Rapha #festive500 Round Up.

Well it's New Years Day here, and we've not been out on our bikes today, and it hasn't rained either.

We had a New Years Eve party last night, and we both made it to the end of that too.

Minipips and I set out on our attempt at the #festive500 prepared to give it a go, but not knowing if he would make it or not, which made it a proper adventure.

Day 1 turned into a mini epic for Minipips as his hands got cold and wet. It took him a good while in the cafe in Buxton for him to stop shivering. I thought he wouldn't want to do any more after that.

The importance of having exactly the right kit had been shown. Next day we put a pair of washing up gloves over his full finger cycling gloves which made the rest of the riding shiver free.

Other Kit Minipips wore were, a thin base layer, fleece jumper, thick windproof cycling Jacket, a buff round his neck, topped with a waterproof jacket. For his bottom half he wore padded full length legs, waterproof overtrousers, sealskinz socks and overshoes. On his head either a cotton cycling cap, or a fleece hat. Not all, but most of his kit came from Decathlon, which does good quality reasonably priced kids cycling stuff.

Whenever we were on the road we had flashing front and rear light which were helmet mounted.

Lots of people asked what he had in his bar bag. The answer, apart from jelly babies, a Terra Nova Superlite Bothy in case it all went pear shaped. Hypothermia is always a possibility this time of year, if there's an enforced stop.

I've found this a great bit of kit if the weather is less than pleasant for keeping Minipips toasty warm. Thankfully we didn't need to use it.

Below when we were marshalling at a recent fell race.

The weather though never clement throughout the eight days, never became that bad that Minipips wanted to pack it in. Ice or Snow, would however have been very different though.

The plan was to ride everyday doing fairly equal distances. However we managed a longest day of 95Km and a shortest one of 43Km.

Riding on the road as an adult is stressful enough this time of year, and managing a 7 year old on the road is more so. When on the road Minipips always rides just in front of me, with me slightly nearer the middle of the road.

I did my best to do lots of our mileage off road, then road safety is not an issue. The down side, is that progress is slower.

I have to thank my Wife and Daughter for putting up with wet clothes on every radiator for the week, picking us up from random places, and obviously not seeing very much of us. Most days we were out for all the hours of daylight.

We both really enjoyed the ride,though  next year's #festive500 will be without us, as we'll be spending time doing the family thing

Thanks to all our tweeter friends and blog followers for encouraging us on our way.

Happy New Year.