CW5000

Are you ready to give your riding a boost in 2025? Sign up to one of our four ride challenges and we’ll help inspire you to ride further than ever before. From 500 to 5,000 miles we’ve got a challenge for everyone.

Alongside the motivation that comes from setting yourself a clear goal, we send all riders two monthly challenges on the first day of the month. These range from fun, photo based challenges to specific distance, climbing or time goals.

They're all easy enough to do, but hard enough to keep challenging you. And most of the challenges can be completed on an indoor trainer with a virtual riding platform logging your miles. So no matter where you are in the world, you can log your miles and earn your medal!

The Mini - Ride 500 miles. This could take you one month, three months or all year. It doesn’t matter. 500 miles in a year is just 41.6 miles a month, so there’s no rush to start riding in the middle of winter. That’s why the monthly challenges for The Mini will at first focus on general health and fitness, before getting you to venture out on your bike when the daylight hours stretch out and the temperature starts creeping up.

The Midi - Ride 1,000 miles. To complete this challenge you’ll need to hit just under 100 miles a month. That might not be too hard in the middle of summer, but in winter it can be a big ask. For those who hit the distance sooner than they think, there’s always the chance of moving on to The Maxi

The Maxi - Ride 2,500 miles. A serious task for any rider, no matter how committed you are. Completing this challenge will require you to ride over 200 miles a month, that means 49 miles every week. As per the other challenges, all miles count toward the total, including indoor miles logged in virtual worlds.

CW5000 - Ride 5,000 miles. The original challenge and still a mammoth task for any rider, requiring consistent riding all year round. We’ve never had more than 1,000 people complete the challenge in the four years it’s been running. Could 2024 be the year we see a record number? You can find out who completed this challenge in 2024 with our finishers list. Sign up to add your name to the 2024 list.

Sign up for free

How it works

Sign up: It’s simple, quick and free. Enter your details into the form above, select which challenge you want to tackle click 'Sign me up to the Big Ride Challenge!' There’s a Facebook group to join a club on Strava and even a WhatsApp channel. You’ll get a welcome email when you sign up, but a lot of these end up in SPAM folders. Please check yours and update your settings to let your email provider know that we’re not spam.

Get riding: This is the important bit. Get out and ride your bike. Or stay in. All miles count whether they’re on a turbo with a screen in front of you, or out on the road in real life. Remember, it’s an individual challenge for you to complete, you’re not in a race with anyone else.

Log your miles: Keep a record of every mile you’ve ridden and watch them add up through the year. Most of our riders log their miles on Strava, but there are lots of ride logging platforms available and we don’t mind which one you use. You can also log them on a spreadsheet or on the CW mileage chart. We’ve been printing it in the magazine for over 100 years, and thousands of cyclists have used it in that time.

Get involved: The private Facebook group linked to this challenge is a supportive and friendly place where people post about their riding. You can also join the Strava club or the WhatsApp channel where we'll be posting fitness, riding and training content. We love hearing about your two wheel adventures, and the best stories and photographs are used in our monthly round ups. You’ll also be set two smaller challenges every month to help keep you riding.

Order your medal: Once you’ve completed the distance send us proof of your mileage and you’ll be added to the challenges finishers list. You’ll also be able to order your medal that we’ll send out along with a finishers certificate.