Festive 500 !

[AngryScientist]

Did anyone else attempt the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge this year??

Say whatever you want about the company, and branding or whatever, but they offered a challenge, and it got me out on the bike over the holiday week, without a doubt more than I would have otherwise. I rode with some great people, and got to really get some fresh air over an otherwise over-indulgent week. to make matters sweeter, i'm now below 135#, which is a rarity for me in the winter months.

My new-to-me Serotta Legend performed admirably over the week. through rain and shine, and some slushy stuff, never a worry about a solid Ti frame. Also dipped my toe into the Strava world, and I really like the application for logging and sharing GPS data with other friends and cyclists. good times had by all. A full day-by-day account is on my blog if anyone cares.

good times!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ut29Gx3BdKY/Tv-9Jj0d4TI/AAAAAAAAAVY/kJwQxrrPbXM/s640/12-31a.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yzgA_A7hyIs/TvUNRqUH-eI/AAAAAAAAAR8/hTBjF5r9ljs/s400/day+1.JPG

[benitosan1972]

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/400912_10150459536163795_508408794_8569739_1166655 567_n.jpg

for a second there, i considered trying to do 1000 km's, but then i got tired, haha :crap:

[AngryScientist]

Nice work bennett! Your location offers a slight advantage, but strong work either way!

[benitosan1972]

Thanks! I noticed that alot of the top-20 finishers were in Australia, where it's really warm & Summer now, talk about having an advantage! :crap:

[BumbleBeeDave]

Great job! :banana:

BBD

[azrider]

Nice work fellas.

Angry- what is the frequency of these challenges? I am new to Strava and found out about the challenege on the day before it was ending so i didn't make an attempt.

Aside from that I'm digging the metrics offered through Strava. Big fan.

[AngryScientist]

Nice work fellas.

Angry- what is the frequency of these challenges? I am new to Strava and found out about the challenege on the day before it was ending so i didn't make an attempt.

Aside from that I'm digging the metrics offered through Strava. Big fan.

I'm pretty new to Strava myself. This challenge, in particular was sponsored by Rapha, who just used Strava as a tool for people to track their progress. there is a section of Strava for challenges though, so I assume there are others that come up periodically as other groups offer them. I believe you can join groups, like the Serotta forums group, and create your own challenge. I really dont know enough about how that works though, I think there is a lot you can do with Strava that i'm not taking advantage of yet too.

[tiretrax]

I got in 377 miles. I probably would only have ridden 1/2 that. Thank you, once again, Rapha, and thanks for great products.

[benitosan1972]

Strava throws out challenges every month or so. As if competing with locals on their favorite roads/segments for KOM/QOM isn't enough on a daily basis, there are: mileage challenges (like the Rapha-500), climbing challenges (like the KOM), team challenges (collective mileage and/or climbing totals), and speed challenges. I was addicted to competing in the nationwide/worldwide/areawide challenges until I realized I'm not a racer, it started to stress me out & take away the fun of my daily rides, and that alot of pro's & semi-pro's sandbag on Strava, making it really hard to compete against them! Oh well, it's still fun to see what you can personally do, Strava is good motivation to track your own progress over time, but these challenges are tantamount to racing the TDF/TOC/stage racing against pro's like Tim Johnson, Ben King, and the Jacques-Maynes brothers. It can either provide motivation or really damage your ego, haha!

[tiretrax]

Does anyone use strava on their cell phone? I got a Galaxy S II recently, and I am trying to decide which cycling platform to use - Strava, Endomondo, Garmin, Runmapper, etc. On New Year's Day, a guy who rode with me had and iPhone, and his sister was tracking him onlline in real time. Pretty cool.

[maxn]

I really enjoy Strava too, and it has definitely given me more motivation than usual this year... but is it really that hard on your ego knowing that you aren't as fast as a PRO?! I think it's great seeing what the pros can do.

[AngryScientist]

... but is it really that hard on your ego ...

tell me about it. it nearly killed me to finish the Festive 500, and most of the top finishers were over 1000km!

i blame it on people who live in better climates than i do, and i'm sticking to it! :D

[maxn]

his sister was tracking him onlline in real time. Pretty cool.
Do you know which app he was using?

[benitosan1972]

I really enjoy Strava too, and it has definitely given me more motivation than usual this year... but is it really that hard on your ego knowing that you aren't as fast as a PRO?! I think it's great seeing what the pros can do.


Yes. It killed me knowing that my best time up Sierra Rd was 20-minutes, then seeing that Chris Horner (Radio Shack/Nissan) did it in 16-minutes AFTER riding 70-miles from Livermore & climbing the backside of Mt Hamilton BEFORE even reaching Sierra Rd in last year's Tour de California Stage 3. I couldn't sleep for weeks, LOL! :crap:

How do they do it? Is it the meat? ;)

[tiretrax]

Maxn, I think it's cyclemeter for an iPhone.