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what's it like down there at the moment? seemed to remember it dries out pretty quickly on the hill tops, any boggy bits? could I run summer tyres?
thinking of a 100 attempt before xmas, weather is okay
I ride commute to work on the downs and quite frankly the idea of doing 100 miles in the winter has no appeal at all. If you do go for it I would definitely avoid summer tyres, I use Mud X all through the winter which seem pretty good, enough grip, don't clog too easily and are reasonably fast rolling.
What avdave says. The 100 is tough on a good day with a lot of light. At the moment conditions are deteriorating and the chalk is slippery.
If you can get a really cold day with a ground frost it might make it a little more appealing
I did a long spell on the SDW a couple of weeks ago and it was über gloopy. As much as I would like to do the 100 it won't be at the moment
Dont do it. You will regret it. if its not gloopy it'll be slippy as ice. The only pleasant thing will be the view, which you'll only be able to savour for 1/3 of you journey as it'll probably take 18hrs
Why do people want to do 100 miles of SDW in the winter around the shortest day?
Conditions - wet, cold, muddy, slippery and full of puddles. Help yourself.
Was up there at the weekend and did a short loop, trails were boggy and wet, even on the top the grass never dried up so spray was constant. Any dips had become mud pits. Avoid!!!!
Doing the SDW 100 is a fantastic idea. In June.
We were out last night at the Winchester end and our average speed was down a good 3mph, caked in gloop with more than a smattering of greased glass. The ususal chalk conditions in winter then. The SDW itself is not that bad as a lot of it, but still not good.
Silly idea but you should definitely do it and take a lot of pics for our entertainment!
I did 50 miles on the Ridgeway a week ago which I guess may be similar. I used my CX bike run singlespeed and it took about 4.5 hours. There is no way I would describe it as pleasant, but it is survivable if you have something of the mentalist about you. In my case the thin tyres helped cut through the clay.
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