I think i’m doing OK training wise with Zwift and outdoors, i’m doing about 25 hours per month at the moment and for the last 5 months. I expect to start upping that time to 30+ after this month and up to 35+ leading up to event, but will obviously be some at a lower intensity.

The 100 mile White roads seems to be 65% road, 35% off road, so i’m expecting that to be about 7 hours ride time. I forsee it being more of a slog than a sprint fest.
SDW will be more like 10-11 hours.

First one it looks like it will be with a mate, he’s a bit slower than me and we’ll be riding at his pace, so i should be getting done with that with a decent bit left in me.

Well, that’s all gone quite insane !!!

Chatting with Crust yesterday evening and working out logistics for the collection/meet-up etc, but Eastbourne is a LONG way away. Crust says to me “why don’t we just ride the double and we’re then back at the car?”

that’s of course a VERY interesting idea in my mind… So much so that i’ve booked a hotel for both of us ! So we’re now doing the SDW double that weekend.

Ideally need to work out a plan for getting a change of clothing down there to get changed into, but i was thinking of just boxing up some kit and posting it to the hotel..

Eeeeeek !

Ned. It was more the dullness of the train.

Hotel are happy to get a box of stuff.

This way, if we wake up on the Sunday and it’s lashing down etc we could still train it back if needed, but sod it, we’ve ridden the single twice now, so may as well make it the double. Let the training begin.

Well i have to admit, the SDW double is worrying me. Sat saw me doing an 86km ride, i wouldn’t go as far as ‘fresh as a daisy’ as 86km of Ridgeway/roads is a decent length, but i feel happy i had more left in the tank…. but when you consdier the first leg of the journey is double that… so realistically double the time + some more… That’s OK, it will just be a plod…. but then to head back again the next morning and do it in reverse… sheesh… i’m not sure i’ve got that in me.

The longer training rides will continue this weekend.. but i must admit i’m less optimistic than i was.

That’s the thinking yes, i’ve currently got a Rapid Rob on the front and i’ve just picked up a Maxxis Crossmark II for the rear, both should be pretty quick. But i doubt i’ll still have either by the time we get to July anyway, so will likely be a new pair on for the events.

Painey, i did it once on a Meta 55, which was bloody hard work as really not suited, especially as it was 1×10
The 2nd time i did on a Giant XTC29 which was of course a lot ‘quicker’ but was certainly more hard work from a bumpy perspective…

This time i’ve got a choice of the PArkwood 29 or the Whyte T130. the Parkwood is very effective, but DAMN it’s a dull heavy unweildy bike to ride… the thing is just not nice…. but it’s very good at covering distance.
The Whyte is a pure joy to ride though.

I’ll be interested to weigh the two and see if/what difference.

We had a very productive and semi-scientific ride last night out on the trails. Recently i switched the Parkwood 29 to faster XC tyres. Running tubeless too (but they also were previously), they were previously on On-one Smorgasboard and Chunky Monkey combo.
Last night on the first decent on the Ridgeway, we noticed as we were both rolling, i was pulling ahead of the Spearfish, and by a not small amount ! Was it a random pedal stroke more at the top, was it a better and faster line… Who knows. In all our other rides, the Spearfish has seemed the best rolling bike we’ve had together, always pulling away.
Next descent we try again, matching speed and letting it roll… the PArkwood positively flew away again.
Onto decent 3, this is the long one down to Streatley on the Ridgeway with the drainage jumps for anyone who knows it.. So we swapped bikes this time, to rule out any aero/weight, anything really. Crust on the PArkwood, me on the Spearfish. This time, we’d start off and i’d get in his wheel… Well… i’d try to anyway. As it worked out, the Parkwood pulled out a 15s lead on the first half of the descent.. I was following the Parkwood and it just flew away… BOOM! 15s just like that.

What this of course means in the real world is that on the lighter/faster rubber the rider is either going faster, or using less effort, depending on how you look at things. Either way, it’s a considerable advantage to have compared to previous rides.

We did notice later on in the ride, if we let it roll more, then as we get to the flat/incline, somehow the Parkwood doesn’t hold it’s speed quite as well and the Fish comes back to it.. but that could be the weight of rider maybe as i’m heavier than him.

All in all, some of our recent rides have been brilliant for preparing for this coming event, this ride was no exception to that… Seeing Crust behind me when going uphill still shocks me every time, even though i’m not pushing 100%, i’m still hitting a pace that normally would have blown him out of the water, but i see him there every time ! It’s both amusing and also really really good to see 🙂