Completed the Rapha Festive 500 on the commute home. The challenge is to ride 500 kilometers between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Ended up with 509 km in 4 rides. Good times. Ride on. ☮

4 days left the in Festive 500. Currently at 422 km of 500 km. Going to add a few miles to my commute on Tuesday to complete the challenge. Didn’t take many photos today. Main goals were keep my core temperature up and get home before dark. Mission accomplished. Ride on. ☮

Accepted the Rapha Festive 500 challenge, to ride 500 kilometers (310 miles) between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Looking at the 10 day forecast, today was going to be the warmest day. Decided to ride as many miles as I could. Started the ride shortly after midnight and headed to Folly Beach, Edge of America. Unfortunately along with the warmer temperatures came rain and wind. Stayed relatively dry the first half of the ride by checking the radar frequently and seeking shelter.

Got a call from my LBS last night that my backup bicycle, Giant Defy 3, was repaired. New drivetrain, cables, and bar tape. Put my shoes on and ran to the bike shop behind my apartment. Nice (and expensive) to have a bike shop a block away. The mechanic mentioned that the spring in the rear derailleur was weak and that the derailleur may need to be replaced. Going to take him up on that.

I admit that I prefer pavement over dirt most of the time. US 176 is a 2 lane, 55 mph highway without a shoulder. Calamus Pond Rd is partially dirt and has a sketchy entrance off of Mudville Rd. Took Calamus Pond Rd (yellow outline) instead of US 176 (red outline) during my ride home from lake Moultrie. Calamus Pond Rd wins. Totally worth the effort.

Doesn’t look like I’ll get a century ride in this weekend. The last weekend I didn’t ride a century was July 11, 2020. Oh well. All good things must come to an end. Nice ride to Lake Moultrie. Second half of the ride was better than the first half. Headwind vs tailwind. The water level is the lowest I’ve ever seen. Santee Cooper must be draining it for maintenance or something.

Wanted to ride the single speed. A cold northerly headwind, 37℉, made for a tough commute to work. Blocked by a freight train, stayed warm riding figure 8’s around the neighborhood. Lost the larger of my two rear blinking red lights. On the ride home it wasn’t much warmer at 43℉. At least I had a tailwind. Looked for my taillight but didn’t find it. Not a great commute for this southern boy.

After my first double century I said I’ll never do that again. Wrong. Never say never. The memory of how painful that first double century ride faded and I attempted it again. Wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Today’s double century ride was tough but not as tough as the first one. Attribute the cooler temperatures for a crampless ride. Between Jamestown and McClellanville I had dogs chase me, twice!

After 130 miles yesterday I did not want to get back on the bike today but with my mileage goal within reach I saddled up. Glad I did. Goal accomplished. Currently have 10,004 logged miles for 2020. There are still 25 days left in the year. Maybe I’ll shoot for 11,000 or maybe I’ll chill. VeloViewer Ride on. ☮

Thought about trying another double century but a short and cool December day is not ideal. By 6:00 PM it was 43℉ so I called it a day. Been a while since I’ve ridden Cainhoy Rd. Some of it is pretty scenic. Refueled at the new Spinx convenience store on the corner of Clements Ferry Rd and Hwy 41. Shot over to the Wando river and then took Hwy 41 to the Santee river.