I’d been fancying a crack at the South Downs Way for a while, so as my girlfriend was away this weekend, to stave off the boredom I planned a solo mission overnight on Friday. Aiming for a fairly quick time and an early train home from Eastbourne, I left Winchester just before 9pm, spurred on by the Met Office’s promise of a clear dry night….
Bad things: 2 thunderstorms (clear dry night my ar$e!), glutinous mud, punctures (x 3), running out of CO2 and breaking my backup pump with 30 miles still to go, getting very cold trying to change my last tube in the rain, slippery chalk, not taking proper waterproofs (thanks Mr MetOffice…)
Good things: Owls flying around me, lightning (amazing from a few km away, but less good when it’s hitting trees around you!), suicidal badgers running under my wheels, the fact I didn’t see anyone else on the trail for 70 miles, finishing and having a coffee in Eastbourne!
It took a lot longer than planned, but the rain, mud and slippery chalk didn’t help. I found it’s quite hard to keep up a decent average speed at night as well, as the nav is a bit slower. You also end up holding back quite a bit on the downhills to stay within the limit of light output, bravery, and the constant spectre of “if I crash here at 3am it’ll be a long time before anyone finds me”!
Ended up finishing in just under 12hrs, a bit disappointed with the time, but glad to get it done. I think it totalled 159km with something like 3550m of climb.
All nav done with OS 1:25k maps, compass (useful in a couple of places) and a Miri map board, maps marked up with tap locations and route info from the Bikedowns site (which is very good).
Now I just want another go with decent conditions – with prior route knowledge and dry trails I reckon sub 10 hours is possible for a night ride, and nearer 9 hours for daytime….