I tried .
I failed .

The wheel of misfortune rolled against me today . Just want a sub12hr completion. Its not much to ask for really is it .
Got bike out of garage at 0500 with a flat tyre , was dicking around with it on tuesday and couldnt get the bead to seat and seal.

Still Im up and ready so whoosh it up with the tracky and off to winch.

0555 rolling out of park and ride all good. Bloomin tyre needed topping up every 45mins or so. Undecided as to put in the one tube I had in or stay with it .

qecp in 2hrs and all good apart from the leaky tyre

A285 Littleton road crossing in 4hr 10mins, just behind my schedule of 4hr @10mph , 4hr @ 9mph and 3hr @ 8mph , tyre still dicking around .

At Chanctonbury ring the decision was taken from me when a flint sliced open the sidewall of the RR for about 4cm . Spent 20mins putting in a tyre boot and tube and degunking + food stop.

All good to Truleigh hill, had a very quick water stop as now behind schedule but legs felt OK .

my food plan of something solid ( bagel / malt loaf / banana ) and a gel every 90 mins seemed to workinga treat and by the Saddlescombe tap I was only a few mins down

then i bust a spoke on the drop to the A23 and the wheel instantly went out of shape . 7 1/2 hrs in and 71 miles completed decision time…

I bailed as no spare tube , tyre with substantial damage and now awonky wheel with a loose spoke . No idea how strong the wheel is and the potential taco momnet on afast decent does not appeal to me .

Rode back to Devils Dyke and down to the station somewhat deflated .

Not alot better than my bonk effort last year , only 10 miles further.

Keep trying mate. You’ll do it, and these failures will just make it sweeter.
Check your bike the night before though, eh? 😛

And there are dog turds everywhere at the moment
especially around the public taps
not nice

boo – for the turds and your bike.

It’s not going anywhere, though, is it?! 🙂 Next time…

I’m sure you can knock it out in a day, just have another go in a week or so. Weather should still be good then wont it?

burgger 😐

I’ve mentioned it before but in 2011 I caught DaisyDuke on the way up to Truleigh Hill when he was doing his double. He’d had 7 punctures by that point! 8O.

No way I’d have bothered persevering with that but props to him, he finished in under 26 hours.

Sounds like you’ve got the fuelling sorted and you’ve got two more months of decent length days to have another go (you know you want to!)

this is a setback not a failure.

it’s not a failure until you give up.

Cheers guys

done it twice , 14hr and 13.20
bonked last year when I had a go in sept at Botolphs tap stop

Havent really done alot of 50 – 60 milers in prep but have been doing lots of shorter rides .

and its not like there arent another 10 – 12 weekends in which to have a few more attempts ,Just need slightly sturdier tyres and a little bit of luck.

& have absolutely everything ready the night before, clothes, breakfast, all of it.

personally I’m a caveman at 0500 and can’t function.

Sorry to hear that – I’d have bailed at that point myself! No way I would want to do some of those descents with a wonky wheel!

A couple of points though – one tube on SDW solo is crazy and talking about a few more attempts sounds a bit defeated before you start.

I’d recommend trying going in the opposite direction too, just to keep things fresh. You might find it a bit more motivating than ploughing through 60-70 miles of stuff you’ve done on two previous failed attempts before you get to a ‘new’ bit (I appreciate you’ve already done the whole lot before).