Tell me about… South Downs Randonee 100miles.

I’ve signed up for this at the end of June with my mate. Any tips, experiences, advice on preparation etc appreciated. 😮

Have you ridden much of the SDW? How fit are you? How use are you to long distances and being in the saddle for 10+ hours?

Its a great day with lots of climbs and lot of descents but don’t presume its easy by any means. Its not so much technically challenging but tiredness and steep descents on chalk can still catch out riders. For me, it wasn’t so much the actually tiredness from pedalling but the pain and discomfort that comes from spending so long in the saddle.

They’ll be points along the ride for water but you’ll have to take your own food.

You know as I think about it, I’m starting to want to sign-up for this year…

Happy is life with the sun on my back 🙂

go easy

i did the southern sportive last year (100 miles on the road same area) saw one guy break his arm on a corner withing he first 10 miles. Then I spent the last 20miles pulling a bunch of proper shaved roadies round in my slipstreem as i’d been sensible in the begining and middle sections. Basicly i enjoyed the first part at an easy pace taking in the views and enjoying the company and tea/flapjack at the feed stations. Leaving me with fresh legs to embaras the other roadies with at the end.

buy some fast rolling tyres; after 100 miles you will be glad of it.
last summer the sdw ws pretty dry and a semi-slick on the rear would have been good.

avoid green chalk – avoid the green chalk at all costs.

more climbing than you think!

HTH

It’s quite hard

Ok, some more info on my prep so far:

I live in Brighton so the South Downs make up my local play area and I know the trails this end pretty well. I’ve ridden the whole South Downs Way before over a weekend, but not done that sort of distance in a day before. I also rode the off-road proper Coast to Coast last summer from St Bee’s to Robin Hood’s Bay. I’m fully expecting the Randonee to be very tough!

My training over the winter has been a 3-4 hour weekend ride, with running and gym work in the week to keep the weight off and the cardio fitness going. Over the last four weeks i’ve been commuting to work 3 times a week (13 flattish road miles each way) and getting in a 2-3 hour ride on a Saturday and a 4 hour ride on a Sunday. I plan to introduce 1/2 evening rides a week once the light improves, and also have a couple of 60 milers booked in the diary in the month running up to the big day.

Any tips or suggestions much appreciated.

I’ll be running my usual summer choice Racing Ralph’s – tubeless with Stan’s No Tubes so they should be fast rolling enough I hope.

sounds like you’ve got it covered mate.

just remember to do the training 😉

You’ll be fine with that training in your legs by June. I find a really good night’s kip makes all the difference. The hostel is really noisy with creaky floorboards and everyone going for a waz every 10 mins and left me feeling v tired but next time I stayed elsewhere, had a full nights kip, left at 7.30 AM not the 6.00 that BHF recommend and had a much better day.

Did the 65 miler in 2007. The first date got postponed, and the second date, although sunny, had torrential rain all week beforehand, meaning that the first 20 miles out of Winchester were slippery and full of goo. Record numbers dropped out – 45% of riders in fact.

However, weather permitting, your preparation sounds good.

Yep, sounds like you’ll be fine…you’re doing the training and, living in Brighton plus having done the SDW over a weekend, you’ll know what to expect. Enjoy!

@scott_mcavennie2 – Yeah, I did that year…those first 20 miles were a bitch and I completely bonked out further along the route. Lovely last year though as per piccy in my previous post

What kit / food did you carry with you? I’m keen to keep the weight down, especially on my back all day.

It goes up, it comes down, it goes up, it comes down, repeat to fade :O)

It’s an ace day out. Pace is important. I stopped too often looking back when I did it. Should have kept plodding along. Arrange for someone to have a change of kit at the Dyke for you. Lunch wopuld also save you carrying it.

Take food you like to eat. 100 miles on bars/gels isn’t nice.

Water – take a look at a map and learn where the taps are.

Tim

Live on the downs and have ridden it all. If using Racing Ralphs i would go for the double defense option on the rear as the flints here have shred both my last evo versions….

Remember when you reach devils Dyke your are 2/3 there but the hardest and longest climbs are still to come..

And the best climbs, so enjoy them

water: as much as you can carry if its hot, farmhouses are usualy friendly for filling camebacks up. Make it up with either energy drink or isotonic stuff (make sure your stomach can cope with it beforehand, i cant), you will be drinking and sweating a lot.

food: flapjack and lots of it, with some pasta sandiches for lunch. Call in at some village shops for fresh fruit etc allong the way.

Yeah, i’m really looking forward to Itford Hill 80 miles into the ride… NOT. The Brighton to Eastbourne trails make up most of my local loops so at least i’ll know what’s coming!

Its the organised BHF Randonee ride, so I was assuming they’d have the water stops well signposted??

As far as South Downs flints go, i’ve had two tyres burst in the last 10 years, a Panaracer Fire XC years ago and a tubeless Bonty Mud-X last month. If you hit a sharp one I don’t think many tyres would stay intact.

water: as much as you can carry if its hot, farmhouses are usualy friendly for filling camebacks up

TBH I didn’ t find water facilities to be an issue as there are various taps along route…just make sure you fill up when you can rather than risk waiting until the next tap.

The BHF event comes with a map with the water taps marked on it.

That’s quirky, I’m doing the coast to coast this year! With a mate from the brighton area, could be interested in some info there. There’s a link to what we plan to do over on the http://www.Brightonmtb.org site, perhaps you can give us some pointers…..?

Pete

Woodsman

What route are you doing for the C2C?

We did St. Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, the off-road route following the original “Wainright’s” route as much as possible. Used Packhorse for our luggage (they were excellent). Our route:

Day 1: St Bees to Great Langdale (incl Black Sail Pass) (approx 35 miles)

Day 2: Easy/Rest Day – Great Langdale to nr Kentmere (incl Garburn Pass) (approx 15 miles)

Day 3: Kentmere to Tan Hill (approx 40 miles)

Day 4: Tan Hill to Danby Wiske (approx 40 miles)

Day 5: Danby Wiske to High Blakely Ridge (approx 30 miles)

Day 6: High Blakely to Robin Hood’s Bay (approx 30 miles)

Approx 190 miles total.

If you do Black Sail pass you’ll be hike-a-biking at least 50% of the climb and the descent. Practice how to carry your bike comfortably as part of your preparation.

I did it last year with a similar training programme. There were a few things that caught me out.

1. Hitting the fabled wall around the 60 mile mark. The last 5 miles to the devils dyke check point were brutal. Flew after that until mile 90. Then it became a battle of wills to keep going. I kept getting lost so was getting to be in a bad mood by then!

2. if it might break – carry a spare. you never know and it’s a long walk.

3. A line of guys riding along a ridge, burping and farting due to energy drink/bars, would in any other circumstance be funny.

Try this website link as some very useful stuff all round, including taps/water stops, trail hazards and some info on ambiguous directions out of Winchester?

This is probably the most comprehensive I have used in recent years.

Matt

http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/

Is it signposted or more like HONC?

No probs when I did it – all signposted/well organised – hard though – v sore bumb at end! Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down….

Yeah the climb up from the River Adur up to Truleigh Hill and onto Devil’s Dyke is brutal at the best of times, but I hope to have a kit change and some proper food waiting there which should hopefully give me the boost I need at that point. Worse still, I’ll be riding about a mile from my house after 75 miles, now that’s gonna take some will-power!

I’m assuming BHF will have the tricky navigation bits well signposted?

A friend of a friend has recommended wearing two pairs of padded shorts to avoid saddle soreness. Hmmm I’m not so sure about this, especially in mid-summer!

Assos is a must though, and a change of shorts half way if needed.

how do you get back to the start/car?

Gonna get the missus to drop us off at the start or get a B&B, then get the train home from the end (not too far for us).

Lots of ASSOS bum cream and carb drinks. Was down to do it myself in 2007 but it was cancelled. Might sign up again for this year’s event. Managed 75 miles to Brighton as part of my training. IMO a short travel FS is best as it can become pretty wearing after a while…

Sudocreme. Almost exactly the same as Assos bum cream, but loads cheaper.

Paceman – nope, BHF provide no navigation signs whatsover! You get a small map of the whole route. Best to practice the section from Ditchling Beacon to Eastbourne as preperation. We plan to do this 65 mile return, a few times for our c2c prep, you’re welcome to join us. Say hello over on the site I mentioned above, if you want to come along.

paceman – I live in brighton too and am thinking about entering this, but the one in july. if you’re up fro some training rides then let me know!

In summary its a tough ride and you need to be well trained and rested and pray for dry ground and a westerley wind. Food; I carried a bottle of powder, a few bars and a pork pie and the water taps are plentiful; you shouldn’t need more – check the BHF map given you – you don’t need to go asking at houses or buying food en route. I think the key to a good time is not stopping and as soon as you crest a hill get it in the big ring and keep peddling. A small effort on a descent will make up more time than a bigger effort on a climb.

Out of interest, how did you guys manage the travel to and from the start / finish for this ride?

Most normal humans will need more scran than “a few bars and a pork pie” to keep fuelled up. Eat something every hour (or two max). I used to hide a food stash in a bush at the back of the Devils Dyke pub, a marge tub of pasta, something like that.

How busy is it on the BHF ride? Have you found points where you have to slow or stop for loads of other riders? Hope not… I start to sieze up if I stop for too long!

you’ll be fine

Push on the steeper hills and stuff yourself with PB&J sarnies, Bananas, Tangfastics, Jelly babies ,Pasta etc.
This way you don’t actually stop , but get the food in and keep momentum at the same time.
By pushing on the hills your speed will only be 2 – 3 mph lower than those beasting themselves to clear it.
Try a HRM . and keep yourself below say 150bpm. You wil be in the green zone and keep freash for an awful lot longer. If you try to hang onto a group and they all try to ride at the fastest riders pace they will suffer alot sooner than you if you let them go.
Stretch your lower back every 90mns or so.
Pray for 50% cloud and a F3 SW.

Anyone else riding this?

Yep, me and three mates. We’re going to die.