Coach Jeff Podcast #1326 – Cycling the 2025 Festive 250

December 31, 2025·18 min·1 clip

Coach Geoff and Mrs. Coach are on day seven of their Festive 250 cycling adventure in cold Brisbane weather.

Coach Geoff opens episode 1326 of The Cycling Podcast, recorded on 31 December 2025, by introducing the Festive 250 challenge he and Mrs. Coach have been completing across the final week of the year. The episode is recorded primarily on the road rather than in a studio, giving it an informal, diary-like quality. On day seven, the final morning, Geoff and Mrs. Coach head out at 5am in Brisbane, noting that despite it being Australian summer, temperatures have been unusually cold all week. Geoff explains he has accumulated 212km over the previous six days and needs 38km to reach his 250km target. He briefly explains the origins of the challenge in the Festive 500, a week-long cycling event where participants aim to ride 500km between Christmas and New Year. He notes that some riders complete the entire 500km in a single continuous effort, and recounts the story of one cyclist who did so by riding loops around a McDonald's car park in Seattle. After setting off on the final ride, Geoff and Mrs. Coach stop at Zaraffa's Coffee in Mango Hill after only 23km, ordering lattes and coconut toast, which Geoff cheerfully acknowledges as a violation of training ride etiquette. Mrs. Coach jokes that the bike steered itself toward the café. The pair resume riding and complete the day's 42.2km, which Geoff notes took roughly the same time as a top women's marathon runner. At 8am, Geoff celebrates finishing the week with a cold beer while Mrs. Coach drinks Gatorade and lemonade. He reflects that 250km weeks once felt like easy recovery weeks during his Ironman triathlon years, when he would regularly ride 350-400km alongside swimming and running. He acknowledges that age has slowed him down but expresses genuine satisfaction with the week's achievement. Geoff also teases a future project described only as something year-and-beer related. He mentions encountering other cyclists during the week doing their own versions of the Festive 500 or shorter variants. Wildlife sightings included a quail near North Lakes, and the week featured persistent headwinds on most days except the final morning. Back at the laptop, Geoff reads out a full day-by-day breakdown: Christmas Day 44.68km, 26th 38.19km, 27th 27.23km, 28th two rides totalling 53.25km, 29th 20km, 30th 29.12km, and 31st 42.23km, bringing the total to approximately 254km. He closes by saluting those completing the full Festive 500 and signs off for the year.

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