Friday 24th June – 'SDW in a Day' – initial roll call!!

I’m so jealous! I’ve been injured on and off since September, so my fitness is way off otherwise I would be there like a shot.

A few thoughts (I did Winchester to Lewes solo last year, was hoping to do the whole thing this year – maybe in the Autumn).

There is a train from Eastbourne to Winchester – but obviously check last times/changes/engineering works.

Germolene do an ointment (not the dark pink slimy stuff) that has anaesthetic in it (apply to person/saddle interface if required).

Keep hydrated.

Don’t go mad at the start.

Ride at your own pace. Don’t try to keep up with others.

Have a really brilliant time! x

Just a quick post to mention my email is now in my profile – apologies for before.

Yep, this is still on for me. Bike will be an evil sov 1×9, too heavy but ready for anything.

you got a gps track for Dorking to Winchester?

YGM

S.D.Wer’s Y.G.M.

Hugh & T.S.Y – I don’t have your email, it would be handy if you can send me an email , my addy in profile.

Out before I even started.

Good luck everyone, have fun.

Weather looking, ahem, decidely iffy. Metcheck long range (which does tend to be a bit enthusiastic) says for around 15mm of rain during the 24th with around 20-30mm of rain over the next week or so to make the trails interesting. Better take the Dry-X’s off then!

Yeah, it’s looking grim… will make a call mid-week I think, haven’t actually booked train tickets or anything yet!

Yep, I’ve been checking the weather and it’s looking like it will be damp 🙁

Back in 2007 I rode the SDW (BHF Winchester to Devils Dyke 65 miler) for the first time. The route was wet and muddy as it had been raining for weeks before although I don’t recall it raining on the day. Here’s my bike after the finish…

Looking back the SB8 tyres were optimistic (although no punctures or falls)!

I found it very tough…I was unprepared, unfit and didn’t appreciate just how much climbing there was going to be. It was a tough year and I heard 45% of entrants did not finish.

Still, fingers crossed 😀

I’ll see your SDW mud and raise you

[/url]
South Downs Way Microadventure Feb 2010[/url] by fantasticmrmatt[/url], on Flickr

The Downs dry our very quickly so hold fire on tyre choice until a day or so before.

I’ll see your SDW mud and raise you

😀

Thus proving the awesome mud-shedding ability of my tyre choice 😉

It’s not the mud that’ll get you. It’s the sheet ice-like wet chalk, but you probably know that. No tyre will keep you upright on that stuff.

Can’t do next weekend.

If this is rained or muddied off, are there any other prospective dates being considered as a plan B?

Or are there any other people who can’t make next weekend who would consider doing it some other time?

It’ll be ok by next weekend.

I reckon rain up till Tues , then dry and warming up a little each day .
If there is any sun and a slight breeze the downs will dry in a few hours . XC weather forcast OK , as is Metcheck , as is Windguru for Brighton .

Wait till wed eve to decide .

Perfect conditions would be 48 dry weather beforehand. A light westerly breeze, 14 – 18 ‘C , some cloud cover and some sunshine .

Metcheck have just gone from very soggy next week to mildly damp on the latest model…TYPICAL! Think I’ll wait till thursday before making tyre and mudguard choice.

I’m going up there today, well in about 10mins to be exact, I’m heading near Old Winny Hill and over to the chalk hills near Privett..
Heads up when I get back.

It’s not the mud that’ll get you. It’s the sheet ice-like wet chalk, but you probably know that. No tyre will keep you upright on that stuff.

I ride to work all year round on the South Downs and I’ve found Mud X tyres pretty good in the wet and mud. There’s a couple of stretches of smooth bare chalk and even they feel ok with them on. I had XC pros on before that and the same sections were really twitchy. If you are on the bare smooth chalk ride in the puddles there’s a lot more grip at the bottom of those.

It’s not the mud that’ll get you. It’s the sheet ice-like wet chalk, but you probably know that. No tyre will keep you upright on that stuff.

it’s not the chalk that’ll get you, it’s the green slime living on top that’s the killer. 😐

Indeed. Not all the chalk/slime combo is equally splippery – it’s just some bits that get dodgy and you don’t necessarily know which.

I reckon small tread tyres are the ones for SDWing. I normally use my cross bike or mountain bike with Michelin XC dry tread as you never get that real clag.

Righty I’m back. Ok, from the trails:
It’s very wet but draining off nicely. Exposed trails are super slippery with about an inch of compression at the very least, so you are soaking in on ave 2 inches at the moment. The trails that are covered by trees and overhanging bushes are very slippery and boggey. Not all of the undergrowth has been soaked, in fact two bridalways are very dry without the normal puddles so the waters soaking into the ground nicely. There are lots of ferns and bush growth over the last couple of weeks since we’ve had the rain, but it’s still late so all the trails I use are still clear.
Today was windy and occasional showers but in the main the sun shone brightly.. I was on my HT dale F1 and I use conti treads with lots of space between the nobs, which was perfect today, all the mud cleared off well enough.
Don’t forget I rode today from Bishops Waltham to Privett and back over bridalways and cheeky trails. So, you’ll need someone elses view of the trails further east over Winny Hill and beyond. I can’t think I’ll get that way before you plan to do your adventure so good luck, hope this helps.

Rode my local loop around Newmarket Hill, Ditchling Beacon, Stanmer Park yesterday (all NE of Brighton on the SDW). The open Downs trails were surprisingly dry despite the heavy rain on Friday. A few deep puddles but they were drying out quickly in the breeze. Damp surface layer on the singletrack in the woods but again holding up well, still pretty grippy and drying out nicely. If it stays dry(ish) this week you’ll have no problems this weekend. It’s just been too dry for too long for the rain to make much difference at the moment.

On the rubber note… I ran my usual summer 2.35 Maxxis High Roller on the Front and 2.1 Maxxis Aspen on the rear and it was fine. If it dries out a bit I’d go for something fast-rolling like the Aspen front and rear for the full SDW (just stay in the middle of the path when you see hawthorn bushes). 😉

Sorry, I’ve been away from the internet for the last 10 days… what’s the latest plan for this?

I’ve got the day off, so certainly hoping to get involved… but am currently pretty beaten up from some crashes over the last week.

What maps do I need to get as I don’t have any of this fancy GPS lark.

Current Winchester forecast for Friday is ‘hail shower’ 😯

I still haven’t committed to this yet, no trains or accommodation booked, will make a decision on Wednesday I think…

What’re other folk thinking? I think Piha has committed, but what about everyone else?

psychle – still no address for your “exciting” mystery gift.. do you want it? Dez

Yep, I’m still good to go. I think there is a link to a good map on this thread.

Weather forecast changes from site to site, hour by hour!

– http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/forecast.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&postalcode=SO23%200AD&metric=1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/308?area=Winchester

will make a decision on Wednesday I think…

Yep, reckon that’s the day I’ll make my final decision. I’m strongly in favour of just doing it. However, I’m going to come down on the day anyway so I can leave it pretty much up to the night before if I wanted to.

It’s tricky as there are so many wishlist’s items for the perfect day…cloudy skies to keep the sun off and slow the dehydration, sunny in the preceding days to dry the trails, winds from the West etc etc. Personally I’d rather risk some showers and have a cooler day and Friday is looking pretty good for that.

However, if it’s just going to belt it down with rain all day, then sod that…want to enjoy it as much as is possible.

If the forecast is just for the possible occasional shower and the wind is in the right direction (which it should be from what I’ve seen so far?) then I’ll be in, not looking for a perfectly blue sky sunny day, just a reasonably dry one (like today was in London actually!).

I’d like to join the ride but I’m not certain I’ll be able to make it. Please would you post up your confirmed departure time from Winchester if you decide you are going to go ahead with it all.
Thanks

Rich

Sadly I’m going to be a no show for this one, looks like I will be working in Bristol Thursday and Friday.

Been busy with work recently and have been out once for 3hrs on the mb in the last 2 1/2 weeks!

Had to DNF in the National 50TT on Sunday as the legs just said F off when I tried to push 🙁

If the wind is anything like on Saturday then I reckon it’ll be like going to New York on Concorde and you’ll arrive before you leave. I did 20 miles from Worthing back to the far side of Brighton on the road on the mountain bike in an hour and 10 without even trying.
I was out above Kingston on Sunday and it was fine, as others have said it does dry quickly at this time of year. I’d like to be giving it a go but I’m stuck in Dublin all week but hoping to find a gap in July when I can give it a go. Not sure I’m up to the whole thing in a day but living in Brighton gives me the option of doing it 2 without the hassle of carrying extra kit.

Good luck to all of you doing it.