for a beer or 5.
Finished mine today with a 40km loop - tempted by Zwift, but actually managed to get it all done outside. Last few days have been tough with temperatures hovering around zero, so route choice has been a bit hit and miss, but a nice mixture of road and gravel rides kept it interesting and only one minor fall on ice. Third year in a row for me and this year has definitely been the hardest...
Well done to everyone who finished or even attempted it indoors or out!
Got it done today, using marginal gains of a Thermos with tea and honey, and freezer bags over the socks.
Well done to all the folks on here who had a go at it. See you next year?
Just about to do my final 73km after feeling a bit stiff in the old legs this morning, was struggling to walk around at points! All on Zwift so don't need to worry about icy roads or darkness but it's still been a big challenge for me. Should take me 3 hours or so then it's time to order a pizza!
I saw a couple of guys out in the snow today. I can only assume they were chasing this. Fair play to you all. I wish I could find the time to try it.
A final 35km on the mtb and done. Some of the lanes really weren’t looking good! A lot of ice, yet off road still a lot of mud!
Last 97km finished today - all outside on the road. -1°C to start and then it rocketed to +1°C during the day... Bright sunshine and a very heavy frost. I came across some ice on an off camber steep hill. MTB technique of sitting in a low gear and spinning avoided any unpleasantness...
Enjoyed it. First time for me as not really into these contrived 'look at me' challenges but probly do it again next year. 👍
Great work all!
Agree with comment that it's contrived but it does put you on a bike at a time when you'd usually be on the sofa 🙂
That's me done too. A final 35km on the mountain bike round the local tracks, picking up some mudguards, finding a beer from our club #beerienteering thread, hiding another, and bumping into a stranger on a nice CX and having a good chat about bikepacking and endurance racing. Frost and ice everywhere, though still some mud in places, but a nice day to be out for a gentle spin.
All outside, but, while I've known to poke gentle fun at the Zwifters, respect for doing it that way - don't think I could, mentally. Particular kudos to @speedstar - I'm lucky(/have made choices) that mean I don't have kids to look after or work at this time of year and I can spend time preparing for rides, riding, and recovering. That's way more hardcore than going out for a long ride in the freezing cold.
This was my first Festive 500, so what have I learnt?
I guess I already knew this, but, as @tombon illustrated too, having a contrived goal like this gets you out when you wouldn't otherwise. Sometimes it feels like a waste of effort, but crucially, sometimes you unexpectedly win. My Christmas Eve ride was a case in point. No way I'd have ridden into a sleet-laden headwind for an hour, but contrary to the forecast, it turned into a glorious day, if only for a bit.
It turns out, despite living in suburbia, I can do a reasonably quiet 20 mile road ride from the door.
As per @ugarizza, the weight penalty of a hot flask is well worth it, even if it's just for emergencies.
Council gritting route maps are a useful resource!
A final well done to everyone who finished or attempted, have a beer tonight and I'll raise one here for us.
Well unfortunately due to real life getting in the way mine was a festive 300! Still it was all outside and 100 was offroad on the fatbike.
Like others said, double well done to those that completed it and every km ridden was probably better than watching strictly or whatever rubbish was on tv this year (except Bob and Whitehouse going fishing obvs)
Happy New Year and god lets hope its a better one.....
Just about thawed out from getting over the line earlier. Max temp of -1° on the Garmin but mainly stuck to roads that had been gritted.
Well done to everyone who saw it through
Cheers
Massive well done to everyone who finished and rode outdoors. Brutal year for it.
Had a nice ride in fresh snow this morning and the maxxis colossus 4.8's I've been lugging around were awesome! Tally ride wise= 225km off road 57km road..well short but like others have said better than sitting on the couch. Carrying on tomorrow.
chapeau to the outdoor hardcore, I found it hard enough on the turbo.
All done now with a 64km ride today.
502km in total.
Well that's me over the line, 501km in just under 17 hours total. The last 20km really hurt and I struggled. Those of you who have done even part of it outdoors, let alone all of it, I doff my cap to you.
Now time to order a pizza.
I did a 45km ride 2 days ago taking me to about 470km all outside. I thought I'd finish it off that evening after work and did "Qatch quest" on Zwift to take me over the line. First time I've climbed Alpe du Zwift, and it was probably a bad idea in hindsight. Did 70 minutes up it, not bad for my first attempt, off the back of 500km in 6 days.
All respect to @speedster above with a 6 month old getting up at 3am to do his turbo sessions.
It was a good decision to allow turbos this year. I was getting really run down at one point, and by doing long sessions at a very low intensity in the warm, it helped me finish. I think if I'd gone outside and tried to do more, I'd have got ill.
So good call to allow turbos by the organisers.