DO THE FESTIVE 500 CHALLENGE AND GET THE COLLECTIBLE SOUGHT AFTER ROUNDEL / PATCH / BADGE / AWARD THINGY –
IF YOU COMPLETE THE FESTIVE 500 ON OUR OFFICIAL RIDES FROM HILLINGDON STATION THE ROUNDEL IS AWARDED FREE
OTHERWISE THERE IS A £7 FEE to cover the costs of the Roundel if you ride independently.
You can still participate in the rides for free even if you don’t do the Festive 500, the entry fee is merely to cover the cost of the badges and you can purchase the Roundel after completing the Festive 500.
There will be a presentation at the Coy Carp, Harefield at the end of the final ride on 31st December.
Scroll down for lots more details and ride list and route links.
TO SIGN UP:
YOU KNOW YOU WANT ONE!
JOIN THE RWGPS FESTIVE 500 CHALLENGE GROUP HERE
YOUR PROGRESS WILL BE RECORDED ON RWGPS, SO YOU’LL NEED TO UPLOAD YOUR RIDES TO RWGPS AND HAVE JOINED THE RWGPS FESTIVE 500 GROUP:
HOW TO ACHIEVE THE AWARD……. Ride 500 km with West London Cycling on our official rides with no payment required, or ride independently and pay £7 entry to cover the cost of Roundels (Payment link below) Please Contact Us for more details and join the RWGPS group (see links).
You will be able to join th RWGPS Festive 500 Challenge Group yourself here.
Smash out some rides over the 8 day period from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve, recording your rides as usual (setting your device to upload to Strava)….. but as Rapha no longer issue badges, the way to get your hands on this collectible roundel is to do the Festive 500 Challenge with WEST LONDON CYCLING
The challenge is to ride 500km over 8 days from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve. You need to record your rides and upload to RWGPS and, yes, indoor rides do count!
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CONTACT US
Here are the routes we have scheduled and all will start at 9am at Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) … although the Christms Day one is a little earlier at 7.30am with Boxing Day at 8am (to enable you to squeeze in a ride before family committments if possible) and routes may change if the weather is bad and a different ride is more suitable. We may also delay start times on icy mornings but remember that you can clock up your 500km on a smart trainer too. We will monitor it on RWGPS, so be sure to upload your rides. You do not need to do the 500km on our rides, but to get the badge you will need to either pay or complete the 500km on our official rides from Hillingdon Station. Please sign up to a RWGPS group where we can see your rides.
Wednesday 24th December 8am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) WLC CHRISTMAS EVE RIDE 150km (can be shortened by avoiding loops) 917m ascent
Thursday 25th December 7.30am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) XMAS DAY MORNING MISSION 47km 270m ascent
Friday 26th December 8am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) BOXING DAY MORNING RIDE 70km 446m ascent
Saturday 27th December 9am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) XMAS FAT BURNER 84km 750m ascent
Sunday 28th December 9am fromHillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) OPTION ONE: FLIGHTS OVER EGYPT 62km 428m ascent OPTION TWO: FLIGHTS OVER EGYPT RAMBLE AND PUFF EXTENDED REMIX 68km 459m ascent
Monday 29th December 9am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) BACKSTREET BIKEFLEET 96km 576m ascent
Tuesday 30th December 9am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) FLECHE FLASHRIDE TO BOX HILL 113km 787m ascent
Wednesday 31st December 9am from Hillingdon Station (UB10 9NR) OPTION ONE: COY CARP CAPER 60km 460m ascent OPTION TWO: COY CARP ADDED CAPER 63km 521m ascent
THE RWGPS CHALLENGE FESTIVE 500 CLUB IS HERE
We will always acknowledge how Rapha developed this, but they stopped doing the badges and it isn’t quite the same. We understand why, commecially it is expensive and we have created our own badges too in recent years. But it needs to pay for itself so we had to, like Rapha, reassess it.
We took a fresh look at this on behalf of the West London Cycling Community (and beyond) and we think that a nominal entry fee (£7) and an awards ceremony on the final day at THe Coy Carp in Harefield where the final ride finishes, might be a way of bringing the Festive 500 back to the adventure and fun it should be at a grass routes, non-commercial, level. HOWEVER, RIDE ON OUR OFFICIAL RIDES WITHUS AND IT WILL BE FREE. If you are not aware, the challenge is to ride 500km starting on Christmas Eve (24 December) and finishing by New Year’s Eve (31 December).
If you need to pay for a West London Cycling Festive 500 Roundel please purchase here:
500 kilometres. Eight days……. yeah! You can do it.
Over the last 14 years, more than half a million participants have ridden the Rapha challenge, you can be part of the legend too. If you are up for it in 2025, why not Join us?
Started in 2010, the goal of Rapha’s original Festive 500 was to keep us riding throughout the festive period, recording our rides. Rapha are not offering a ‘Roundel’ (sew on patch thingy) any more but you could still obtain one by completing their challenge with WEST LONDON CYCLING.
The challenge is simple in theory but often tough in practice: ride your bike for a total of 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and sync your rides to RWGPS.
We are even offering you a bit more modern flexibility too. Whereas to complete Rapha’s original challenge all rides had to be be outdoors, we will accept virtual rides if properly recorded. We would expect you to complete the majority of rides outdoors of course, but if there is deep snow, you can still complete our part of the challenge and qualify for our commemorative Roundel..
The exclusive roundel, will be an essential addition to the collection for past participants and a wonderful and prestigious souvenir for first timers.
