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.

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View Comments

the-farmer says:

Jan 20 2014 at 1:05 pm

Harsh but fair.
El Mateo says:

Jan 20 2014 at 1:51 pm

Certainly, those boys have HUGE stones for attempting such a ride. Even larger stones because they picked a date and went with it regardless of weather... Assuming that they do have weather forecasting across the pond. I couldn't imagine the pile of Mexican Food that I could eat after such a ride followed by drowning in a keg of beer followed by a really good nap. Rules be damned - this was no ordinary ride!
Ron says:

Jan 20 2014 at 1:56 pm

I need more friends like this!

Now, to finish up the workday so I can watch this.
Souleur says:

Jan 20 2014 at 2:09 pm

Bals-o-steel dudes

Chapeau!!!
V-olcano says:

Jan 20 2014 at 2:32 pm

@El Mateo

Rules be damned - this was no ordinary ride!

Not to belabor the point, but I guess I will. It's precisely this sentiment that concerns me. We, as a community, have accepted and adopted as our own the Rules we ride by. They are immutable, handed down from on high, recorded by the Keepers in much the way Moses must have chipped away at his tablets. If we are willing to forgo the Rules simply because a ride was extraordinary - whether due to the weather, the distance, the elevation, the soreness in our legs, or any other distraction - then we are poor disciples indeed.

If anything, we should look to the rules to sustain us and to keep us pedaling in our times of need. When weakness sets in and the dark thoughts creep in - "go ahead and get dropped, it's too hard" we can reflect on Rule #V. When the road turns up and the burn makes turning around seem the better choice, Rule #10 lifts us up. When the wind and rain lash us, Rule #9 is there to keep us warm and dry. Reflect on the Rules, live and ride in their wisdom, and be a better disciple.
V-olcano says:

Jan 20 2014 at 2:35 pm

@Optimiste

As penance I shall undertake a ride of similar distance and suffering, but in full rules compliance of course.

Tell us before you do it and we'll make a Cogal of it! I can hear the recovery ales calling to me already.
Optimiste says:

Jan 20 2014 at 3:12 pm

@V-olcano

@El Mateo

Rules be damned - this was no ordinary ride!

Not to belabor the point, but I guess I will. It's precisely this sentiment that concerns me. We, as a community, have accepted and adopted as our own the Rules we ride by. They are immutable, handed down from on high, recorded by the Keepers in much the way Moses must have chipped away at his tablets. If we are willing to forgo the Rules simply because a ride was extraordinary - whether due to the weather, the distance, the elevation, the soreness in our legs, or any other distraction - then we are poor disciples indeed.

If anything, we should look to the rules to sustain us and to keep us pedaling in our times of need. When weakness sets in and the dark thoughts creep in - "go ahead and get dropped, it's too hard" we can reflect on Rule #V. When the road turns up and the burn makes turning around seem the better choice, Rule #10 lifts us up. When the wind and rain lash us, Rule #9 is there to keep us warm and dry. Reflect on the Rules, live and ride in their wisdom, and be a better disciple.

++1

@V-olcano

@Optimiste

As penance I shall undertake a ride of similar distance and suffering, but in full rules compliance of course.

Tell us before you do it and we'll make a Cogal of it! I can hear the Recovery Ales calling to me already.

The gears in my mind are already turning. At lunchtime I was looking at possible routes.
Ron says:

Jan 20 2014 at 4:07 pm

Am I the only one who finds that videos on Vimeo constantly hang up and take forfuckingever to load?

I'm on a new Macbook and using Chrome. Anything I ever try to watch on there is a huge pain in the arse. Youtube loads up instantly.
Marcus says:

Jan 20 2014 at 4:34 pm

I have ridden 530k in 24 hours twice. But in good weather (with a headwind on one occasion) and in a bunch of 15 riders.

http://www.velominati.com/general/guest-article-murray-to-moyne-part-ii/

To my mind, those rides don't come close to how hard these guys must have done it. The small bunch, the rain and cold and also the huge amount of riding in the dark, plus the headfuck of having to navigate through cities, etc. Didn't look like they spent too much time on each other's wheels either.

Chapeau Bas!
Ron says:

Jan 20 2014 at 6:13 pm

@Gianni

I love that one guy has an insane idea and three other guys want to do it with him. And that would be true anywhere in the world. Maybe it speaks to the male reptilian brain: if riding into the unknown might be exciting and testing, then doing it to the extreme would have to be even better, no?

And having a professional cinematographer there, brilliant. Our self-filmed heroics usually suck because when things get ugly we either need both hands for the bike or we are so fucking shagged out that filming is not going to happen.

Can a MinuteMan get shagged out?