Categories: Guest Article

Guest Article: Rule #9 Festivus

Antwerp at night photo: S.N. Severinghaus

One of the finest things about Velominati is it attracts the crazy bastards. Cyclists are slightly unhinged anyway but there are more than a few out there who have no fear. Crazy is not constrained by nationality. Crazy knows no borders. Sure the Randonneurs would do this just to make sure they were happy with their choice of headlamp strap but @bas is not one of those. 

Rapha and Strava sponsor something called the Festive 500. Ride your 500 km between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve for bragging rights and a stinkin’ badge. If you live up North, this is a noteworthy thing to do. Most don’t try to do it all at once, that would be crazy.

VLVV, Gianni

On December 24th, me and three riding friends embarked on a trip from Paris to our hometown of Haarlem in the Netherlands. The idea was to see if we could ride all of the Festive 500 in one ride and ‘get it over with’. We picked a starting location that was approximately 500 kilometers from home and pretty much rode with it from there.

A friend and documentary maker decided that he wanted to see if he could capture us killing ourselves in front of his camera and shot the whole thing.

 

 

bas

Stuff that I think about: mostly on -but not limited to- bikes, boards, skis and coffee. Editor-in-chief of UP/DOWN mountainbike magazine, lover of all bikes, co-owner of Rotgans & Rotgans, an Amsterdam-based action sports marketing agency. Father of Puk, husband to Marja. Personally trying to organise my life around owning (a lot) less stuff.

View Comments

  • @Rom

    I'm thinking his magnitude 10 EPMS had magical powers.

    Yes, definitely.  In this rider's opinion, the ONLY time that an EPMS may be employed is on self-supported rides of 300km or greater.  Even so, EPMS usage is to be greeted with suspicion if the ride is undertaken in fair weather, and/or in a location that allows for easy resupply.  A credit is issued if the rider is using tubular tires and is obliged to carry a second spare.

  • Great ride - and as close to an advert for the Audax style of riding as I've seen here.

  • Great ride, and great inspiration for riding beyond the home town loops! Thank you for sharing us those moments!

    BTW: Good choice of music!

  • Just posted a 42km ride to Strava and want to unpost it now. Merckx - I am not worthy

  • This one day, I rode 330km. In perfect weather. On the flats. In a paceline. I thought it was a long day.

    /pffft/

  • Fucking stellar effort. I'm pretty fried after 300 km on a sunny day with aid stations. A 'Cogal 500', anyone?

  • There's a Dutch saying, "Doe maar normaal, dan doe je al gek genoeg" (roughly translated: Just be normal, then  you're crazy enough.)  @bas and his buddies are supernormaal making them them supercrazy Dutchmen. Way to go guys--that was an awesome achievement!

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bas

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