Still has to be reported, even just for the stats. You owe that to anyone that cycles on the roads in the area, or that road in particular. You can do it on line and lets face it you won’t be riding for a while.

You might find a traffic camera in the area if you find an officer that is being particularly diligent. Bit of info on the vehicle, time, etc.

Do it. You owe it to fellow cyclists. It’s not ‘one of those things’ and if we treat it as one it gets normalised and becomes one of those things.

Very good point, didn’t know you could do it that way, will do that for sure then

If you report it there’s always the chance of some CCTV if they are aware they should go looking for footage.

@donslow – absolutely gutted for you! Good effort getting as far as you did.

As for me and my group….. well we made it! about 14.5 hours from start to finish. 12 hours 15 mins moving time. By far the toughest and biggest day out on my bike. i was destroyed by the end.

I underestimated the SDW, over estimated my fitness and can thoroughly recommend NOT doing it on a Specialized Status.

As mentioned earlier, i am rubbish as taking on enough fluids and the SDW highlighted this. 7 hours in i was yet to have a pee. Then on a decent a flint flicked up and hit my ankle. Natural reaction of flinching and my thigh went into instant cramp. This was just past half way. So i then had to contend with trying to make up my fluid deficit i was already in and to try and keep cramp at bay. Luckily it only came back once more briefly.

I also found it tough taking on food, as most of the time, eating was the last thing i felt like i wanted to do. Especially when it was all quite sweet stuff.

We started losing light towards the end, also knowing that the last train from Eastbourne was leaving possibly before we got there…. which made the final few miles all that bit more exciting/challenging/rubbish.

We had two short rain showers, a little wind at the end, but overall the conditions were pretty good, considering all the rain we had during the week before.

As mentioned, the Status is not a long distance machine! Something with less travel, less weight and faster rolling tyres would be a far better choice (more fool me!).

But, did i enjoy it…. at the time, there were highs and lows, but looking back, im glad i have done it and ticked it off the list. Would i do it again…. i think so, but i will be better prepared and on a more suitable bike.

Many lessons learnt, thats for sure! 😀

Thanks for all the advice and support from everyone, it helped with the motivation of actually doing it, even if the conditions werent prime.

Nice one, glad you made it and the weather/conditions weren’t too bad for you all.
The right bike is a balancing act as you want something light and fast rolling, but it needs to be super comfortable as you are spending such a long time on it.

@v7fmp sterling effort fellas, that was a decent time as well, glad you got there

Fair play donslow for riding with broken wrist, hope you didn’t do it any further damage on the ride.

And fair play v7 for doing it on a Status. What tyres? 2.5in Super Tacky Wet Screams?

Sounds like you’ve both got good reasons to go back for another, slightly more enjoyable crack at it!

v7 – I found going with just 1 bottle concentrates the mind a little – pass a tap, drink as much as you can, brim it, carry on.

I also found it tough taking on food, as most of the time, eating was the last thing I felt like I wanted to do. Especially when it was all quite sweet stuff.

I can’t do sweet stuff on long rides. Never fancy it, tend to get a massive crash afterwards. I’d much rather take e.g. ham and cheese sarnies, stop when I’m hungry, eat proper food. I can then carry on for a good while after without more. I find I’m not eating as much as others who are riding the sugar roller coaster and needing to constantly top up to avoid the crash.

I’ll take a gel or two for emergencies, but it’s usually not used, or just “burned” on the last climb.

@nedrapier – Yup, a 2.4 Magic Mary front and 2.4 Big Betty rear, so not the fastest of rollers!! 😀

The drinking at each tap was my loose plan, but it just didnt pan out. Lesson learnt.

And that sounds like a much better way to do it with food. More savoury would suit me better and then as you say, avoid the crash.

Lots learnt for the next go!

I have turned a 14 1/2 hour first attempt imto a 10hr 50min effort.
Just by being canny with the weather, tyre choice and food / drink intake.
Took 4 goes to dial it in mind.
I got lost ony first go, didnt eat or drink enough. But its all information tjat gets stored up and becomes useful when the pain subsides