Fancy setting up another challenge… SDW in a day seems like a good one, thinking 15th June as I have 2 days off, so will give me a day to recover on the 16th! Looking at trains, can get the Waterloo to Winchester @ 06:30, arrives Winchester @ 07:33, time enough for a coffee and breakfast before heading off at say 8am… coming back from Eastbourne to Victoria there’s a train at 21:04 that arrives back @ 22:40 – would give us 12-13hrs or so to do the full route of 100miles, which seems achievable?

Anyone interested?

Why then!?! WHY GODDAMMIT!!!???

I’m bloody busy then.

Could do the 24th of June instead if that’s any better? Would give me a bit more time to work on my fitness as well! 😆

Right, I’m up for this and the 24th is also good for me. This gives me a bit of notice to get fit(ter) and to organise work.

i would aim for an earlier start – whilst you may be able to do it in 12 hours, you might not, so having lots more time at the end for faffage would be advisable

Very tempting…keen to do SDW in a day and I was considering signing up for the BHF one on the 25th.

Early days I know but how do you think it would work…stay as a group or seperate out and find your own pace?

while I’d be more than happy to do a rerun of your London to Brighton, the SDW in a day is a bit more of a challenge- have you checked out the climbing?
I’d say you need to be a bit more than averagely fit to do it in 12-13 hours.
Two days would be a lot more fun.
Good luck. 🙂

Very tempted, off to do Brighton – Eastbourne now. Thinking of doing Caterham – North Downs Way – Downs link – Brighton – Eastbourne.

on that note, has anyone done the north downs way in a day? 50% longer, can’t get a figure on the total climb

NDW is a bit cheeky, plenty of it’s footpath and there are quite a few stiles. Used to ride a lot of between Farnham and past Guildford, though.

What’s with all the weekday rides? I need a different job!

the SDW in a day is a bit more of a challenge- have you checked out the climbing?

I know this one will be a proper mission… but what the heck, nothing ventured nothing achieved 😆 … I reckon I can do it, fitness notwithstanding (which is barely middle of the road at the moment!) I’m pretty bloody minded once I set myself to a physical challenge 😀

What’s with all the weekday rides? I need a different job!

One of the ‘joys’ of working weekends frequently…

Taken a half day – train down to brighton with the bike. Got a caravan in eastbourne, on the SDW a lot, and Friston. Happy days.

Thinking of doing Caterham – North Downs Way – Downs link – Brighton – Eastbourne.

Highly recommended 😀

…the next variation on my list is Dorking – NDW – Downs link – Winchester (although most likely reversed)

Psy- give it a couple of months for get properly fit. Otherwise you will die.

Seriously; whilst we din’t ‘struggle’ yesterday, we were both proper knackered. Indicating our fitness levels aren’t anywhere near enough for SDW in one day. It’s proper off-road mate. You know that nasty climb up that hill? Well, there’s loads of that.

I’d have been very daunted by SDW in a day when I was a courier, and I was in me twenties and proper fit then. Doing it right now, we’d just damage ourselves. Seriously. I’d not take on such a challenge unless I was a lot fitter, ie, proper mad endurance fit. It’s a hundred miles, proper off-road. Equivalent to at least double what we did yesterday; remember, 90 percent of it was pancake flat.

An overnighter to start with would be a good plan. Get a feel for it, build up to the big one. Just cos you can do 90+ flat miles don’t mean you’re capable of doing 100 off-road miles.

Not wishing to pee on your chips, but I strongly advise you to think this through. Hopefully, someone with experience of this will be along shortly to set us all straight…

I did the SDW in two days…it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do. The climbs are steep and challenging in places with loose flint and rutted tracks. Particularly the last 40 miles as you get closer to Eastbourne…most of the climbing is in this section.

I couldn’t do it in one day…I spent pretty much all of summer 2010 training for the 2 day event, and still wasn’t fit enough to do it over 2. Although I did finish and didn’t come last!

I may have had to walk up some hills but don’t tell anyone.

Your just egging me on now Elfin… I know it’s a tough challenge, but seriously, if you ‘need’ to be ‘proper mad endurance fit’ then how are chaps undertaking it for the BHF rides? I’m guessing folk will be fit, but ‘proper mad endurance fit’? Doubt it…

I wasn’t that knackered yesterday tbh… was getting a bit tired and grumpy and definitely rather saddle sore, but still plenty of juice in the tank to keep going if I’d needed to 😀

on that note, has anyone done the north downs way in a day? 50% longer, can’t get a figure on the total climb

Like you say, it’s about 150 miles so for most people (even fit bikers) that’s way beyond a single day’s riding.

Farnham to Woldingham is easy, but then it starts getting really ‘footpathy’ and you’ll also need time to correct any navigational errors.

Tis very flat though, so I’d recommend mapping out some road/bridleway options for the east side to replace the proper NDW. Otherwise I could see it going on and on,

I may have had to walk up some hills but don’t tell anyone.

Amberly Mount by any chance? That’s a steep fecker even on a good day.

Thinking a bit more about it, I reckon it’d be a good idea to spend the night in Eastbourne before coming back to London the next day… would remove the time pressure of the train and the journey back home after a knackering days ride. Would be nice to just have a shower and collapse into a bed pretty much straight away…

I’m fine to ‘hike-a-bike’ up some (all?) of the hills, will probably ride flats with hiking shoes just for this purpose in fact, would that be a good idea or will I miss being clipped in?

Your just egging me on now Elfin… I know it’s a tough challenge, but seriously, if you ‘need’ to be ‘proper mad endurance fit’ then how are chaps undertaking it for the BHF rides? I’m guessing folk will be fit, but ‘proper mad endurance fit’? Doubt it…

People who do it train propperly, Psy. Like, 50+ miles a day and the rest. Off road. They probbly also have special diets and are mentally ill.

What’s the furthest you’ve ever done propperly off road?

SDW in a day, following a flat 90+ miler, is like doing a cross-country marathon after only training for 10k road runs.

You know those people you see on telly during the London Marathon, collapsing on the route, and having to be ambulanced away?

That’ll be you, that will, unless you train propperly…

I did the SDW in two days…it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do.

Take note…

That’s it, I’m giving it a go…

24th of June it is, will spend the night in Eastbourne at the end. Probably best to undertake this attempt solo, then I can cry and moan as much as I want and not be embarrassed 😆

You wanna place a bet on me surviving Elfin? 😉

i did the sdw in a day, without training, last year and it was a pretty dumb idea. I’m fairly fit (can easily knock out 100miles on-road, and recently did a marathon without running at all for the previous 5 years) and it took me and my buddies took 17 hours something to do the ride. There was a lot of pushing involved.

that said, if you’re doing it from winchester, you do have an option to stop\abort\spend a night in brighton, its about 60 miles in. You could always book a night there, and aim to get to eastborne in a day\train back to brighton, and if you don’t feel up for it\the light is dropping (it took a LOT of mental strength for me not to ‘pop home’ after 70 miles) you can split the ride there and do the brighton-eastborne leg the next day.

I’ve no idea on your fitness levels, but the SDW is the hardest ride I’ve ever done as well, and I’ve done a 24 hour race solo before (i guess I wasn’t trying very hard for that :))

You wanna place a bet on me surviving Elfin

I’ve no doubt you’l do it, cos you’re a stubborn bastard and you’ve got great stamina.

I’m just wondering how much you’ll enjoy it, is all…

Personally, I’d rather take advice from people who’ve done it, and from people who regularly do epic off-road rides. I don’t see the point in hurting yourself, just to prove something.

I’ll be more than happy to do an overnighter or two, then give the whole thing a go.

Remember that you underestimated our time yesterday; I think giving yourself a target of 12-13 hours to do 100 miles off-road is very optimistic at best, and pretty stupid at worst.

Good luck to you though, if you really want to do it without proper training…

Only reason I underestimated our time yesterday was a) singlespeeds limited our top speed on the easy flat sections and b) we took a couple of longer breaks than I did on the last one (which added around 1.5hrs to the overall time from 9am.) Riding time was actually around 8hrs or so, average speed of 18km, so not too bad given the SS situation….

Why not take some more training time and give the Kielder 100 on Sept 3rd a go?

Will have a new baby around then, so that’s out unfortunately…

Or do half (Winch – Amberley say) and see how you feel about doubling that. It’s a tough slog and not to be underestimated. Though you’d be laughing this weekend with bone dry trails and a strong following wind.

pscyle, book somewhere to stay in Eastbourne (with secure bike storage), and tell them you might be late. Take lights even. Know you’re getting the train back the next day. You want maximum freedom to just keep going without any “I won’t be able to get home unless I bail now”

Commit! If this is true:

you’re a stubborn bastard and you’ve got great stamina

I’m sure you’ll be fine. Probably do it in a decent time too.

Get the Harvey Maps map of the route, all the taps and stuff are marked and it’s a pretty useful guide to how you’re getting on, and pretty satisfying moving throught the sections.

A good level of fitness is the starting point for the SDW in a day. After that there’s still the 3500 and odd metres of climbing and the discomfort of being on a bike (sus or not) for 10+ hours. That’s not to say don’t give it a go but I have a few friends in the cycling club I belong to who have come unstuck on it.

By way of comparison I did the 270km Tour of Flanders ride in April (in 10 hours) and I normally do the 3 peaks cyclo cross (in 4 hours). I still reckon doing the SDW in a day is harder than either of these.

Having said all that, nothing ventured nothing gained. There are any number of places to cut short the ride if it becomes insufferable.

pscyle, book somewhere to stay in Eastbourne (with secure bike storage), and tell them you might be late. Take lights even. Know you’re getting the train back the next day. You want maximum freedom to just keep going without any “I won’t be able to get home unless I bail now”

That’s the plan now, just need to find a place to stay… might head to Winchester the night before as well, a good nights sleep before heading off at dawn seems like a good idea 🙂

Get the Harvey Maps map of the route, all the taps and stuff are marked and it’s a pretty useful guide to how you’re getting on, and pretty satisfying moving throught the sections.

Thanks for the tip, shall hunt a copy down.

If it’s raining though, keep your expectations in check and think about bail out options. Or postpone!

My last go. (over a weekend, 60/40 split with a night at Truleigh Hill Hostel)

just need to find a place to stay

Given your bike buying habits, you might have different standards, but the hostel in Eastbourne (a way up the hill) is pretty good and has a locked shed for bikes. Good pub grub an amble down the road, too.

Yep, if it’s raining, I’ll postpone… I want a nice sunny (though not too hot!) day for this…

Thanks for the accom tip, shall take a look (I’m happy to rough it occasionally 😉 )

aah, the elation on reaching the hill above eastbourne after doing the sdw in a day. it can’t be matched.

aye, when we did it last weekend in may last year), it was 33C if I remember right. Some of those climbs were horrible

I’ve no idea on your fitness levels, but the SDW is the hardest ride I’ve ever done as well, and I’ve done a 24 hour race solo before (i guess I wasn’t trying very hard for that :))

is a 24 hour solo easier than sdw in a day? mmmm.

is a 24 hour solo easier than sdw in a day? mmmm.

it was for me. in the race I just plodded along, doing as much riding as I could without really pushing things. For the SDW, darkness was a cutoff (no lights) so I found myself pushing harder to get finished. as it was, we finished about 30 mins after it got dark, and the last descent was quite ‘interesting’..

Well, looks like you’ve decided to ignore any advice, give it a go, so good luck! 😀

Personally, I’d rather train up propply, be able to achieve 50-60 miles off-road easily, then do it. I feel that jumping straight into something you have no experience of is just daft, and I really, really woon’t want to be 80 miles in and be so ruined the rest of the journey was torture. No-one I’ve ever known who does anything remotely similar would dream of attempting such a feat without adequate preparation. And I’m talking about proper mad fit people, not normal folk.

I think you also underestimate your fitness somewhat. You’re probbly a little bit fitter than me, but I’m not even 50% as fit as I could be. People who do such things are definitely a good bit fitter than either of us. Yes, it may be achievable, but at what cost? Not wishing to be rude, but you sweat * a lot*, and there’s issues such as fluid and salt replenishment to consider. You’ll be working at two or three times the intensity we were for most of yesterday. Pushing your body well beyond it’s natural limits could lead to organ damage and permanent muscle damage. Granted, I’m a worrying Doubting Thomas, but then I was brought up by a mum who has actually done great distances over rough terrain, and has good medical knowledge, so I’d always err on the side of caution, speshly for such difficult undertakings.

I’d listen to those who know, but hey, if you truly believe you can do it, go for it, cos self-belief is surely half the battle won…

I’ve done the SDW in a day – well sort of! – we had to bail two miles from the end to get the last train back to Winchester from Polegate as it had already left Eastbourne! If it wasn’t for a very friendly local with a pick up truck we would have been stranded.

Lessons learned;

1. take some lights. We ran out of light due to underestimating the time it would take us.
2. Be careful following the signs. The route changes and we ended up following and old section and adding 10 miles to the journey.
3. Limit the amount of time you stop for. it took us 14 hours, of which only 11 was riding.

We ended up doing 110 miles and 13,000 feet of ascent so it’s a serious undertaking, but it is possible to keep your average speed up as there’s no technical sections of any note.

Good luck!