I’m doing the BHF South Downs Way in a day ride in a couple of weeks. Looks to be a bastard, anyone got any top tips, or know any good locations on the route to pick up a decent brew and cake?

Done it a couple of times. It’s a good ‘un.

My tip would be to take a full change of kit….It really gives you a lift to stop halfway for a bite and fresh kit.

SB

Change of kit – good plan, hadn’t thought of that… 🙂

Lighten the bike as much as possible. Light fast rolling tyres.
If you have a choice of bikes, short travel fs would be useful, although a hardtail with a fat rear tyre might be an alternative.
Pace yourself, its a long day in the saddle!

bum butter prevention and/or sachet of sudocrem for halfway RELIEF !!

(drink lots – I was peeing pineapple chunks by halfway)

Take real food to eat as there aren’t many re-fueling options on the trail.

I’m a bit of a SDW obssessive. Not sure which way your BHF route takes you but going from Winchester to Eastbourne gives you a better chance of a tailwind.

I’ve done it quite a few times. It sounds obvious but try to do it as fast as you can otherwise it can be a long old day. There aren’t that many places to stop without heading off the the trail, so keep plenty to eat with you. I’m doing it on Saturday this week (and Wednesday next week as it happens) and I’ll be carrying half a dozen energy gels and a few cereal bars.

I also don’t like stuff on my back for 9-10 hours so I always use bottles and a large saddle pack.

Finally, not sure how your bike is set up. I normally do it on my cross bike because it offers me a lot of hand positions. You might want to think about bar ends just to give you a change now and again.

I think bigyinn has got it right – a fast, efficient bike (I used a light steel hardtail)and pace yourself. It gets steeper the futher you go, so keep something in the tank. Keep hydrated and fuelled throughout and you’ll get there.

I think bigyinn has got it right – a fast, efficient bike

Yeh
(I did it on a bullit with ST highrollers on. Was a long hard day 🙄 )

Use the SouthDowns Double site to learn where the taps are. some are easy to miss , and you dont want to carry 3ltr all the time.
Start really slowly and roll as much as possible . Take a mix of gels and solid food ,plus High5 Zero tablets .
Drink and eat more than you need to , before you need to .
The ft of climbing is almost the same in each half.
Put on suntan cream as its almost all exposed .
Take a couple of large tyre patches
Push up the killer hills and stuff your face at the same time, better than killing yourself in granny / 1 and having to stop at the top for a rest and something to eat
Pack and take some Ibuprofen if they dont upset your stomach
Might be wise to put some loo roll in too , a few gels can effect the internals.
Be afraid , it will hurt.
HTH

Long day, took us 11 hours of riding a few years back. Was a very good day.
Was wet when leaving Winchester which didn’t help as it meant more clothing!
Devil’s Dyke is about 65miles in and I would compare the last 35miles with the first 65miles in hardness and energy.
There a few water taps along the way in farms and yha, worth giving your face a wash to freshen up.

wynne – is it ok on a cross bike? I would like to try this route at some point and i think the most suitable bike i have would be a cross bike with fat tyres on. Is the terrain do-able with this? Oh, and a 34/34 low gear 😆

I find a cross bike perfect. There’s nothing technical on the SDW and I’m not sure you really need to lug around any form of suspension. What you need is a fast bike that covers the miles. You should be fine with 34/34. My bike’s got Campag and the lowest I’ve got is 34/29. There are a couple of really steep swines that are very hard with this gearing but most of it’s fine.

As to tyres, fast rolling and reasonably strong. I use Hutchinson Bulldogs run tubeless. They’re meant to be 34mm but they come out a bit bigger.

hmm. that could be the bike to use. I can get bontrager 1.8 29er tyres in it so that might be what i do. Something to aim for next summer / this autumn 🙂

If you’re doing west to east save some legs for the last two hills, windover hill into jevington and then jevington up to eastbourne, I did them last weekend, steep, long and lots of loose flint. Have a tea and cake break in Alfriston.

Light HT would be perfect. Beautiful ride. If you’re in Eastbourne overnight I’d recommend dropping into Friston Forest too, some nice singletrack. And you must have a pint of Harvey’s Best, best beer in the world.

Personally I’d not want to lug around a change of clothes, other advice seems sound though, although we’ve got advice that a rigid CX bike is perfect, and a short travel FS!

Take what you got I say!

I tried it and only made 65 miles in 11 hours of riding – I could have gone on but was reduced to a granny crawl even on the flat and it would have taken days and days.

To be safe I would ensure you have a bail out plan. We were able to phone for a car and beer – which helped get over the fact we didnt do it.

we’ve got advice that a rigid CX bike is perfect, and a short travel FS

Well both would be perfect it’s just a question of whether you prefer a lot of pain for a shorter duration or less pain for longer. And of course a lightweight hardtail would give you a nice balance of medium pain for medium time.

Watch out for the chalk if its wet it gets very slippy. Oh the down hill into the QECP can also be interesting in the wet on the grass

Agreed on the suncream – when I did the double I ended up really red on one side, as we rode the other way in the dark…

GB

wet chalk – like riding in sloppy pizza dough

Light fast rolling tyres.

although something with a reasonably strong sidewall is worth having – those flints can make a right mess of silly light tyres.

someone did the SDW double in 19.5 hours on a rigid SS earlier in the week so anything’s possible…

rewski – Member

wet chalk – like riding in sloppy pizza dough
Eh? Only after a frost, otherwise its just bloody slippy!

If you’re fit, it’s easy! if your fat it’s hard but do-able. I found it hard but did it in 13 hours.

Here’s last years write up
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bhf-randonnee-south-downs-way-100-miles-31st-july-2010-epic-report

Didn’t really train for it

Things I would change:
Bin the rucksack and get the water / spares on to the bike.
Boardman FS was good, Hardtail may have been better.
Wear 2 pairs of shorts from the off

Use tough tyres, or at least pack patches and tubes. Dont rely on tubeless. I got punctured and so did my mate on tubeless due to the chalk flint – its really exposed in this dry weather and cut straight through my FireXC and mates Rampage PR.
A good call on walking up the tough climbs – Its disheartening, but if you can convince yourself to walk, it would prob be for the best.

Loads of water, else amongst other things, you will get cramp.

I still havent managed to do a SDW complete, just not managed to get a group of us together to do it. Only as far as Devils Dyke from Winch. One day it will happen!

Hmm, The only time i’ve cut a tyre was on the SDW and that was a rampage too!

Was originally going to do it on my FS, but im now leaning towards my HT….
Certainly climbs better and its lighter! Plus the 48t big ring should come in handy too!!

So what’s the steepest climb? The one at southease is pretty steep.

When I did it I used an FS as the chalk can end up very hard in the current weather and it takes the sting out of the trail. I would also recommend sun cream and if it’s a nice sunny day then I would consider something to cover my neck as it ends up nice and exposed. I also walked a couple of the last hills as I was only riding at walking pace by then anyway I also took my helmet off when doing this. I just took normal food with me to eat and picked up a couple of ice creams on the way. I run tubeless as well and I have suffered a couple of times on the south downs from Flint cuts but is nothing a tube won’t fix.

The one at southease is pretty steep.

It’s the grass that gets you on that one and of course the steepest part is at the top. I rode up it a couple of weeks ago and the last part was straight into the wind which didn’t help. As I got to the top I had to sprint for the gate as well as the last man in a team was holding it open for me and I didn’t want to look completely useless in front of them. I met them coming back 4 or 5 hours later, they were flying along but still didn’t look like one of them had broken into a sweat all day.

yeah suncream, get as light as possible, with skinny tyres. I’d be looking at semi slicks or slick tyres – there’s nothing there that really needs grip.

make sure you know the route – theres some spots where the trail turns and its not obvious. also pace yourself a lot – you need to average ~8mph on the bhf ride (I think??) so probably want to be holding 10mph for the first 5 or 6 hours. don’t get too disheartened after 33 miles at the thought you’ve got twice as far as you’ve already ridden still to go. Take a selection of food, and the right amount – I ended up with a pack of sausage rolls at the end that i’d just carried for 100 miles 😛

i did it on a 45lb 6″ travel bike with 2.5″ dualply highrollers (and dh tubes, just for fun). wasn’t great

Thanks all for your posts, been in a cave at work all day, hadn’t expected that response….. 🙂

I’ve got an ’07 Rocky Element, so sorted on the short travel front. Did the Ridgeway last year and it was well set up for it, but my back gave out after about 70 miles. Was very wet, so the chalk was lethal, worse than ice, and the rubbing in my groin (no change of shorts) was a killer.. I’m packing nobby on the front and a ralph on the back, sounds like that’s going to be too lightweight, even with some Joe’s inside.

Sound advice on the walking too. Nice tip on the tailwind Wynne (I’m going from Winchester), here’s hoping!

Nice one all, hangin’ oot for it now 😀

No advice but these are my only 2 SDW in a day attempts:

In 1987 I went out for a quick ride and just kept going, ended up doing the whole thing. Tailwind all the way. Not from Winchester, the official start was only from near Petersfield then, so a fair bit shorter. No food, no map, 1 bottle, muddy fox courier rigid as you like. Picked up stuff to eat and drink on the way.

In 1988 I attempted it again on a really hot day, no wind. Again, no food, 1 bottle, this time on a ridgeback dayglo something or other. Bonked big time after Petworth and crawled back home along the road. Ate the whole house on return.

beware the sprung gates springing back and battering your mech . sounds stoopid but if your shot to bits it can happen luckily . not to me , but a friend .

sat would be a great day for a go , and i would were it not for the fact i am out on friday night for birthday drinks

Doing Brighton to Eastbourne tomorrow after work, unfortunately the winds decided to go the other way.

I know it sounds silly but use a GPS with the track marked. It’s surprisingly easy to miss a signpost and wander off route…. and that will be downhill…. which means it’s uphill back! And there isn’t time to faff with maps.

Oh, it doesn’t finish in some scruffy car park in Eastbourne. The end is the pub at Beachy Head.

It’s a fine ride. Enjoy.

Me and a bunch of mates are doing this on the 2nd July from Petersfield to Brighton. Depending on how we get on it’ll be to the devils dyke or Ditchling Rd.
Can’t wait, haven’t done any of it for 2 years and i need my fix.
Still cant decide on hardtail (light and climbs well, harsh on the arse) or FS (heavier, climbs not so well, more comfortable and FASTER downhill.)
Shouldn’t moan as Im lucky to have the choice. Any thoughts?

And you must have a pint of Harvey’s Best, best beer in the world.

this is the best bit.

personally i would go light, don’t carry spare clothes, or 2 prs of shorts or more than 2 litres of water as loads of taps. Just take plenty of powder to keep water as fuel, take some normal food to stay sane and pedal down hills and along flats in big ring to keep up the average speed. I managed 10 hours including a puncture but was in good shape at the time. Over 2 days with big beers would be more fun.

Travel light. I’m about to give the SDW a go again one day soon and I’ll be riding a Stumpy with tubeless tyres. I’ll take a camelbak with a couple of litres of water, refill it on the way and carry some gels, a few Soreen Go bars a multitool and an inner tube.

I’ll wear a short sleeved cycling top and lycra shorts and will carry a really light waterproof that squashes down to the size of an orange.

Everything else is surplus and something you have to drag up every hill.

Start slow and try not to get carried away, if you’ve still got gas in the tank at Itford Farm, Rodmel you can always hammer the last leg to Eastbourne! rather than limp it as I did!! As already said take real food (savoury) – I was craving this after the day eating sugary energy food. And yes, as Singletrackmind said – it will hurt but hopefully rewarding once you’ve completed!

I took a tube of nuun’s when I did the ridgeway and a bunch of gels and bars – the torq bars seemed to suite me best. Took 2 bottles plus 2 litres on my back as was concerned about topping up from the taps and getting the squits – is the water clean?