Did it last year with a friend and then rode back to Cranleigh afterwards. For various reasons, we ended up starting lateish, and there were queues or trains on some of the mildly technical or just plain narrow sections. We did a lot of overtaking on the Downs Link and practiced our dirt roadie skillz. Fish and chips, then I set off back the way I’d come on my tod. Ticked over 119.5 miles (Grrr! I wanted 120, and my GPS told me I’d got over that until I uploaded it to Strava) by the time I called it a day, which was quite satisfying. The final offroad climb / descent before Brighton was pretty enjoyable – and one of the rare genuine bits of offroad.
All in all, a great day out with lots of fun and a great atmosphere (and massive kudos to the bloke doing it on a BMX), and if you’re new to riding distance then it’s a good place to start. Depends on your level of fitness and experience, of course. I think this year I’ll probably to the SDW one, or (and if I can wangle the time off work and family duties) I’ll do the Wessex Way with friends.