Every year since 2009, sportswear and lifestyle brand Rapha has laid down a festive riding challenge: Ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

In a long-standing tradition of the #Festive500, everyone who completes the challenge is eligible for a coveted stitched roundel. But at the end of last year, Rapha encouraged riders to forgo the roundel. Participants could instead claim a digital roundel and a have a donation made to World Bicycle Relief by Rapha. The brand pledged to donate £2 for each cyclist that completed the challenge and opted to forgo the medallion.

Over the festive period in 2018, more people than ever took part in Rapha’s Festive500 challenge, with participant cycling almost 25 million kilometers in total.

Participants who opted for the donation to The Power of Bicycles raised enough to fun

d more than 60 Buffalo Bicycles to help mobilise students in Africa and enable them to cycle to school safely.

“This is an amazing contribution and we thank the Rapha customers and cycling club members for their incredible support, which has resulted in making a tremendous impact and so many new bikes being provided to those challenged by the barrier of distance in sub-Saharan Africa,” said WBRUK CEO Allison Dufosee. “WBR is very excited by this new collaborative partnership with Rapha and all that is possible in 2019.”

Thank you, Rapha and all those who participated!

If you believe in The Power of Bicycles and want to make a difference with Rapha, you can make a donation here.