Rapha Festive 500 - the scores on the doors

Some notes from the road kitchen

Day 1 – 24/12 (117kms)

The first game was played at a frantic pace, averaging 3w/kg for the entire game. Chelsea scored early on with a flowing move down the right, and I ended up comfortably beating my Son – a rare achievement in itself. Hazard scored a penalty to make it 3-0 before Anautovic pulled back a late one for Stoke. A good start. The second game was a more sedate affair, ridden in jeans and t-shirt at around 1w/kg. Two nil down to Hull after some early sloppy defending, I squared the game in the 80^th minute to take it to extra time. Unfortunately, Kompany and Aguero had to go off injured and I let in two more goals. If the first day is always the hardest, then things could have been a lot worse.

Day 2 – 25/12 (Day: 50km. Overall: 167km)

Things got off to a good start after annihilating my son on Star Wars Battleground. Unfortunately things went downhill from then on (if they can on a turbo trainer…). First a 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea with me playing as Bournemouth (11kms completed), then a 3-1 loss to Watford with me as Crystal Palace (5kms). Finally, playing as Liverpool against the computer, I could only manage a 0-0 draw with Morecambe (30kms). I may have been pushing 3w/kg, but still, Morecambe? Poor.

Day 3 – 26/12 (Day: 90km. Overall: 257km)

Just over halfway, and the first signs of fatigue. The first game went OK: at 3.3 w/kg, Chelsea won 1-0 against Morecambe, Hazard striking in the first half. But then, having signed up for the Z TAZ group ride, Chelsea – Newport County was abandoned at 0-0 due to excessive w/kg. Then late in the day, another disaster: Man Utd losing 2-0 to Yeovil Town.

Day 4 – 27/12 (Day: 82km. Overall: 339km)

When your son plays semi-pro and you find out you can change the difficult settings to amateur… kind of like riding Zwift with Z-power. An easy  4-0 for Man City over Accrington Stanley. In the evening I found there was even a beginner mode – an even easier 9-0 victory to Cardiff City against Brighton and Hove Albion – a warm up to their IRL game on Friday night...

Day 5 – 28/12 (Day: 92km. Overall: 431km)

Today for something different: an actual ride outside. And one of those proper Raphaesque rides on a gravel road over a mountain. Atmospheric. Awesome. Not sure if this should count or not for the overall total. Afterwards, another 12kms completed in which Cardiff beat Brighton again 3-0, this time on amateur mode. That leaves 150k for the next 3 days. Easy.

Day 6 – 29/12 (Day: 83km. Overall: 514km)

Technically that's the Festive 500 done. But as the aim was to do it all on Zwift, I still have another 70ks to go. That’ll have to wait for tomorrow. In the meantime, Cardiff City went down 3-0 to Brighton having moved up a level to semi-pro. Later on another easy ride, but a close one between Cardiff City and Aston Villa – Gunnarsson equalising at 80mins before Pilkington scoring the winner on 90mins.

Day 7 - 30/12 (Day: 86km. Overall: 600km)

The final push was a ride with my sometime cycling partner James who lives in Cambridge. But first a local derby: Cardiff v Swansea. It was close, but Cardiff couldn't finish it off despite Swansea's poor defence. But in the 80th minute Gunnarsson put a ball through to Pilkington who finished it off. After that, I led James out for the sprint on the Mall to claim the green jersey. Later on, a beer and a ride. Another local derby - Cardiff City against Bristol City. A man sent off in the first 10 minutes! But Pilkington scored a cracking header to secure the win in the 80th minute.

Day 8 - 31/12 (Day 25km. Overall: 625km)

Last day and another ride outside - just a short one up and around Castell Coch woods, in the rain. No more Zwift for a while.


All the scores and rides

Ride #	Date	Kms	Game	Teams	Score
1	24-Dec	106	Fifa	Chelsea - Stoke	3-1
2	24-Dec	10.9	Fifa	Hull City - Man City	4-2
3	25-Dec	3.9	Star Wars
4	25-Dec	10.9	Fifa	Chelsea - Bournemouth	5-0
5	25-Dec	5.1	Fifa	Crystal Palace - Watford	1-3
6	25-Dec	30	Fifa	Liverpool - Morecambe	0-0
7	26-Dec	40.4	Fifa	Chelsea - Morecambe	1-0
8	26-Dec	44	Fifa	Man City - Morecambe	abandoned
9	26-Dec	5.6	Fifa	Man Utd - Yeovil Town	0-2
10	27-Dec	70	Fifa	Man City - Accrington Stanley	4-0
11	27-Dec	12.1	Fifa	Cardiff City - Brighton and Hove Albion	9-0
12	28-Dec	80.3	n/a	n/a	n/a
13	28-Dec	12.1	Fifa	Cardiff City - Brighton and Hove Albion	3-0
14	29-Dec	70.9	Fifa	Cardiff City - Brighton and Hove Albion	0-3
15	29-Dec	12.1	Fifa	Cardiff City - Aston Villa	2-1
16	30-Dec	76.1	Fifa	Cardiff City - Swansea City	1-0
17	30/12/16	10.3	Fifa	Cardiff City - Bristol City	2-0
18	31/12/16	25.1	n/a	n/a	n/a