The “Rapha #Festive500” had been on our radar for a while. I had set my sights on completing it two winters earlier, in December of 2017 — but that attempt, together with other adverse circumstances, then contributed to my worst cold in decades. The following winter, last year, due to a viral infection I was again hopelessly out of form to accept the challenge.
This Christmas was different.
After a rigorous training regimen from early January 2019 right through to December, I was in seriously good shape — even without my altitude training that had been planned for April (late season snowboarding & cycling in the French Alps) but had to be canceled due to ongoing job commitments.
The TPR in October had more than made up for it.
It must have been on one of our regular rides in November that Carlo mentioned the #Festive500. He didn’t need to ask twice. Actually, I had already blocked the time and started making arrangements for the holidays, so the obligatory family get-together wouldn’t interfere.
Throughout all of autumn and well into the winter we had tried to keep up with some legwork in the hills and lower mountains of the Odenwald range. But for the #Festive500 we decided to limit our routes to mostly flat sections, possibly on cycle track and service roads. If the conditions permitted, we could always up the game and foray into hills on the western, Palatinate bank of the river Rhine.
So, Carlo and I made plans. Twice we met over beer or tea. And with the help of stored tracks from earlier rides, on a piece of paper we sketched a list of easily adaptable routes, ranging from around 60 to about 100 kms, but with options to spontaneously extend (or shorten) them, just as circumstances would allow (or dictate). I retraced and prepared some of the rides for use on my Wahoo. But years of riding in the region relegate cycling computers to trackers rather than navigation devices.
Day One — December 25, 2019
In Germany, Christmas is, mostly, celebrated on Christmas Eve, on December 24. This allowed me to take a very early train back to Mannheim on the morning of December 25. I travelled in full kit, with my bike, and signalled Carlo my arrival. When I got home from the train station, I just dropped my backpack, refilled the water bottles and took the seat bag (pre-packed with spare baselayer and rain gear). Carlo rolled up to my porch and we started on our first “stage”.
Weather was “OK”. But not any better than that.
The route took us via Worms, Lorsch and Heppenheim. And there was rain. And mud. But also sheep.
Worst of all, we took a wrong turn on the “Nibelungenstraße” from Worms to Heppenheim, and ended up on the main freeway-style road with a ceaseless flow of cars passing us at high speed, and no exit to a safer and more quiet road anywhere in sight.
After exactly 80 kms, I seriously questioned our plan of continuing this endeavour for another 5.25 episodes. After all, we wanted to possibly finish in six days instead of seven. It’s always good to have a buffer: With an average of eighty-something kilometers per day, New Year’s Eve was to be the “reserve”, the worst case option. Of course we decided to do less than 80 kms the next day. Of course.
Day Two — December 26, 2019
The morning skies were as beautiful as the afternoon on the day before. This always hints at really low temperatures, and we were lucky in that regard. We started really early for what had to be a quick and short ride due to other “festive” commitments later in the day.
We started on our habitual parcours, along the Neckar and Rhine rivers, with the panoramic view of BASF factory grounds, towards Worms, but then deviated on the return and cut across to the Weschnitz area where several small streams flow through the completely flat landscape.
The mostly dry weather was a welcome compensation for general wetness the day before, but since today’s ride ended way short of our intended daily average, I insisted to attempt a longer stage the next day and promised to come up with a suggestion around 90 kms.
A motivating factor was the Christmas present Robert had made all his Strava followers by posting this 610 km ride from Paris to Zurich:
Not even 31 hours (including about 3.5 hours standstill). The full #Festive500 in one go, and then some! From Christmas Eve to late at night on December 25, 2019. — I was awestruck.
Day Three — December 27, 2019
One of my favorite routes altogether passes through the Zellertal, a valley rich in history and supposedly with some of the oldest vineyards of SW Germany. It also has a very interesting topography: Hills and ridges on both sides separate the Vorderpfalz region to the south from Rheinhessen to the north. Through the valley itself flows the river Pfrimm from the Nordpfalz between Kirchheimbolanden and the Palatinate Forest mountain range, towards Worms and into the Rhine.
I pulled several well-known routes into one, for the time window of only 4.25 hours. Over known terrain, our pace was predictable and manageable, and we passed the old town of Worms in no time. Short climbs took us up the first hills and quickly onto the K64 county road along the northern ridge of the Zellertal valley. But still, we were pressed for time if we wanted to complete the planned route in its entirety.
With still rather agreeable temperatures, we made good progress. After a while we turned south and traversed the valley in direction of Grünstadt. Relentlessly pushing across the hills we made it back to Mannheim almost exactly on time, with only minutes to spare.
Day Four — December 28, 2019
Carlo and I had by now completed almost half the distance required for the challenge. On day four, we were joined by Anjin San who had put in an extra effort to catch up after missing out on the first days.
We pledged to attempt another 80+ km ride to keep up the progress, and I had identified two options where we could easily add about 10 kms each. But as temperatures continued to drop and with the prospect of spending 4+ hours outside around and below freezing, the option to cut the ride short and return to the coziness of our apartments was reassuring.
After crossing over to Ludwigshafen, Mannheim’s sister city on the western bank of the Rhine, we lost our orientation for a short moment, as usual:
Ludwigshafen is a true maze of roads, cycle ways, elevated freeways, bridges and spiral staircases and ramps. Confusing to say the least.
But the rest of the tour went on without disorientation. And we discovered that the Rhine bridge at Speyer, while closed to cars, offered a quiet and viable passage for us as cyclists.
From Speyer we continued via Hockenheim and through the Hardtwald forest to Oftersheim. A deliberate detour in direction of Heidelberg added the distance required to reach our goal for the day.
Day Five — December 29, 2019
With a very tiny window of time available, Anjin San, Carlo and me (plus the Tigger) set out on an “optimized” variant of yesterday’s ride: Instead of testing our navigational luck in Ludwigshafen, we opted for the ferry at Altrip to make it over to the fast parcours southwards alongside the Rhine to Speyer.
There, on top of the bridge, the group split, with Anjin continuing towards Heidelberg and an extended tour around Weinheim and Lampertheim. Carlo and me, we took the long, smooth stretch of road along the Rhine towards Ketsch and then added the only experiment of the day into the mix by cutting through the town of Schwetzingen towards Grenzhof, Edingen and Ilvesheim:
So far, the entire tour had successfully avoided traffic bottlenecks and major roads, so that we could “just ride”. But Schwetzingen put an end to this streak. Anyhow, I’d say 90% of the route was OK.
Until now our challenge attempt had gone well, but also stayed well below the daily target average. We needed to up the game if we were to finish as planned, and what better than to add an extra challenge?!
Day Six — December 30, 2019
For what was planned as the final ride, Philipp completed our small group. And because the weather was just splendid (but also splendidly cold!), and to again compensate for our short outing on the previous day, we decided to attempt the “Infinite Loop”.
I had selected a 120 km route that would almost exactly have Carlo and me reach the 500 km mark (factoring in the 7+ kms accrued on my train station transfers, on December 24 and 25). This way, we would reach our initial goal of completing the #Festive500 in six days, freeing New Year’s Eve for family and other festivities.
The idea was to combine the two classic, mostly flat winter training itineraries, Mannheim–Speyer and Mannheim–Worms. Both routes were to intersect in our neighbourhood, ideally on or by the Jungbuschbrücke, a bridge spanning the Neckar river not far from its confluence with the Rhine.
We started northwards, carried our bikes up and down the stairs on both bridge heads of the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke and had to contend with a flat tyre in the comforting company of a band of very curious horses. After crossing the Nibelungenbrücke at Worms, we experimented with an intentional detour onto the Lampertheimer Althrein nature reserve. When the path was slightly too muddy for our road bikes (and our taste), we retraced instead of completing the circuit. Anyhow, the mandatory extra kilometers on this leg of the journey were in the bag … time to move on.
As planned, we returned to our neighbourhood and then continued towards the GKM, the Großkraftwerk Mannheim electrical (and district heating) plant. From there, for the second time in two days we took the Altrip ferry over to the Palatinate side, and relaxed for a few minutes in the comfy, heated compartment onboard the vessel.
From Altrip we continued towards Speyer, again, and on via Schwetzingen instead of Oftersheim. The a day of gorgeous skies and freezing cold temperatures we completed the 500 kilometers, riding into Mannheim right around sunset. OK, Anjin still had about 90 kms to go, but Carlo and I had reason to celebrate.
BTW, for anyone interested, Altrip (lat. alta ripa, elevated river bank) is the site of a former Roman settlement, fort and river crossing, complemented by two burgi on islets in the Rhine.
Bonus Day — December 31, 2019
Literally “on a roll”, and without a commitment for the morning on New Year’s Eve, I was free to join Anjin San for his final push. We took another journey on the Altrip ferry in direction of Speyer but then rode a southern loop on what had been part of my occasional bike commute to Karlsruhe from 2017 to 2019.
The route between Hockenheim, Waghäusel and then back towards Brühl runs in part on pristine cycle track, or it follows secondary or even tertiary roads with few to no cars. Especially now with the bridge at Speyer being closed to motor vehicles, the entire region sees much less vehicular traffic.
Aiming at a quick end to Anjin’s challenge and a return back into the warmth of our respective homes, we ducked down over our aero bars and time-trialed along the dam of the Rhine towards Ketsch and then on the miles long, perfectly straight stretch of the “Rhenaniastraße” into Mannheim.
Thoughts
The 2019 #Festive500 was great fun altogether.
Especially since Carlo and myself really stuck to our principle of making it out into the open each day, regardless of the (less than promising) weather forecasts, enjoying each other’s company through cold, drizzle and mud, stopping as little as possible (I had to take pictures after all).
The other bits? Not forgetting family and friends. Washing our kit, but also ensuring everything is completely dry to keep us warm the next day. Cleaning and servicing bikes in between the rides to not risk major damage. Crossing the roughly planned routes off our list — focussing on what’s essential.
Just. Ride. Your. Bike.
- 2019-12-25: Nibelungenstraße & Weschnitz, mit Carlo [Strava]
- 2019-12-26: Worms, Lampertheim, Weschnitz (mit Carlo) [Strava]
- 2019-12-27: Zellertal & Vorderpfalz (mit Carlo) [Strava]
- 2019-12-28: LU, Speyer, Hockenheim, Eppelheim, Grenzhof (mit A & C) [Strava]
- 2019-12-29: Altrip, Speyer, Ketsch, Schwetzingen, Grenzhof (mit A & C, wobei A sich dann zwecks Tageszielerreichung abgesetzt hat) [Strava]
- 2019-12-30: 2.5 loops between Worms, Mannheim & Speyer (w/ A, C & P) [Strava]
- 2019-12-31: More Loops (w/ Anjin San) [Strava]
