The Rapha Festive 500 is set to return for its eighth year this festive season after launching in 2010. The challenge of the event is simple to comprehend but less so to complete: ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve and record it all on Strava – hopefully without compromising any relationships along the way.
Starting as one rider's determination to avoid gaining a seasonal bulge, the Rapha Festive 500 is now an annual event taken on each year by thousands of cyclists around the world.
Teaming up with ride recording site Strava, Rapha challenges each of us to ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Unlike previous years, Strava has now introduced a woeful algorithm which means activities are no longer displayed chronologically.
The result being that you're now more likely to see someone's commute from last week than their ride this morning, so keeping tabs on your friends' progress towards the 500 marker might be more difficult than before.
However, going directly to the challenge page and filtering by 'following' will soon show you what you need to see.
Festive 500: At a glance
Dates: Christmas Eve, Sunday 24th December 2017 to New Year's Eve, Sunday 31st December 2017 (inclusive)
Distance: 500km, funnily enough
How: Ride 500km over the eight days and log it all on Strava
'In 2010 we laid down a challenge to our customers: ride 500km over the eight days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve,' Rapha says of the challenge on its website.
'Since then the Rapha Festive 500 has become a holiday tradition, with thousands of riders around the world taking part.
'Every finisher earns a complimentary woven badge, and the best story submissions win amazing prizes.'
Last year's winning entry was one rider's postcards to her late father.
Ruth Cousins, a police officer from a small village in North Wales won for her submission of a series of seven hand-painted postcards addressed to her deceased father who she described as her ‘creative and adventure barometer’.
Each letter detailed one of her rides around the cold and hilly Welsh countryside, alongside her work as a police office and daily life looking after her family.
Full details of the challenge and prizes for this year's Festive 500 are expected from Rapha soon, but the basic premise remains the same: get out and ride 500km in amongst family commitments, Christmas drinks and all the other trappings of the Festive period.
Good luck!
Lead image: Rapha.cc/Festive500