Our club kit partner Attacus make some of the finest cycling garms around, and we're proud to call them friends and allies!
As such, they're giving our members a great 20% off their kit site wide!
This 20% cycling kit discount is for members only and a great way to get yourself some much coveted Attacus kit.
Members can log into the 'Members App' to access the discount code.
Anyone who has ridden with me before will have heard me talk at length about the beauty of bike touring (sorry about that). I could talk about it for hours because it's probably my favourite type of cycling. Riding from point A to point B with everything you need to survive on your back brings a very real sense of freedom. Not only are powering yourself - you're carrying your home (tent) clothes (spare bib shorts) and supplies (Clif Bars). You can go anywhere and do anything and that's a pretty special prospect.
When my family decided to have Christmas in Bruges this year it took me about 0.1 nanoseconds to decide I was going to cycle there. The thought of setting off from home with all your kit and riding across countries has always appealed to me, and before looking at the logistics I'd made up my mind. Luckily when I did eventually look up the logistics (roughly 4 days before setting off), it turned out to be a pretty simple ride. 230km give or take a few from Dirty Wknd Towers in Hackney to the Grote Markt in Bruges. On December 23rd. Easy peasy.
As long as you have the right kit there aren't many weathers you can't cycle in (of course, please be careful/stay indoors during really heavy rain/snow/ice). And yes, we know; more kit to buy! This burgeoning cycling addiction is really crippling your bank account.
But think of it as an investment - winter kit is hard wearing so should last you a few seasons, and if it means you can keep doing the thing that you love all winter, then that's pretty great!
Over the many years I've been cycling I've bought some truly terrible bits of kit. This guide will hopefully help you to avoid those mistakes, and buy the 'right' bits of kit that you will actually use over and over again.
So you've decided to attempt the Rapha Festive 500? Good on you. It's a tough challenge and a fun thing to do over the Christmas period. However, due to many circumstances that can pop up over the 8 days, it can be very hard to complete the Festive 500. As someone who has attempted the challenge about five times, and completed it a grand total of zero times, I can attest that it is pretty tricky.
If you're still unsure as to what exactly the Festive 500 is you can read our handy guide here. If you haven't yet signed up for the challenge I can highly recommend it. At the very least it might get you out of the house on Boxing Day when Uncle Gerald starts arguing with Aunty Maude and Mum is suggesting another round of 'Eye Spy'.
Whatever your opinion of Rapha (and nearly everyone has one), it's hard to argue that the Festive 500 is not a good thing. Riding your bike more is generally considered to be a good thing, so joining a world wide challenge to help you ride your bike more can only add to that good thing.
But what is the Rapha Festive 500? This being it's 10th year, the #festive500 (you have to use a hashtag every time you type it, it's the law) is a self set challenge to ride 500km in 8 days. Sounds pretty ok, right? 62.5km per day doesn't sound bad, what's the big deal? Well, those 8 days happen to fall in between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve!
