It was the first of the two, British Heart Foundation 100 mile Randonee's yesterday – did you ride it?

How did you get on?

What lessons did you learn (should have took more gels, had loads of punctures etc)

The South Downs is a popular 100 mile endurance ride so please share your thoughts!

i did it a month or 2 ago with a couple of mates. I'd say it's important to keep on going – a 5 min break every hour reduces the riding time available by an hour and a half..

How did you get on?

Unspeakably painful.

Unspeakably painful.

😆

Fair play to anyone who can do the 100miler (…and hats off to those who have done the double!). Its a tough day out. First time I did the 65 miler I was under the naive impression you get up on the top of the downs and stay up there…oh how wrong I was. 😳

Hot, damn hot! Continuously drinking and non-stop sweating, I only p'd twice during the whole day!

Tips:
Get there early or stay in Winchester the night before, I trvelled there by train so didn't get to the start until 8.30am and was already dripping with sweat, think I was the last person to leave?
The start was really hard to find, I thought there would be signs but nothing and nobody knew where Chilcombe was and there were no road signs to it either, at one point I seriously thought I wasn't going to find it!
Take more inner tubes than you think you will need.
If you have a CO2 inflater, take more canisters than you think you need.
Take something more than just energy bars/gels to scoff on as these become sickly after a while.
Wet wipes were good for freshening up a bit.
I'm usually sceptical about energy gels but I tried out a sample zipvit 'caffeine energy plus gel' and this really kicked in after 15 mins or so, I've ordered some more.
Don't underestimate how hard it is, I only did the 65 miles, I salute anyone who did the 100!

… this is the route profile and data from my GPS, so you can see how up and down it is, although it probably looks worse on the screen as it has to fit it into the screen width?

Well done chap, did a bit of southdowns way this morning from Cheese Head and it was baking by 8.30am!!!

Well done Kojack, I also did the 65 miler (75 in the end once I ridden home). Stupidly hot despite setting off early doors at 5:30, planned on doing the 100 which I did for the first time last year but the heat took it toll. 😳

Did the 100 mile this year, by the end I was ready to sell my bike to anyone that offered me a tenner as I thought that I never wanted to get on a bike again. Four days later I am thinking that it really wasn’t that bad (it really,really was) and thinking that I ought to start preparing for next year.
I decided in April to enter this ride, I bought a bike and trained evenings and weekends up to the weekend before the ride. The tips that I picked up from experienced riders out on the trails and the information from sites like this I found invaluable. The best tip I received was “drink before you are thirsty and eat before you are hungry”
I carried two litre bottles of water, sandwiches (cheese & pickle on brown), cereal bars & fruitcake (following advice I avoided energy drinks and gels as I had not trained on them and was warned of the possibility of an upset stomach further adding to the rest of the self inflicted pain, misery and discomfort), a tool kit inc chain splitter & links (not needed) spare tubes and puncture repair kit (not needed) a water/windproof (definitely not needed) sunscreen and an inspirationally amusing letter (in the style of a James Corden coaching session) from my 14 year old daughter (needed)
All of the equipment added to the weight but at the age of 54 the biggest burden was the last 20 years!!
As the pain subsides and the bad memories fade the good memories of the beautiful scenery the rolling downhill sections and the feeling of triumph on reaching the 100 mile finish live on.
Provided that I continue to ride, lose a stone or two I may be back next year.

toooldat54: How long did it take you?

well done to all who did it – I rode the wiggle 44 miler on Sunday around the SDW at chichester and found that tough enough and there were flapjack stops available on that one.

Bigface0_0 : a shameful 15 hours although it seemed longer , I was close to needing lights! Tracked at an average of 6.6 mph (inc short breaks plus 15 mins at Devils Dyke)for the first 77miles after that the battery went.

I took 17 hours on it, and we did need lights at the end (basically dusk was on the climb out of Alfriston), but hadn't planned that far ahead so didn't have any. The descents into Jevington (pitch black in the woods) and Eastborne (no idea if we were going the right way) were a nice bit of excitement at the end of a long ride. Fortunately we weren't on the official randonee as I think we passed the cutoff point too late. In our defense..

Decided the thursday (2 days before) that we'd give it a go
it was late may, so very hot and less light
I don't ride xc normally
my bike was very very unsuited

Well done everyone, Im going next weekend but over two days, a massive first day a spot of bivi action then a short ride the next followed by a nice 3 hours train ride home.. I really looking forward to it..

Doing the 100 on 31st July, worried that I'm nowhere near fit enough. Anybody got any training tips that can make a difference in 19 days?

Anybody got any training tips that can make a difference in 19 days?

not really – ride your bike as much as you can for the next 2 weeks and then rest for a few days before hand.

on the day make sure you stay hydrated and have plenty of energy gels (or whatever) with you.

i went to the pub the night before. I managed the ride.

It's not so much about fitness as about pacing yourself and mental attitude..