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Today Yorkshire based bag and accessory producer Restrap has announced a new cycling challenge, starting with the first edition in just over a month, for a virtual community event twice a year.
Revolving around the Winter and Summer Solstice, marking the shortest and longest days in the calendar respectively, when ‘the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere’. You might need to don some glasses to read that bit.
These solstices fall on June 21 and December 21 and determine the ‘official’ seasons of the year in many countries, along with equinoxes, where the day and night lengths are equal.
Restrap’s first Solstice Century challenge will be on the winter solstice weekend on the 19th & 20th December. As it is a virtual event, hosted on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and through Restrap’s Strava club, riders from all over the world can participate.
The challenge is to ride 100 miles over the duration of the solstice weekend. How you choose to do this is entirely up to you; split over two rides, or in one hit, road or off-road etc. Restrap hopes that this’ll make the challenge more accessible for riders of all abilities, and opens up options for an overnighter or a long day in the saddle.
Riders that complete the challenge will receive a Solstice Century Patch from Restrap as a reward for getting involved. That’s not all; riders can also win some bonus goodies! All photos tagged with #SolsticeCentury on social are eligible to win a set of 125L Exposure Trace Lights with a custom laser-etched Restrap logo, and a packable Race Musette to keep their goodies in.
The squad at ADVNTR are pretty excited about this. The summer solstice weekend tends to be jam-packed with riding events and initiatives, but getting the incentive to go riding in the depths of winter is always highly welcomed; especially if that doesn’t overlap with family duties at Christmas! Oh, what we’ll do for a patch. And we know from history that Restrap make some bloody great patches too.
Check out more about the challenge, rules and entry here at Restrap.
Last modified: 18th November 2020
