Rapha Festive 500 - 2017

Background: 

I’ve cycled for large chunks of my life but before October 2016 I would never have used the word cyclist to describe myself. I started out with a BMX (Raleigh Skyway - man I wish I still had that bike - it was the business) and then progressed to mountain biking, generally heading to Cannock Chase in Staffordshire with mates to an old quarry and smashing some jumps. I then went to Uni and cycling ceased. However it wasn’t until I came to London that I bought another mountain bike and started commuting on it and cycling became a regular thing. I still didn’t understand road cycling though. I mean, why would anyone want to buy a bike that was only good for the road? I also favoured a mountain bike with bar ends due to having a dislocated arm and finding it uncomfortable to grip straight bars. Then in 2015 I progressed to a CX bike and couldn’t believe how comfortable hoods were. Suddenly I was starting to “get it”. This all changed in October 2016 when I decided to take the plunge and buy a decent road bike. From this point on I've been hooked. I also realise I am a massive cliche as this seems to be pretty standard for men in their early forties. 

I personally struggle with stress, anxiety and unexplained bouts/fugs of depression. The latter I have no idea why as I have, what looks from the outside, to be a good life with nothing to be depressed about, however, this state of mind or illness doesn’t discriminate and it comes and goes at will and I deal with it in my own way. This used to be by running but now cycling has taken over in a big way. The Festive 500 seemed like a great way to push myself to do something extraordinary as well as remaining active over a traditionally boozy period. 

Where: El Cotillo - Fuerteventura 

The typical landscape of Fuerteventura

Day 1 - Christmas Eve (74KMs) 
We landed around midday and headed to our apartment in El Cotillo. I called the lady I had arranged to hire my bike from and she met me around 2.30pm. I wanted a decent bike so I couldn't make any excuses and opted for a Giant TCR (the same frame at least as my bike back home). 

Route fail...

By about 3pm, I kitted up and headed out. I planned on a relatively short ride for day 1 (40 miles or so). It started badly with 2 x route fails. One on an “unpaved road” and the other basically across the back of some sand dunes. 

Still, I persevered and somehow stayed on 2 wheels before ending up at my destination and looping back. It was a good day with a few cups but I felt I should have done more. 

Day 2 - Christmas Day (99.6KMs) I started out a little later than I hoped (due to exchanging presents with my partner). She made me a great coffee and I headed out around 8am. I had a 100K route planned. It took me South from El Cotillo, through some of the volcanic hills and then looped back. The hills were hard going due to the epic winds the island was experiencing. I named said winds “el bastardo”. At times it felt like I was cycling in treacle. 

One of the many stunning roads

And another

I was also yelling at times with the wind screaming in my ears; it was unrelenting. However, there were no route fails this time but every shop I passed was closed (it was Christmas Day after all) and I was running out of water. However, when I hit the center of the Island (a place called Antigua) I came across a small cafe/taverna that was not only open but had great coffee and bottles of water. I stocked up, had a little breather and got back on my way. I arrived back around 1pm, got some sun (to even out the typical cyclist tan) and got the BBQ going for Christmas dinner. All in all a good day in the saddle. 

Day 3 - Boxing Day – a catalogue of errors (134.1KMs) 

The day started out badly. First I didn’t leave until nearly 9, then, as I was transitioning from a cycle path back to the main road around 3KMs from El Cotillo, I fell and cut my elbow, knee and knuckle. Apart from a few gashes on me - the bike was fine - everything else was OK so I carried on and decided to stay off the cycle paths/roads from now on. I got to Corralejo, stopped at a small petrol station and grabbed some water before heading for the dunes. 

Then, as I took a left-hand turn off a small traffic island, bouncing over a cats-eye in the process, I could feel my rear tyre had blown-out. I immediately stopped right next to a small tourist info place, quickly snapped one of my tyre leavers, asked the chap in the office for a spoon (he quickly obliged) and before long I was back on my way. However, around 2KMs later, whilst taking a photo of my bike next to the dunes, I noticed that my tyre was flat again! I instinctively cried out “NOOOOOOOOO!” I only carried 1 tube and 1 bottle of Co2 and both were now gone! I was doomed. 

Flat number 2 - there are worse places to be stranded

I tried to call my partner to come and rescue me but I couldn’t get hold of her. In-between attempts I flagged down 4 different cyclists - 1 couldn’t help, 1 had fat tyres and only a fat tube (but did offer me some useful help for later), 1 had a tube! and the final chap, Graham who lives in Brockley - around 5 miles from where I live in Brixton, had both a pump and a set of levers. Whilst I was fixing my tyre we chatted and it turned out he attempted the festive500 the year before but failed due to other commitments. Before long I was back on my way and completed the rest of my planned route - via a stop at a shop for more tubes and Co2- with some proper sharp little hills, some shocking wind but with the sun on my face and no more disasters. 

Day 4 – The return of el bastardo (100.3KMs) 
I was going to take a day off but after my partner gave my legs a fantastic massage, I decided I had to get out and reduce the defecit. One thing I noticed whilst taking part in this challenge is that it quickly becomes all-consuming. All I could think about was cycling, all I dreamt about was cycling, all I talked about was cycling and which route I’d take. It was insane. I plotted a new route the previous night that included a few repeats through a stunning but EXTREMELY windy part of the island; the Corralejo Dunes. 

The road through the Corralejo dunes

And more..

It’s a relatively flat stretch with a tailwind but the return is brutal. The headwind just saps your energy and makes it 10 times harder than it should be. Still the scenery is stunning and worth the pain. Repeats can sometimes feel like junk miles but not here. I completed 4 repeats of the dune section before looping back home. Another good but very hard day in the saddle. 


Day 5 – The final push (100.1KMs) 
I needed to bag 92K to get to 500K. My new Strava route was reporting 89K so I went on a bit of a recce around El Cotillo before heading out on my route proper. It felt a bit weird seeing that I had been in town for 5 days and hadn’t yet explored at all (all of my routes had taken me out of town). 

Day 5 - Morning

My legs felt good and I managed to hit the sweet spot for a while so I couldn’t really feel them working for around the first 20 minutes. Once I hit a climb though…. hello.....then I felt them. I was headed back to Corralejo and the dunes, but not for repeats this time. I worked out a route that would loop me back to El Cotillo so I could enjoy the view and tailwind one last time. The trade-off for that tailwind is having to smash a few miles with the headwind first in order to earn it. 

My view for large swathes of the Festive 500 - hiding from the wind

I spotted Graham again heading back towards Corralejo as I was hitting the dunes. We stopped and chatted for a few mins and Graham said that his son was spurring him on to complete his own festive 500. He said he felt guilty though as it was a family holiday. 

I pushed hard through the dunes and circled back around and started to head for home, not yet daring to check how many K’s I’d completed. 

Then, as I was heading up through one of the hilly and windy roads, the most random thing happened - I checked over my shoulder and was shocked to spot a guy on my wheel! It really made me laugh. The crafty sod. I hadn't heard him due to the screaming winds but I wish it were the other way around. I’d have loved a bit of respite from the wind. 

Crafty...

Once I reached La Oliva (still a way to go before home) I was stoked to see my total KMs so far for the day being 81. I had somehow made up far more than I thought I would doing my recce and also free-styling a bit in Corralejo. I felt I earned a little rest too so I pulled into a small café for a coke and a packet of crisps. (Fuerteventura needs to get on its cake game that’s for sure). I was shattered by now and really starting to feel the strain of the last few days. 

Feeling it

I rolled back into El Cotillo having done more than I set out to, feeling shattered but proud of what I’d achieved. I know some people belittle the feat of the Festive 500 but I’m sure even they remember the day they did their first 100K and felt proud of themselves. 

I climbed Kilimanjaro in August last year and found it mentally tough. I would however say this was tougher.  There were no porters, no set route each day, no one telling you to go slowly. Here you set the route, you decide for how long and how fast and when to head for home. This was mental and physical endurance in equal measure. It sounds cheesy but I feel like the experience changed me a bit. I never thought I had it in me to go so hard and so fast for 5 days running. Will I complete it again? Ask me again in a week or so but probably not. Not during Christmas and New Year anyway. This was meant to be a surfing holiday but the cycling took all my energy and focus and I didn’t get wet once but I wouldn't change it. 

Day 5 end (and Festive500 complete!)

Things I noticed along the way: 
I am mentally stronger than I first thought, my nose sweats like crazy, my neck hurts with the long hours and wind, the landscapes of Fuerteventura are amazing, it gets a bit “Groundhog Day” after a while, the drivers in Fuerteventura are far more considerate than most I have encountered, 9 out of 10 cyclists wave back when waved to, etc, etc. 

I have never challenged myself to anything like this before and on paper it sounds and looks pretty easy. It’s only once you start peddling that you realise it’s really rather hard...