Bit late in the year for an oldie to have a another big day out. With sunrise to sunset being pretty much 12hrs one end was always going to be dark. I chose the start, near my work and often ridden.

Having had 2 failures ( 1 x bonk and a mechanical ) I really wanted to complete it .Having been inspired by Andy , and doing a few century road rides plus 6hrs at TorQ I hoped for a sub 12hr.

Sat 0555 was very dark , and very cold with alot of fog / mist in the little valleys around Winchester . I think was 6 -7’c when I left. Base layer , Jersey , Waterproof , and sealskins , still cold. Couldnt feel my fingers or feet for hours as the dew was heavy and it sprayed all over my Butser hill was like being in a cold shower.

Used lights for about 1 hr , caught and dropped another pair of riders very early on. Didnt see them again , funny following fresh wheel tracks across feilds in the dark with the odd glimmer of a red rear light.

Qecp up in 2.05 No worries , cold but the sun was on my face now
Pretty uneventful run to the A285 dog leg in 4.10 but at least the feild had been harvested so no fear of huge flints hiding in the barley.

Amberly tap 5hrs 5mins . Time to lose a layer, decent refuel and on the joy that is Amberly Mount. I wont lie, it was a walk/ride/ walk affair but once up top in beautiful sunshine I was then able to pick up the pace and get a move on as by now the sun had dried out the exposed chalk.

Rode most of the cimb up to Cissbury , just a little 50m push round the top bend, then cruised on to Botolphs . A fair few walkers out , all near the car parks though but mostly empty trails.

Truleigh climb was tough . I pushed most of it, dunno why that is a hard one, maybe narrowness and flinty or line of sight, but pretty good on the road to the YHA at 7hrs in. Stopped for too long enjoying the sunshine , and the veiws and the BHF riders making their way to Btn and struggled to get going after that.

run acros to Deevils Dyke all fine , and on to Ditchling Beacon . didnt stop for an ice cream just cruised on through to the Golf club.
Caught and passed a group of 4 riders.” please dont say this is day 1″
‘ Yep sure is 0555 start ‘ was my reply. They were on day 2 .

After that is one of my least favourite bits, where you head the wrong way to Falmer pumping station and seem to spend about 90mins circmnavigating Brighton and its surrounding area.

Then the Yelow Brick road and an annoying little head wind to contend with. Wasnt too bad , just enough to feel it slowing you down when you stopped pedalling. Then came a nice surprise , Ronnie of BrightonMTB fame held a gate for me just by One tree hill then changed his ride plan to join me all the to Eastbourne.

His intimate local knowlwedge , and enthusiasm really helped although Southease wasnt quite cleaned the next 2 monsters were conqured albeit very slowly. Then a lovely blast along the golf course , some piccs by the dew pond , then home via Clapham aand Winchester. I must apologise to anyone sitting within 6ft as the lingering smell of B.O , carefully blended with sheep poo , and a souson of cow pat must have been a delight.

I didnt get my sub 12hr , that slipped away halfway up Jevington hill. But 12.25 all in is respectable enough . easy shave some time off that with a tail wind and bone dry tracks . All of the byways where any farm vehicles had been harvesting were a rutted mess, but considering the amount of rainwe have had it wasnt too bad away from these areas.

Stop rubbing it in 😉 Really pissed I didn’t go for it now, especially after running out of time 2 weeks ago at 145kms, but too knackered after a long week 🙁 oh and well done I suppose 😉

Well done Rob, Nice big tick on the done list for you. Andy C

Great effort Rob, well done!

Awesome!!

Its always good to read about other folks having fun on the SDW.
Sounds like you have a sub 12 in you easliy….. I tend to go out a bit slower (2h 20 to QECP) and keep the brakes on going up hills until past Chanctonbury Ring, but always have the brakes off when going down hill from the start!

The weather always plays a part and knowing how much water to carry for each section between taps and with that knowledge, next time go for a sub 11?

Inspiring stuff well done, its been an ambition of mine for a while, done it in 2 a few times, nearly in 1 once, we got there but dodged the last few hills so did the miles but not the climbs. Living in brighton makes that 90minutes (well 2 hrs+) especially hard not to just go home!

Did you find having done 100 miles a few times on the road helpful psychologically, clealry helpful in fitness terms. I found i unravelled after a protracted lunch stop just before truleigh hill, really struggled to get back in the mindset, having just passed in effect my previous longest ride.

Rob C . Done it twice, Solo’d at 13.20 4 years ago. Then 14.10 in a group ride with fellow STW’ers . I tried to keep it steady and spinny and hold some energy for the longer flatter sections like Teaglaze , Blackcap and Kithurst . Digging in along these sections means a high speed can be held for a sensible time .
Used a bottle for the first time too, added iso gels ( £4 for 6 SIS in Tesco ) to make up an energy drink that was easy on the stomach. Got a fair bit of mud on it though , need a tube to stem plus 6″. 750ml is perfect as long as each tap is working, only problem was it flicked my pro pedal to open every time . I need a bottle thats 2cm shorter.

Would like to think sub12 is on the cards with a daylight , a decent tail wind and bone dry trails. Had to be overly cautious on alot of the faster chalky bits
Yes , doing road centurys and a little bit more helped. My biggest problem I need to seriously address is burning sit bones after 5 or so hours on the bike. MOstly MTB but some road as well. I always wear padded shorts and use chammy creeam but the burn is stopping me riding at a decent cadence and power output. Maybe a Spec BG bumfit session is in order.

Duct tape on the propedal switch will fix that.

Single leg on the TT is a good way of butt conditioning.

Dry trails will win the day.

I was lucky and had dry trails for my 4x and couldn’t have done it without.

Two pairs of shorts FTW. George Budd top tip, works well.

Excellent. As a next step I can thoroughly recommend the Ridgeway Double (big thread on here somewhere). Longer distance, but same overall vertical gain as 1xSDW Nice and rolling apart from some silliness around Princes Risborough.

Good work STM. If I had know I would have come over for a good heckle at Devils Dyke!!

Nice one! Always great to hear of Ronnie being useful for once, too… 😉

Good effort, must get round to trying that.
Your mention of stinking the train out reminds me of a similar experience.
4 of us did Petersfield to Brighton over the SDW on a rather hot and sunny day. We got on the train (still with a proper guards van for the bikes) and collapsed into the compartment next door. For some reason nobody wished to join us in our “fragrant compartment”. I suspect the combination of sweat, mud, shit and energy gel fuelled farts was too much for anyone else.
We were too shagged out to remotely care by then.

Always great to hear of Ronnie being useful for once, too..

*likes*

If I had know I would have come over for a good heckle at Devils Dyke!!

You can get out on your bike for complete strangers, then 😉

For a complete Southern novice, what would you say was the most picture skew part of the SDW? I’ve got a few hours free next week when I’m staying in Brighton and was thinking about riding some of the SDW. A few suggestions that riding from Eastbourne to Brighton might be the ticket.

Does that sound about right?

Sounds good but if the wind’s from the west as per usual I’d do Brighton-Eastbourne.

Views are the same but you benefit from a tail wind 🙂

Cheers. Just the feedback I’m looking for. Is it worth including the bit out to Devil’s Dyke? I’ve got relatives who stay in Shoreham, so was thinking about heading out to Adur to head on to (of off of) the SDW. Worth it?

that’s fine, you get a pretty big climb as you turn East away from the river and go up towards Truleigh hill if you go that way, alternative is a road climb out of Shoreham that takes you up to Truleigh or a spin along to Hove and then a climb from there to the Dyke.

There’s a nice fast decent on the SDW from Truleigh so I’d go that way if it were me.

The tea rooms/caravan at sedlescombe just past Devils Dyke are worth a visit for a good bit of cake if you want to keep your fueling going 🙂

Rob – Well done! If you need a support wagon and a lift home next time just give me a shout. You can smell all you like in the back of my truck

that’s fine, you get a pretty big climb as you turn East away from the river and go up towards Truleigh hill if you go that way

That hill was the closest I came to breaking when I did it!

It just goes on and on. I think the fact that its quite a narrow flinty rut you’re riding in, coupled with the gradient combine to make any deviations from the trail difficult to keep on moving.
I seem to recall being very pleased to reach the second (?) gate into the grassy field, because, although you’re not at the top, the trail widens and then turns into tarmac for a bit before reverting to gravel just before the hostel IIRC.

Bravo – on my list for next year.

Rob..should have let me know…I’d have fitted the hooter again and ‘cheered you on’ (only for the small section between winchester and, say, Southease perhaps….)

DrP

That’s a long way on yer Todd…. Very well done!

Good work STM. If I had know I would have come over for a good heckle at Devils Dyke!!

Tim , I was motoring past DD, sun was out, lots of roadies stopped at the top too. Just on through the gate , listening to Placebo and loving it.

You can get out on your bike for complete strangers, then

Not entirely true Waswas , Tim and I have abit of history. I dont think I will ever forget his 5am rantette at 24:12 about doing a double lap as there was no-one at change-over and running out of water . I let him run out of words then politely informed Tim I wasnt actualy on his team