Having a crack at the 40 miler, not got the legs or confidence for the big one. Hope it stays dry….

Yes sir. 80 for me again. Part of me is looking forward to it…. part is dreading it as i know how tough the 80 is !!!

I’ve just booked a new bike i’ve never ridden for the weekend too.. Scott spark expert 29 🙂

Yup, i’m doing the 80, here’s hoping that the Sunday morning rain holds off

I’ve fitted the Ardents to the Giant 29 i was due to be using.. that’s probably being borrowed by a mate now. I think i have Ralphs on the Scott… i wouldn’t be that amazed if my mate ends up keeping my Giant and i end up with the Spark 🙂

It was due to rain about 7am…. i’m hoping to be either finished or pretty close to it. Last year we got lost 3 times which added on a couple of hours to our time lol.

Doing the 80 and watching the weather forecast with interest. Don’t want to be carrying too much wet weather clobber, so will be weighing up what I need to start with etc. Also desperately trying to dredge up the route in my mind (in reverse) as I’ve never done it E to W at night on my tod!

Like that…. but from right to left 🙂

Last year we made the mistake of packing EVERYTHING…. from sandwiches to figg rolls, spares, etc etc. This year, i’m not even taking a camelbak, mind is fitted to a tailbag on the bike and a bottle. Weight played a hige factor on comfort last year for me, so i’m riding 100% light as possible.

Yep, I also packed everything when I did the SDW in a day last year – a mistake I also don’t intend to make again – but I am packing some butties to compensate for bar/gel hell! Was hoping for a route guide with some rights and lefts, rather than the ups and downs – I know where those are 😮

Im doing this for the first time ,so ive packed a lot ,the weather will dictate what i leave in the car. or not?.Im taking sandwiches ,gels,bars treats ect ,camelbak and water bottle ,normal pack stuff like, tubes ,tools ect, waterproofs and a bivvy bag if it all gets too much and i need some kip, Head torch and a bar light off Smudge. Also first aid kit, whistle ,map ,compass and a change of socks for a morale boost half way oh and my gloves are going to be water/windproof winter ones instead of my normal mitts ,have i over done it or is it better to be safe ? Any body gonna be taking it easy and want a riding buddy im on a Cannondale trail sl4 in White and am riding alone?

Well, lets start off mate.. last year due to issues, me getting lost twice with my riding buddy and us helping a broken down rider… we were the slowest out there. We took best part of 14 hours.

To put into perspective, we did 60 miles of the Ridgeway last weekend in 6 hours 21 mins, so we’re not exactly terrible riders lol. But the SDW is just hill after hill, climb after climb. I’m 40 and my riding mate is 52. Our target this year is to complete in 12 hours. We’re also taking a new riding buddy who neither of us have met yet, but know from a motorbike forum. He did the Brecon beast last year and is a bit quicker than my mate, but i think not quite as quick as me.

To answer your Qn, well, only you can say… but IMO you’re taking too much. We dumped LOADS of stuff at the 1/2 way point last year, packets of figg rolls, jellys, all-sorts.

Sandwiches for the coach, sure, why not… the feed stations are very good, we had burgers and coffee at one LOL. There’s also a petrol station we plan on using if needed.

To answer your last bit…sure mate, hook up with us if you want what will be a nice ride at a normal human pace 🙂 I’ll be rocking up about 2.30pm at QECP in a lightish blue mondeo, my mate in a Mondeo estate in Grey. I’m on a Giant XTC29 and he’s on a Lappierre zesty. You’re more than welcome to hook up and ride with us. If you get bored, just bugger off and leave us.
Only rule of play we have is ‘never leave the last man’ of course you can climb sections quicker, that’s down to preference, but you wait at top for last man… That’s possibly going to be my mate as his climbing speed is slow and steady. So i’ll be waiting for him when needed.

Cya there mate, don’t be shy.

Weeksy,that sounds like a plan ,im 39 and planning on finishing not racing,so im gonna ride steady.Im gonna be in a red suzuki swift ,im gonna leave stuff in car if i need to as i dont want to lug 15k pack around.Look forward to meeting you guys tomorrow thanks ,Trev