The greatest adventure is what lies ahead. Today and tomorrow are yet to be said. The chances, the changes are all yours to make. The mould of your life is in your hands to break.
(J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Festive 500 starts again. They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone; that seems apt with this yearly challenge in mind.
This year, I'm attempting to complete just the 500 kilometres (rather than 500 miles that I undertook
last year). However, my target is to do it all on a cyclocross bike, with as much off-road riding as possible. This is the
#Festive500CX.
Festive 500 CX Ride 7 - Short but sweet, end of year finale
65 kilometres. 1,069 metres elevation. 2 hours 40 minutes.
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| Fog over Military Road |
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| Lifted toward the end of the ride |
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| Sunshine to end the year |
Festive 500 CX Ride 6 - Festive commutes
78 kilometres. 683 metres elevation. 3 hours 10 minutes.
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| A rest day in work. Book-ended with two great winter rides. |
Festive 500 CX Ride 5 - 'The 9 Roads to Nowhere'
181 kilometres. 3,014 metres elevation. 7 hours 54 minutes.
An epic ride to the lighthouses, coastguard cottages and radar stations of the Isle of Wight.
The roads/climbs:
- Rew Lane, Wroxall (Stenbury Down)
- Down Lane, Ventnor (St. Boniface Down)
- Crocker Lane, Niton (St. Catherine's Down)
- St. Catherine's Lighthouse, Niton (Blackgang)
- Chillerton Radar Station, Shorwell (Chillerton Down)
- Rowridge Radar Station, Carisbrooke (Apes Down)
- Needles Coastguard Station, Totland (Tennyson Down)
- St. George's Lane, Newport (St. George's Down)
- Culver Fort, Bembridge (Culver Down)
An incredible day on the bike; with some great friends - old and new.
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| Big Day Out! |
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| Early start at Ryde Esplanade |
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| Atop the first climb to Ventnor Down radar station - Road to Nowhere #1 |
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| Every road seemed to have a silver lining on this ride |
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| Climb 2: Down Lane Radar Station - Road to Nowhere #2 |
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| Road 4 of 9 - Down to St. Catherine's Lighthouse - Road to Nowhere #4 |
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| Café stop at Chale Green Stores |
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| The weather couldn't have been better - wall to wall sunshine throughout the day |
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| A beautiful sunset, to end a stunning day on the bike |
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| The final climb of the day - Culver Down - Road to Nowhere #9 |
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| Handing out 'Get me Home' Gels at the top of Culver Down |
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| Job done. Time to ride home for tea. |
Short film of Alan Rowe's ride
Festive 500 CX Ride 4 - Bike change. Shakedown ride in the setting sun
64 kilometres. 900 metres elevation. 2 hours 50 minutes.
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| It's taken me a while to get this bike dialled in. It feels spot on now though. |
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| Exploring fallen roads in the fading light |
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| No Festive Filters required here |
Festive 500 CX Ride 3 - 2k Ascent
110 kilometres. 2,003 metres elevation. 5 hours 35 minutes.
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| Sunshine |
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| Deserted winter trails. Perfection. |
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| In search of up, and dry singletrack. |
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| Fields of green |
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| Festive Fuel Stop. Mince Pie Crumble Cake! |
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| Love where you ride. I Love Wight. |
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| Ticking over 2,000 off-road metres climbed |
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| Sundown on Sandown Bay |
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| Dog chase. Ended in crash. Ripped tights. Bummer. |
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| Setting sun. Head for home. Quite tired now. No Bull. |
Festive 500 CX Ride 2 - Christmas 'Crossing
68 kilometres. 907 metres elevation. 3 hours 2 minutes.
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| Sandy singletrack to start the ride |
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| More tubeless mishaps. Beginning to think my sealant is faulty. |
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| My attempt to avoid the mud, did not work |
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| Fuel for the fire. Christmas Yule Logs. |
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| After two punctures, I had run out of spare tubes and time. Tarmac retreat in the sunshine. |
Festive 500 CX Ride 1 - Earth. Wind. Water.
102 kilometres. 1,665 metres elevation. 5 hours 13 minutes.
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| Overcast skies and deserted trails |
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| Bar Fly Rainfly Mudguard. Still going strong. (Review here) |
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| Empty downland. Peeping sunshine. |
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| Through the gateway |
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| Double tubeless blow-out. Balls. |
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