The Christmas weekend is dominated by events linked to the Rapha 500, so we went with the “long ride” theme (although we couldn’t resist throwing in one extra event for a good cause).
You can finish the Rapha Festive 500 in a series of rides, do it all in one go, or do it all via a series of races! See some options below.
Rapha Festive 500 Group Rides
The Rapha Festive 500 ride series is proving popular this weekend, with thousands of riders already signed up.
Each ride is led by a Rapha Ambassador, typically a current or former pro rider. Rides are 60 minutes long and finishing one ride will unlock this year’s Festive 500 kit. But it won’t complete the Strava challenge! To do that, you must log at least 500km of riding on Strava between Dec 24-31 (read more).
Multiple events and start times
See zwift.com/events/tag/f500 for upcoming events
500km – The Aeo Way
This is one long ride: 500km to be exact! It is expected to take 15 hours and is hosted on the Watopia Waistband route. As the event description says, “We are taking on the Festive 500 in one single ride (you can join and do as much as you want) at a pace of 2-2.5 w/kg…”
Saturday, December 25 @ 7am GMT/2am EST/11pm PST Friday
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2538075
RuhrRiders Festive 500 Races
Here’s a twist: what about completing the Rapha Festive 500 challenge by competing in a series of daily races?
The RuhrRiders team has organized just such an event, friendly to European timezones. The series begins on Sunday, December 26th, with daily events until December 30th which total up to over 500km.
Daily, beginning Sunday, December 26 @ 8:30am GMT
See all upcoming events on ZwiftHacks
BMTR Fundo – Special Christmas Edition
BMTR’s Saturday Fundos have grown increasingly popular as riders embrace the format: 4 different distances to choose from (40-160km this week), but everyone rides the same route and starts together, so the group begins very large and dwindles as times goes on.
Double drafting is enabled, which is great since this week’s ride is on the very flat Douce France route.
These aren’t official races, but many riders treat them as such. Ride your pace!
Saturday, December 25 @ 1:10pm GMT/8:10am EST/5:10am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2548812
I Move For Cancer
A great cause to cycle for. This longer event is hosted on Watopia’s “The Pretzel” route – the original Zwift pretzel.
As the description notes, “In this group ride, we are cycling for everyone that needs it the most. By participating you are helping us spread the word that children and cancer don’t belong together.” #imoveforcancer
Sunday, December 26 @ 6:55am GMT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2549563
Your Thoughts
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments!
You forgot this one from LEQP https://www.zwift.com/events/view/2552191
The HPL endurance ride on Sunday has been getting 300+ riders over 2 categories (C and D) 2 hours of solid pack riding on a flat ish course with ride leads that stick to the posted w/kg very well and the ride pace moves at a good clip with the large pack. https://www.zwift.com/events/view/2552329
I think it is brilliant people are recommending additional rides, thank you for reading and contributing 👍