Cocking Hill. Not sure what bike.

He’s just crossing the Midhurst road.

Actually, without a time limit, what does it mean? Fair play that he’s going for x3; it’s a big committment, but if he does it in 35 hours, what does that mean, or 40, 50 hours? I hope he does it – but I’m not clear what “doing it means” – is it non-stop, what if he does stop, how long should he stop/sleep, can he get assistance, how much, etc. The Double, IMO, is more understandable as there is a time limit – so you do it, or not. Anyway, he probably, rightly, couldn’t give a monkeys what I think, and good on him for giving it a go. I hope this does not sound too negative, just my opinion. Run the Himiyalas in 100 days, unsupported? Madness, utter madness – but the Cranes did it, a long time ago.

the Double, IMO, is more understandable as there is a time limit

is there?

When he turned around will that site change his progress to a different colour or will will loose the ability to track him? 🙂

the Double, IMO, is more understandable as there is a time limit

Well there’s not really a time limit, but I guess the accepted standard is 24 hours. Not that anyone’s going to come and take your bike off you at 24:00:01.

he’s 11 minutes ahead of schedule after 66 miles.

Just started raining here in Petersfield but not hard just enough to dampen the dust a little bit.

All solo endurance challenges must seem pretty pointless except to the person doing them – all I can say is I couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t do it but I’d certainly doff my cap to anyone who tries to do it 😀

I hope he does it – but I’m not clear what “doing it means” – is it non-stop, what if he does stop, how long should he stop/sleep, can he get assistance, how much, etc.

Doing it is doing it. Whatever he defines ‘it’ to be, and whatever he does. The first ascent of Everest was doing it. So was the ascent that someone paid $50,000 to do last weekend. Different, but still doing it.

Our man.

http://i50.twitgoo.com/t66k2t.jpg

still lining his wheels up for pictures, I see 🙂

smiling as much as anyone does being physio’d;

Would like to try and ride a bit with him tomorrow. Been tracking him most of the day, even in my meeting. Awesome attempt. As if the SDWD wasn’t hard enough

Good luck to the man hes set himself one hell of a challenge. But my money is on a DNF. Too far and its gonna rain.

There’ll be another load of nutters out on the South Downs tomorrow as its the South Downs Relay running race.

Sod running up and down those hills!

We’ve been talking about doing the SDW in a day. To us that would be a real achievement. It’s not a fantastic ride but it is a hell of a journey. To attempt it 3 times back to back is very impressive.
My point is that it is a personal challenge and that means different things to different people. I don’t see how you could knock any one for trying.

Good luck to him i say some of those hills get hard. and iv’e only done it in a day one way (and that took 13 hours). To all those say why 3 laps? Its not 3 laps as when you turn around you are riding up th ehills you came down and vis versa which makes it a very different track and by the time he’s back at he begining i doubt he will remember to much of what the ground conditions were like doing the same bits again.

To give you all an update, richard is on fine form. He has just done the first leg and heading back out of Winchester we are digging into the pit crew survival hamper which he left for us. He is happy and enjoying the near empty, dry trails. He is running ahead of schedule despite a puncture early on. He is riding a Scott scale 29er. Batteries have just been changed for his endomondo.
He says thank you for all your positive comments- keep em coming!
He had been training for months, so is as prepared as he could be. If you want a personal update we are #sd3 on twitter

OK if he’s made the turn we are behind on a post a mile so we need to catch up!

I have huge amounts of respect for someone doing this. The mental battle is a real barrier for me. Hope it all goes well and can’t wait to hear all about once he finishes.

Fantastic challenge imo.

I wonder what hes dreading most? not being able to eat enough and bonking? no sleep? the rain? the hills? riding in the heat? riding at night? punctures?

looks like hes coming up to butser hill soon from the easier side, wonder if he pushes on the 3rd lap 🙂

How is he running the endomondo?

Errr, smartphone with Endomondo app one would imagine.

He is running endomondo off his samsung smartphone. Spare battery packs so hopefully it will keep live.
What’s he most frightened off? The scarey pit crew of course;-)

I don’t get why he is only doing it 3 times and not 4?

I rode the SDW on Sunday, West to East and really enjoyed it. Never really ridden on the South Downs before and tend to be more into singletrack etc but a friend invited me along and I thought it sounded like a good challenge. It’s not the most challenging riding in terms of technical sections and most of it is double track but there are some really fun sections, some super fast bits and some pretty challenging climbs. It’s a real journey and certainly got me more into the idea of doing more that my usual couple of hours on the Surrey Hills..
Anyway, managed it in just over 10 hours and was pretty pleased with that. Felt pretty good on the day but on Monday and Tuesday I was exhausted! Bike was a Specialized Camber Expert Carbon with Command Post and it was superb – perfect tool for the job.

Ignore the negatives! The fact that this chap is attempting 3 times in a row gets my respect that’s for sure.

4 times ? Maybe he will 😀

I know it’s smart phone but was wondering how it was going to keep going for 36hours. Forgot that phones had removable batteries.. been with Apple too long! 🙄

South Downs is riding nicely and hope it stays like that for Richard. Will hopefully ride from the house to Winchester and back on Sunday morning. So apologies in advance for the adverse weather that day!

Respect to the guy for doing this. I tried it one way last year and bailed after 14 hours

Update: its now properly dark but we can see richard on the horizon with his six pack dropping into cocking. His iPod has broken so he will be humming his favourite tunes through the night. He is still cheerful and enjoying hearing the comments from singletrack massive.

Been keeping a warch on this, really impressive, incrediable to keep an average at over 9 for so long. Good luck and will check in the morning.

I hope he’s humming better tunes than the ones that come into my head when I’m on a long (for me) ride.. really awful, some of them.

Best of luck for a good night’s riding to him. Look fwd to hearing that he did it, sometime tomorrow!

is he in the pub? Been still around Amberley for a while

Good luck 😀

Richard is in really good spirits- he is riding consistently and fuelling well. No real aches or pains although he hit his shoulder against a gate so is a bit sore.
he has given the pit crew surprise envelopes at certain check points- this one is a compilation of cheesy 80s tunes. Roll on a night with banana Rama, genesis and wham! que the next pit stop having the speakers on full volume. I hope the sheep appreciate it.

4.03 am. Richard has just been through the A27 checkpoint. The last leg was a bit slower due to a heavy mist that has fallen making navigating tricky. Its still dry and warm and the trails dusty. He isn’t complaining of any body problems although he is not enjoying eating- who would at 4am?! He is still joking with us and really looking forward to the dawn arriving. Still 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

Watching progress from here in Jordan. So here is an early morning cheer to keep the morale up. Hurrah.

has he stopped? Endomondo is no longer saying live, or at least it isnt to me?

Says live for me, and its refreshing as it does that annoying ‘zoom out’ whilst you are hunting for his position. He is on the climb out of Alfriston.

He is still going , heading to Eastbourne. He was feeling a bit sick on the last checkpoint and hips are a bit sore. A bit of a struggle to get through a heard of cows He was keen to know who was following his progress and says thank you for all the encouragement.