While you were sipping eggnog and e-shopping, Brew reader Brian Sacawa was taking up the Rapha Festive 500 Ride to Redemption challenge: to escape the clutches of holiday indulgence by riding 500 kilometers between the 23rd and 31st of December.

Sacawa not only logged 556 kilometers (about 345 miles), he made a video of the experience that is hypnotic, gorgeous and, at times, heart-stopping . . . to me, anyway, when he’s riding in between two lanes of cars or pumping along a piece of country road with a narrow shoulder and cars whizzing by on his left.

2011 Rapha Festive 500 from Brian Sacawa on Vimeo.

The music on the video is by J. Dilla, “Dime Piece (Instrumental)” from The Shining and it’s not surprising that attention was paid to the sounds here. Saxophonist Sacawa, a member of the U.S. Army Field band, is also a co-founder of Baltimore’s Mobtown Modern Music Series.

Rapha is a performance roadwear maker for the cycling set and they offer gear as prizes for the “most compelling” entries to their contest. They asked contestants to post evidence of the miles they covered and stories about what it was like. You can read Sacawa’s here.