[Closed] South Downs Way

Leaving circa 0700 on sat....all in one day!

DrP

The South Downs trails are currently super-fast bone dry... enjoy 🙂

as Paceman says - possibly the best they've been all year 🙂

Hoping to ride it on Sunday but not the complete thing

Dr P howlong do you think you will take?

Taff i'l still be going on Sunday I hope.

Really looking forward to it..

just been out tonight near Ditchling beacon and was bone dry as mentioned, very flowing.

Also rode a genesis latitude co-incidentally.

8 of us leaving on Sat at 7.30. Aiming to do it over 2 days.

4 of us leaving winchester at 9am too. riding it for my stag do over two days (but very slowly!)

look out for a blue/grey ibis

@titus / @anjs - where are you breaking the trip ?

I'm afraid im useless and dont know, my best men have sorted it ' about half way in a 3* B&B' is about all i know

Starting to really look forward to the ride.
anjs - have you got an idea how long/far you will ride for on day one?
titusrider - I hope your not drinking on the Friday night!, will keep an eye out for you at the start.

Upper Beeding

thanks - good luck with the rides and wedding

60 miles first day followed by 40 more hilly miles on the second. Having done the whole thing in 3 days before and remember that being hard I know what to expect. Not looknig forward to the 26 degrees though

Yep, although I'll be doing a SD loop Eastbourne end, up and down all around Jevington linking up with the trails in Friston Forest, might even treat myself to a pint of Harvey's after.

anjs: you'll be grand. just keep pedalling, keep eating, keep drinking. I wondered about doing it in a day after remembering how wiped out I was after 60/40 in two days.

Got through it OK, but I remember thinking after 30 miles "well, I'm pretty tired now, if this was the end of a 30 mile ride, I'd be quite happy with a decent ride." Same again at 50 miles, 70... I think we've all got a lot more in us than we've found. As people have said, at this distance it's metal more than physical. Keep your head up, enjoy the fun bits, enjoy the views.

Getting your bum back in the saddle on the second day will be the worst part of the whole weekend, the actual riding will fine!

Good luck all, sounds like you've got great conditions for it.

What's the wind doing?

http://www.whitehorsestorrington.com/default.asp

got the details off my best man

Thanks guys. I've done a bit of walking nr Storrington (Bignor Hill and Rackmans Hill). Views there are stunning both to North and down to the the coast and over the river down towards Arundel. Will be interesting to hear how it goes.

Once you've enjoyed the pleasures of climbing Amberley Mount :twisted:, make sure you look back over your shoulder towards Arundel and the coast.

Excellent views of the castle and Arun valley.

Views either side of the Ouse valley near Lewes are great though being to see the impending slog up Itfold hill can be a bit marmite.

I fancied doing it in a day this weekend, but got a wedding, boo! 🙁

Anjs-are you arriving by train?. Which direction you coming from?

DrP

I fancied doing it in a day this weekend, but got a wedding, boo!

I've got a wedding too! In Chamonix. 'ray! 🙂 Off tonight, hopefully riding tomorrow.

Was just up on the SDW around Brighton.

Ground Dry

Sunny

Wind coming from the west.

Couldn't ask for better conditions really.

Do take some sunscreen though if you'll be in it all day.

Was supposed to be riding with DrP this weekend, but cant do it.
Developed some weird RSI injury in my hands after 10 days of yanking on the brakes in Les Gets.
Couldnt grip the bars or brake without a stabbing pain throug my wrist . Had to road ride from Linderets back to Les Gets . Was OK on my 575 though , shocks locked out + saddle up.

The climbing is the same in each half, its just bigger and less frequent after Devils Dyke ( coming from Winch ) . Wheras the first half is less height , more frequently.

Do Not miss the 90' Right turn at BlackCap, above Brighton .

Actually, my train gets in at 0724 so half past start for me too!!

Will keep an eye out for other bikers on the Choo Choo!

DrP

Conditions are perfect at the moment, I was up on the downs this afternoon (bignor hill) very dry and fast. Enjoy.

So how did it go?

Bit too warm, I suspect

Was pretty good actually - 11.37 all in, from start to finish.
First half done in 5hours, then started flagging in the latter half. Had an "angry" stage from 70-95 miles! Got a bit fed up and emotional, and wanted it to end, then picked up for the last few miles!
Wasn't helped by my hydration bladder splitting at saddlescombe farm (66ish miles in)- so relied on the bottle in the cage (was very grateful to have fitted this on Friday!)

Weather was great - got a tad warm early afternoon, but not unbearable.

Would I do it again.... Possibly - with a bit more training (didn't have a chance to get any sort of mileage in before hand); as stated I was feeling it in the second half.

In a way, I can see the appeal of doing it over two days - even if you're fit enough to kill it in one, I think it would be more "fun" to do over two.....

DrP

[quote> http://www.whitehorsestorrington.com/default.asp

got the details off my best man

I was born and raised in that very pub/hotel for the first 2 years of my life 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the ride and weather. I love the SDW.

And all the best for your big day!

So turns out trying to do it 10 days after having flu was not such a good idea. I had to bail at Cocking 🙁

Has anyone done this from London in a day.

I have always wanted to do this, but moving up north in 3 weeks so pondering doing it on Friday.

Wonder if anyone has got the first train down to Winchester and then the train back from Eastbourne in the same day?

Or would I be better B&Bing it at one or other end

Yup, easy to do from London.

Early train to Winchester direct from waterloo. Late train from Eastbourne direct to Victoria. Have a look at the train times, pretty sure you can give yourself 14 hours plus if you get teh earliest train.

Depends where in London you live, obviously. To and from the stations added about 14-15 miles to my total for the day. The ride home wasn't fun. Saddle sores and "chef's arse" got a bit angry on the train ride, so had to spend as much time as I could out of the saddle.

Cheers! Yes, the london end will add around 16-18 miles to my journey I think. But given that the first train out of waterloo is 5:30 it looks like a 7pm finish in Eastbourn would be easily doable

Late edit went in just after yours. Yup, plenty of time. Might even be a better idea to give yourself another hour in bed, too...

Get some soothing lotion and apply liberally on the train home would be my advice!

If anyone's contemplating doing it in a day within the next 4 - 6 weeks, you will need to take lights with you for the start and finish.

I'd also strongly recommend a long sleeve top / gilet / a n other item of clothing for once you've finished. You'll be surprised how cold you can get once stopped.

DrP

From Amberley onwards you're right down to sea level on four river crossings and those hills don't get any easier as you head east.

Hi,
Did my ride over the weekend 1st day as far as Washington, then the remainder on day 2. I had an absolutely fantastic time bumped into some nice people along the way and had absolute glorious weather.It took me about 15hrs over the 2 days. For those people who get to ride the SDW frequently you are blessed. This is my first visit to this part of the world and I thought it was fantastic.Did I find it hard? yes! would I do it again, YES!!!
DrP amazing feat doing it all in one day, well done.

I rode part of it. Started in dorking, rode the 4 Surrey hills, on to the downs like at cranliegh to shoreham, then across the downs too Brighton. 8 hours in total including snapping my chain 5 times 🙁

A good ride indeed! Perfect conditions except for the spitting rain in Brighton last night!

@ Ian - did a similiiar ride earlier in the summer, ndw from woldingham - downslink - sdw to Eastbourne, the downlink was a slog, bailed at blackcap due to wind and lack of food, 12hrs in the saddle, hope to try the full distance again soon.

rewski - are you based in eastbourne then?

@ Ian - sometimes at weekends, based in Surrey.

Thanks for the updates, very useful info

Me and a mate are hoping to do the 100miles in one day starting on saturday 8am.

I've wanted to do this in one day for ages. Maybe the week after next depending on the weather...

As always, I recommend Anthony Beggs' SDW website - http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/index.html

Did everyone finish at the 'new' finish, i.e where the footpath version starts and end? It makes more sense now though that hill would be a git to start out on.