I’m aiming my attempt for 28th July (with alternates on 27/29). Winchester-Eastbourne is much more convenient for me but I’m curious:

a) How wet would it need to be (on the day, or in the days leading up) for you to cancel?

b) How much Easterly would there need to be for you to reverse the direction and start in Eastbourne?

I know these are “how long is a piece of string” questions, but I’d like to hear people’s opinions.

Rob

a) Ideally we’d want a dry spell in the run up, if it rained a bit on that hopefully it’d soak it up. We don’t want rain on already sodden ground, or continuous rain on the day. A light shower / drizzle might help cool us down if hot. No real rule, but we’ll make a judgement call in the days prior. For us, if we have to postpone we’ll loose our support vehicle…

b) no idea, its supposed to work in our favor going from Winch – Eastb, but if the weather was showing gales in the opposite direction we’d swap our hotel reservations over and do it from Eastb – Winch.

A. It would be horrific if wet, it’s the wrong type of mud for wet. However, it has been VERY dry lately so would need a fair bit of rain to be an issue.

B. Don’t care about the wind.

I’ve spent longer doing doing 60 miles to Truleigh Hill in the wet than riding the whole thing in the dry.

It’s pretty dry at the mo, but if you do encounter torrential rain, you’ll find out that the co-efficient of friction between rubber and wet chalk is virtually zero.

Once encountered 30-40mph easterly headwinds in mid-summer when the average temperature was 10 degrees – the climb up Southease was particularly tough as I was riding a SS CX.

The only good thing about the wet in winter was coming all the way down Old Winchester Hill towards Exton on my fatbike with my wheels locked, foot-out and sliding past those pushing their bikes through ankle-deep slop!

Starting to get a bit worried about my attempt of Friday. The weather on the day is looking good, but not sure about the rain on Wednesday/Thursday.

It’s drying really quickly at the moment and it’s not been wet enough for long enough for green chalk to be an issue.

It’s actually better on the non bare chalk bits when the ground is slightly softer, tbh.

I find a day or two of rain is OK on the south downs if it’s been dry for a spell before hand as it just soaks away very quickly. It’s prolonged (a few days or week of rain and reduced temperatures) which make it messy.

PS: you can get chips at Eastbourne pier !

Well that’s done. Riding time 13:15, with a total time of 15:15. I left Winchester just after 5:00, so needed lights for the first part. Even as the sun was coming up it was very dark under the trees for the first hour or so.

I’d been very apprehensive about this in the days leading up to it, and if I’m honest wasn’t looking forward to it. It had become a bit of a “just get the damn thing done” in my head. However, within about 30 minutes of setting off I remembered just what a nice route the SDW is, and that riding on enclosed bridleways and byways is basically what I like to do on my bike, so all was fine.

I think in hindsight though that I should have cancelled. The route was wet (lots of standing water) and I fell off twice, in really innocuous places, because the wet chalk was like ice. I also had a couple of minor mechanicals cause, I think, by the build up of mud on the bike.

These things being what they are, I’m already thinking how much faster I could be if I:

a) Picked a better day (drier, and perhaps a month earlier).
b) Took less stuff. I was able to re-fill water in several locations, so could have had smaller bottles. I carried 2 tubes, but had no flats.
c) Navigated better. I find QECP particularly tricky, and also went wrong in a couple of other places (nothing major but they all add up). I had intended to do a few recce’s beforehand, but didn’t find the time.

7/10 would do again.

Rob

Was a bit wet on Friday wasn’t it 🙁 Although Saturday was even worse!

Well done on doing it after such a lot of rain. Personally I would have postponed… I prefer the SDW dusty and in warm golden sunshine!

a) Picked a better day (drier, and perhaps a month earlier).
b) Took less stuff. I was able to re-fill water in several locations, so could have had smaller bottles. I carried 2 tubes, but had no flats.
c) Navigated better. I find QECP particularly tricky, and also went wrong in a couple of other places (nothing major but they all add up). I had intended to do a few recce’s beforehand, but didn’t find the time.

a) agree
b) I would always take a couple of tubes and a tyre boot / tubeless repair kit because the flints are savage. I don’t think smaller water bottles saves much weight and on a warm day I’d rather not run out. The most important thing for me is keeping weight off my back, so I use a saddlebag instead of a backpack.
c) we got a little lost around Brighton where the signposting seems confusing.

Holy thread resurrection batman!

Due to this weekend’s camping trip being cancelled & the fact I have leave booked,I going to give this a go on Thursday. I’ve been saying I’m going to do it in a day for a few years now  & what with one thing and another it hasn’t happened. I have the tickets booked so I’m running out of excuses. I’ve been watching the weather apps hourly for the past 7 days and I thought I was going to get a tail wind , now looks like a light head wind ,pish. I have to go w-e as the camping canceller lives near Eastbourne and can rescue me post ride!

Anyhow ,If anyone see’s a grimacing , barrel shaped chap on a black cx bike say hello. 🙂

Btw I’m taking a mix of NJee’s(spelling) & Dr P’s refuelling solutions – v helpful ta. 🙂

Good luck – It’s dry under tyre currently despite the recent rain 🙂

Good luck, i think you’ll have the conditions about right…

It will be tough, long, hard, hilly…. Just remember to keep pacing yourself ! Don’t go too nuts.

Thanks. spin to win for me.

I was riding around Friston at the weekend – all looked good.

I know it fairly well from devils dyke but plan to take extra care during the first half not to get lost!

Like last time. 🙁

I’m due to ride this with the BHF on Saturday 14th July , so praying for nice weather conditions. I’m feeling horribly undertrained for it really but a mate and I are riding from Birmingham to Milton Keynes on Saturday via the Canal which is about 75 miles.

I’m also signed up for the BHF Milton Keynes 50 miler off road the week before on 7th July so hoping what with riding fairly regularly will be enough although I’m a bit of a porker, so probably bitten off more than I can chew.

Btw I’m taking a mix of NJee’s(spelling) & Dr P’s refuelling solutions – v helpful ta.

Bon chance, should be great for it this week! As an aside, NJEE are my initials, so it’s not en-jee, just N-J-E-E 🙂

Hi Hockropper,

Good luck with the ride…..just to re-iterate the main point, its hilly. Quite different than a canal ride. Here’s a view of my ride from last year (day 2 of a 3 day bike packing trip). There’s an awful lot of climbing. If you open Strava on a PC you’ll get a good picture of the route and the profile. I started at Winchester train station and finished at a beach in Eastbourne. If you live in Milton Keynes then unfortunately there is little hill training to help you prepare –  best training would be hill repeats of puke hill and a couple of laps of Woburn Red Loop.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1076524750

Took me 11 hours 20 moving time, that’s on a rigid 27.5+ bike with my bikepacking equipment. Also it did include an accidental detour right at the end, just what I needed! For the last 10 miles I was done in, out of food and water and just wanted to head to Eastbourne as quickly as possible, being tired I made a mess of my navigating and added a few extra and unwanted miles!

If I was doing it again it would be on a lightweight hardtail. I’d also heavily recommend going tubeless and taking a tubeless repair kit (including a tyre boot). There was a lot of people stopped along the route fixing flats. Lastly, just ensure you have enough water, you’ll need more than you think. When you are at a rest station, ensure you fill up every bottle/reservoir you are carrying.

Thanks w00dster , for the advise, I used to live in Worthing so I’m aware of how lumpy it is.

I’ve been trying to do longer rides and commutes during the week to get the fitness up and double spin classes and sweetspot training to try to improve the hill climbing so I can just spin up the hills and not wreck myself on every one.

You’re right about puke hill it’s horrible either up Church street or off-road but has got to be done, XD

Lastly, just ensure you have enough water, you’ll need more than you think. When you are at a rest station, ensure you fill up every bottle/reservoir you are carrying.

Aye, worth highlighting this. I forget the numbers but somewhere in the middle there are two taps quite close together, maybe 7 miles apart. I decided to skip the first one of them, but then spent ages agonising on the decision and thinking “I really should have stopped”, as I recall it was a very slow 7 miles, and that’s potentially an hour without additional water.

All good advice above and I can’t reiterate enough the need for fuel and hydration, think little and often. Decent food too, not too much sugary stuff. Take it easy on the climbs to preserve energy and admire the view. Enjoy!

My buddy and I did it E-W last week and he was fair done in by the time we got near Harting – the whole ride was rescued by a supply of simple ham sarnies….. and we finished in 11.5 hours so 3 cheers for simple food.

Good luck. It’s such a good day’s riding. I’m doing it again in July. Ninth year of the trot I think. It’s the highlight of my summer’s riding I think.

Aaaggghhh. I failed to do it in a day! Not fit enough plus 3 mistakes .

1 .I missed a water refill at Lewes – totally forgot – & then  thought I ‘d be ok to Southease(6mile) with what I had. I wasn’t – see 2.

2.Somehow due to lack of concentration/fatigue, I dropped off the top down a very rutted & steep chalk descent, which was “interesting” on a cx ,into Kingston ,wtAf!

I had to walk back up to the top. No water. hottest part of day. Morale was low here.

3. I pumped up my tyres before I set off from home , telling myself I’d let 4/5 psi out when I started the sdw. I forgot  – until Pycombe!!!! I was already sore then. stupid boy.

The delay meant my lift would be hanging around for me for another 90 mins , so I bailed down to Seaford. I finished it yesterday morning. only took 1.5 hour to get from my bail point to Eastbourne so total riding time of 14 hours. 🙁

On a positive note it was a lovely ride – drizzle at the start ,cloudy for the 1st half, plus, I was almost charged by a cow that had just given birth. It was licking and trying to revive the calf & understandably started being aggressive as I slowly rode up towards it .Not sure who was most relieved when it did a baby moo. I congratulated the mother of course. 🙂

I reckon without the errors, a tail wind and now knowing the route ,I can crack 12 hours. I’d also set off an hour earlier and take more food. Is there still 12 hours of light in August? 😉

How anyone does the double is beyond me – mucho respect.

Good to hear that you finished it without any major issues.

Always good to set the bar for next time.

Well done !