Forum menu
Respect to the guys who did this in that weather..
Couple of great write ups too.
Wynne - wow!
Reflecting back at home in devon after an
epic day yesterday!
Thanks for the company guys,especially to
singletrackmind for the powerlink rescue
and subway at finish! mivi for that gel
horrible it was too.
Mr ibis for the cashews and climb pacing!
and big respect is indeed due to psychle
for hauling himself to the finish, and the
bright idea in the first place.
Seeing as everyone enjoyed it so much i can
see this turning into an annual pilgrimage
to pain, riding the last few miles with no
saddle was the icing on that carrot cake i
had been dreaming about for 50 miles.
Thanks again and well done to one and all.
germinator, you dream of carrot cake.......where's your ambition? My garmin credits us with 6000 calories.
while i'm on statistics i've got max speed 33.5mph. The big reveal is our actual ride time...11hrs 52mins....so now you know where we lost the time Rob (10 x 10mins break is plenty isnt it so add 100mins and youre at 13.5hrs.)
For garmin users, the 705 held out for the whole 15 hours, with the backlight down low. Simon, i'll mail you my garmin process to try help you get a bit more out of it.
Wel done you nutters!
[i]
real problem along with the soul destroying relentlessness of it.....but I always get backache and I knew it wasnt my kind of ride[/i]
Doesn't encourage me to join in next time!!
Chapeau!
Not a lot more to say...
Write up on Sussex Muddy@rse website to follow, piccie link soon.
I can't thank you guys enough. Being so new to the sport I had no idea what to expect, but from the off I knew that I was in safe hands and all I had to do was keep pedalling and stay upright.
You chaps got me to Brighton, which is nearly six times further than I've ever ridden off road. It's not a patch on what you achieved by doing the last brutal section, but I feel great to have been given a taste of what adventure can be had.
Singletrackmind was the most brilliant guide; he was constantly pointing out the tricky bits for me and if he hadn't shouted "lean back" I would have been over the bars on a couple of the 30mph sections!
Piha and Mivi also gave me great tips about keeping the power on through the swampy bits and reading a line through the sections that demanded it. The Germinator was a powerhouse up hill on his hardtail and Pschle's determination was an inspiring thing to behold. I learned heaps being around such confident and experienced riders.
The banter was quality throughout. The group seemed to click and the whole day was great fun.
Highlights for me were;
Misty dawn light shining through the poppy fields on first ascent from Winch.
The sigh of relief after proving that all our brakes worked on that Very steep bit during our 'diversion'.
Not getting killed by that early commuter nut job in the Mondeo.
Learning Rob's trick to squash a Soreen.
Getting to the top of the long climbs without puking.
Getting to the bottom of the slippery descents without losing the front (came too close on three occasions).
The girls at the Park, especially that moody jogger.
The quick pitstops where thousands of calories were consumed and jokes were made about whether Ming The Merciless had ridden through the night successfully or was hugging a tree somewhere like a broken man.
The views.
The water taps (would have been bad to miss one).
The cheery old walkers who held the gate for us.
Thanks guys. I've got the bug now.
😀
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/29512133@N05/sets/72157626919844341/with/5869952500/ ]Pictures[/url]
What a great summing up barn
the fact you departed to the
family at brighton does not
hide the fact that as a "newbie"
it appeared that you were just
warming up!
The general consensus being the
boy has potential,on a personal
note the young lady on the horse
was another highlight 😉
Congratulations to you all 😀
Good to meet you albeit for a shortish section...I felt a git for riding off but I felt I had to go for it whilst the going was good and my back/knees were holding up. First time I’ve done the whole SDW in a day so it was all a new experience in endurance terms for me. Hardest ride I’ve ever done.
Conditions were a lot tougher than 2 weeks ago when I rode the first 60 miles. The puddle dodging and general soft damp ground certainly felt like I was dragging a spare tyre on some sections. Never cursed so much on a ride! Seem to recall the section after Exton up to Old Winchester Hill was particularly curse filled. I was trying to sustain the same time as the previous ride but certainly felt it required way more effort to do it this time and by QECP I was getting worried it was even do-able.
There were some sections were you’d be getting up a decent bit of speed only to be confronted by a pond across the whole path…slow down and lose the speed or power through and get soaked: I always went for the former 🙁
Strangely the worst hill for me was the one out of Jevington right near the end….not the longest hill of the day but I just didn’t expect it (I thought the one out of Alfriston was the last of the big ones) and I was fighting to get in under 11 hours. Wind was certainly blowing by this point but scrapped it in in 10:50.
Thanks to psychle for suggesting this ride…I been putting it off for ages and his suggestion finally helped me pin it down to a date.
Last night I swore I wouldn’t do doing that again any time soon…strange thing is today I’d like to have another go at it but in dried out conditions.
I read wynne's email this morning...the stuff of nightmares 😯 Fair play to you...a true serious of unfortunate events.
Wonder how the BHF riders are finding it today? 😕
I bet it's been grim for the BHF boys and Girls, all day the tops of the Downs outside Eastbourne have been cloaked in cold, grey murky cloud!
Mrs Ming cooked a protein recharge for me tonight as I was a good boy and completed it!
[img] 
[/img]
It would have been burnt toast had I failed! 😀
Well done Nuke . You were flying along when we saw you . I reckon , given perfect conditions, you could knock best part of an hour off that time .
Ming . well done mate . Doing it in the dark , Ok , with Troute Lights its actually not so dark, without a recce and no sleep , to actually finish is a great achievement . Look at Wynne's story , an experienced sdw rider who knows the route and still got caught out . Great pictures showing the differing conditions on the day . Every pedal stroke took you nearer home , which must be a boost mentally.
you made it? respect, hat's off etc. Good work guys!
Well done guys. I followed your tracks up to Cheesfoot Head at 0800 and did think about not turning off to work and trying to catch up. Just as well I didn't and I was so knackered just getting to work let alone Eastbourne.
Chapeau.
Great write ups by the guys up there ^^^^^ and captures the day really well.
I wont add many words but I thought I'd add a few photo's....
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
5;00am at King Alfreds statue.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Plenty of smiles considering it's so early.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Early (energy gel) breakfast.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Cheeky diversion.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Slippery chalky descent dispatched.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Woo (and indeed) hoo!
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Beautiful morning up on the Downs.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Helmets not required.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Open your eyes.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Butser Hill grassy descent to QECP.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Eastbourne is that way.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Fast chalky descent near South Harting.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
O'er!
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Still smiling.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Time to hydrate.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Now, where did I put those energy gels?
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Mmmmm, ice cream, nom nom nom.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Cah.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Is this really the end?
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
You can't sleep yet, you've got a train to catch.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
I don't think I'll be going clubbing tonight.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
I agree!!!!!!
Full set of photos here - http://photobucket.com/STW_SDW_in_a_day
Cracking effort to all those involved. I've looked at the forecast and so far looking warm and dry. Fingers crossed for next sat...
Nice pics. I wish I'd been with you instead of buried in my own lunacy.
That one of the cow looks unreal - is it levitating? And that tree in the background looks like it's in a gale.
Well done fellas..Love the writeup and admire your determination.
good work fellas - especially so as the conditions were less than great
gutted i had to miss out. i really really want to give this a shot now.
fantastic effort. well done to everyone involved. chapeau.
right i`m doing this with a mate(victim?)later this month
has anyone got a route i can upload to my garmin etrex GPS thingie?
email markn at hop dot uk dot com
cheers.
mark
GPSies is the way forward, its got the whole of the SDW and you can export straight into your gps..
full set of route files on here [url= http://www.southdownsdouble.net/ ]ww.SouthDownsDouble.net[/url]
[Edit]yep on GPSies too
cheers chaps.
Van Halen are you doing Winchester to Eastbourne?
I only ask because on Saturday I joined it 4 miles from home and rode the 80 miles to Winchester and my impression was that if you can do it on a day without a south westerly to battle into then it's an easier ride. I kept on riding down pretty steep bits expecting to find myself going up something as bad very soon but that never really seemed to happen. It just seemed to be longer but less steep going up, I have to say at the bottom of the hill dropping to the A24 I thought please god I hope it's not going to be the same going out and fortunately it wasn't. Also after Buster Hill the whole thing seems a lot easier run in than in the opposite direction where you'd still be looking at the climbs out of Southease, Alfriston and Jevington. Getting to the statue of Alfred just seems a much more fitting end than a wooden board as well.
I'd set off with the plan of getting to Petersfield and then seeing how I felt, as it turned out conditions were absolutely perfect and I still felt good so pushed on to Winchester. I will now go for the whole 100 miles at some point and I'll wait for a day with little wind or a south or south easterly. It'll also mean I can start from home as it's only a 30 minute drive early in the morning.
As for the route finding I carried the Harveys map but found the signs pretty good and only went a little wrong on Buster hill where I just aimed for the top and ended up about a 100M too far north.
yer goin winchester to eastbourne.
hoping for a SE tail/cross wind and peachy dry trails. i'll sack it in if its minging. TBH if we get to brighton i'll be chuffed as we're not XC riders anyway. its just one of thse things to do.
the last bit from brighton to EB is a basterd. i suppose going from eastbourne means its not such a killer but i think the rarity of a non SW wind means a winchester start is better.
living in brighton the trains home are easier too! 😀