And i had glorious weather for it!!
Last did the whole thing back in 2012 on a geared full sus..took about 12 hours..
So, this year I thought I’d give it a bash on a crappy rigid on-one scandal single speed…
It was incredible!!
My finger grip was ‘testing’ on a few of the final descents, but the 32:18 wonky gearing seemed perfect..I walked a few times mid some of the big final hills..just to rest the legs a tad!!

I thought the weather was going to be awful (it’s rained heavily locally earlier this week) but it was dry and sunny…literally only 3 puddles on the whole route!!

So five years older.. Another kid…a busy job…and I smashed it out in 9hrs 20 station to station, so likely to be about 9 hours for the SDW itself….
It must be the new (ginger) beard 😉

Good luck all those doing the BHF ride on Saturday..it’s running sweet!!

DrP

Likes

😆

Respect!

Huge loud claps, took me 14 hours last year and there Sat.

Bloody great job!

SS 😯

That’s impressive! Just finished arranging all the logistical side of my attempt on the 24th, this’ll give me motivation to do it with lovely gears and full bounce.

Great effort! Going to have a crack later this year, September time before the winter clag sets in!

Mentalist.

Good times 🙂

Fond memories of doing the SD twice over 4 days with a few SS folks years back. Always meant to go back and do it again.

Nice one! Really well done. I singlespeed the Eastbourne-end sections but there’s a few hills on the SDW which would give me the heebie-jeebies on one gear.

Well done.

Massive respect well done. There’s hope for me yet.

Storming time, well done!

You’ve earned your kudos on this occasion. Well done.

I hope the CQC have validated your equipment as appropriate and confirmed the time 🙂

Epic! Well done!

I did about 20 miles of the SDW on a singlespeed, hungover to hell after a wedding. Didn’t enjoy it.

9 hrs is a cracking time. What’s the SS record? How did it feel?
Were you deliberately on the smash, or were you just getting on with it?

Blimey – cracking time there. Well done.

DrP – Member
…So, this year I thought I’d give it a bash on a crappy rigid on-one scandal single speed…

Well done. Nothing crappy about a bike that gets you there faster.

Scandal is a future classic IMO.

Scandal with be THE bike I’ll always regret selling.

Ed:
“9 hrs is a cracking time. What’s the SS record? How did it feel?
Were you deliberately on the smash, or were you just getting on with it?”

I actually was a bit apprehensive when setting out, as was even wondering if I’d make 12ish hours…
As I got going, the SS was just flying along the flats/tops of hills 🙂
I figured I was never going to get any up hill KOMS, and didn’t want ot ‘burn my legs out’ trying, but my strategy suddely became “just keep up the pace where you can – flats, gentle hills, down hills”.
It’s easy to keep teh average speed up if you’re tabbing along at 22-24kmph on the easier bits! I was keeping that up all the way to eastbourse, but my hill times were slowing down!

Also, I’m getting better at fuelling on teh go, and ‘not stopping’ – the Winter enduro races have tarined me to ‘just keep going’. You can lose a lot of time by stopping and faffing – learn to ‘rest’ on teh bike, and you’ll get great times!!

DrP

Out of interest, how much water do you reckon you drank?

I took 2 large camelback podiums, so about 650ml each (i went for these over a bladder, as I only put water in the bladder, and bottles are easier to fill at taps!)

I started with 2 full ones (would be daft not to!) and I reckon i filled both about, erm… 5 or 6 times, and took a few extra gulps at the taps too (and then topped up again).
I only Pee’d 3 or 4 times – small concentrated volumes too!

I mostly had high-5 sachets in the bottles (I’ve a big tub at home, but the ‘race pack’ sachets are really convenient to fill on the go) but once or twice I put a high-5 Zero tab in the bottle, and about 70 miles in I put a high-5 protein recovery shake in a bottle..

I find I need to drink loads, but it pays off (for me) as my performance really drops if I’m dehydrated…

DrP

good work

That is some impressive riding! Wondering about your prep/recovery for such an effort… did you do anything special or is that just “a ride” for you? How often/far do you ride normally?

Stravaaaaaaaa, if you like stats!

DrP

The SDW double record was held for a while on SS at 17 hours – so probably less that 8 hours either way, accounting for stops, gates etc 😯

Kudos

Well done!

Why on earth has the activity been flagged?

I flagged it because it doesn’t appear on the ‘South downs way’ Strava segment for some reason..probably gps drift??

DrP

Wow – and you sounded relatively normal in your previous posts.

Very impressive, well done!

Get yourself added to the list

…and you sounded relatively normal in your previous posts…

Relatively…that’s a start 😉

Some pics..

Tap distances…usefull as a mental reminder:

Cocking..chuckle…

DrP

Wow – and you sounded relatively normal in your previous posts.

He’s not.

I’ve got to ‘follow’ him round the Ard Rock. 🙄

And the other one that’s even faster downhill. 🙄 🙄

Why on earth has the activity been flagged?

Moped.

^^ LOLZ!!

Annoyingly, the SDW strava segment contains an older diversion that isn’t always in place.. I followed the GPS route I made from OS maps, so I may never feature in Strava KOM hall of fame (I would have beat the KOM, By the way!) because there’s so many annual route variations!!

Anyway..

That is some impressive riding! Wondering about your prep/recovery for such an effort… did you do anything special or is that just “a ride” for you? How often/far do you ride normally?

I find for a ride like this you DO need to be fit, but also ‘know your threshold’..i.e working to HR and ‘general feel’..OK, for me that might be higher than for some, and less for others, but as long as you are aware of that, you really can just keep going and going.

Of course, the more you ride, the ‘higher your threshold gets’ so you can keep going, but be faster at it.

I had little prep really – i haven’t done a long MTB ride since heaven of the south, but i think keeping a baseline level of fitness up since winter helps.. I just pootle around on a bike whenever I can. Usually manage to get out (with that git Pictonroad) most Tuesday evenings, but haven’t managed the past two Tuesdays!

I haven’t specifically trained for this ‘leading up to it’, but my general approach to riding is to just ‘give it a go’ and enjoy it, so try to ride a bike as often as I can (I use a bike for work, and carrying the kids around etc). Not specific training for anything, but finds it helps keep up baseline fitness.

Also… after a recent ‘self experiment’ with calorie restriction for weight loss (basically, I don’t need to lose weight – I’m 70kg with v little body fat. However, I wondered what a smaller portion diet would do to superficial fat, and managed to lose 5kg in about 2 weeks!!!!) I’ve found i haven’t lost power and maintained fitness – that goes agains some beliefs!!!

As it is, at the end of the day, i’ts just riding a bike on a beautiful route..yeah, some will do it fast, but ther’es no chequered flag or crowd at the end..jsut do it, enjoy it, and pour yourself a drink when you’re done in your own time!!

DrP

Top bombing drp

As it is, at the end of the day, i’ts just riding a bike on a beautiful route..yeah, some will do it fast, but ther’es no chequered flag or crowd at the end..jsut do it, enjoy it, and pour yourself a drink when you’re done in your own time!!

DrP

Best advice, Eva !

^^
Likes 🙂

DrP