Superb effort.
I did the 2-dayer Weds and Thurs this week which hurt enough! Good luck to anyone planning it in one go. My advice, go for lightweight full suss and fast rolling tyres. I did it on a hardtail and my @rse was the sorest part by the end!

Whats the distance / climbing if I may ask? Just interested like

202 miles and 20,000ft of climbing for the double, TJ.

In that case Rob needs to go and have a serious word with himself. 🙂

Good work big fella! :o)

brooess – or a hardtail fast tyres and fit a USE suspension seatpost (cheaper and lighter!)

Don't use paper thin tyres or the flint will rip them (a theory well proven)

Neil ewell has GPS of one or more double and it's 101 miles and 12700ft of climbing each way, or 25400ft for a full 202 mile double. It's "quite" hard 😉 (but a lot of fun)

Those figures look daunting.
(we lined up at Newcastleton together & I have a picture somewhere of the GL) – nice one!

Images from 24 solo I took as we rode 'round.

If it was easy, we wouldn't do it!

Congratulations Rob !

Keep up the great work of inspiring mere mortals like myself to train and try and attempt such a mammoth ride like this.
I am hoping to attempt a one way sdw next year 🙂 (Afan monster 75k this year 1st).

Brilliant stuff

Paul

Well done, Rob.

I need a silly bike challenge for August, I think.

That is truly amazing. I found just one-way SS unspeakably painful. Inspiring.

Cheers (again) guys,

It's reading about the SDD a few years ago that got me into the endurance thing, and wondering just what was possible (for me), so if this helps make it seem more possible for more people, that's very flattering indeed.

I'll be doing a short write up now I've celebrated with my friends and fellow riders and have started to catch up on missed sleep. I'll stick a clicky link on this thread once it's published on the Leisure Lakes website, and hopefully on BikeMagic too.

For those that are interested I could include a little bit on what I ate, as this is a BIG thing for me as I've really struggled with this in the past? I now have a rucksack FULL of wrappers!

For those that are interested I could include a little bit on what I ate

Yes please. I'm slowly building up a list of things that really don't work at all.

Rob, having tried and failed to do the South Downs Way in one day with 3 x 9 and full suspension on my side, I'm in awe of your ride.

What were the worst and best bits? I did the route Westbound but the climb Eastbound up Old Winchester Hill seemed nasty, the cobbles either side of Jevington were interesting and, going back to Winchester, the short uphill along a field edge from the A27. But the rewards when you're riding high on the hills with valleys filled with cloud and views for miles is well worth it. I hope you had got to enjoy the route a bit.

For those that are interested I could include a little bit on what I ate, as this is a BIG thing for me as I've really struggled with this in the past? I now have a rucksack FULL of wrappers!

Yes, please. I'm struggling with nutrition. I've got it sorted for running but that doesn't seem to translate to rides that are very much longer in time.

Ian

Sorry to resurrect this – but what is the current status of the Warnford section?

The SDD website says that the "classic" route is still usable as of May 2009, but the latest Harvey SDW map only shows the "new temporary" route through Exton, and it looks like some recent SDD riders (e.g. Ben Sherrat) have used that.

So, is the classic route still passable? And legal?

Not that I'm planning a double, just a single!

I heard that the Warnford bit was closed.

the bridge at Southease is also under maintenance and there may be a diversion for that too.

Good work buddy.
Ride Brighton/ Winchester the other day, and the climbs do not let up.
J.

The "old temporary" route is still all bridelway, legal, open and rideable. I used the old temprary route so I could compare my time to Ian Leitch, Mike Cotty, Rob Lee, Steve Heading and Neil Newall, as well as my own geared time.

My Harveys Map also shows the old route 😉 !

There is a minor diverson at Southease at th river swing bridge, but it's really minor as well as obvious, so not an issue.

Thanks, I'll use the old route then.

The National Trails website suggests there will be a couple of days where the Southease crossing is completely closed (presumably including the diversion) but doesn't say when – hope I don't have to divert around to Lewes or Newhaven 😮

Rob, send us the story too when you get a chance and we'll run it too (unless you have some sort of Hello! exclusive deal with the BM boys :)) editorial@stw -etc

Good work there!

Cheers Chipps. Write up sent to you yesterday. Let me know if it doesn't get there.

Thank you for running it, hope it's useful and interesting to someone.