*sucks through teeth* I hope they’re snakeskins. I’ll be on a Salsa Selma :-)

Ah don’t worry I’ll be on my bike & can ride alongside for a bit…wouldn’t ask you to stop :-) . I’ll just ride in the opposite direction and will bump into you at some point (unless you get lost!).

TCW was a navigational nightmare for me, and it was super wet, but even if it wasn’t, yeah the Ridgeway miles go by much faster. There really isn’t a single climb on the Ridgeway that you reach the base of and think oh sh*t I have to climb that?

@mrmo the terrain west of Goring is more classic Ridgeway than to the east, which has (even) more lowland bridleways. There’s some nice stuff around Wendover imho, where the hills appear again.

ah ok. Well, watch out for the hoards of people at Ashridge :-) . As it’s Saturday, I’ll definitely be able to pop out and say hello. Of course, if you’d rather keep your head down and stay in the zone without interruptions then you can just tell me to piss off, I’ll understand :lol: .

I know what you mean about nerves…I’ve started long rides at 3am before because I couldn’t sleep & just gave up trying!

@molgrips I reckon you’ll be ok if the forecast stays the same. A fair amount of rain tomorrow but the ground is really dry so can probably handle it. The rest of the weeks looks ok so yeah, I’d go for it. Good idea doing it on a weekday…fewer people to dodge around at Ashridge. Please post your SPOT link when you have it :-).

@DrP well, at least the SS record was the overall record until June this year :-) I think you’ll find navigation pretty simple along the Ridgeway, but yes absolutely worth pre-riding it. I definitely lost a big chunk of time on the SDD because I’d never ridden it before. Let me know if you want some SS company on a recce ride sometime.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only person to have ridden the double SS, so by default I have the record :-). Also, I put the route together so had the benefit of knowing it really well.

Best of luck molgrips! Feel free to email me if you want any specific info…my address is on the ridgewaydouble.net web site ;-). I live near Goring & will pop out & cheer you on if I have an idea when you’re passing.

Rode a few hours between Goring and Swindon yesterday. It’s very fast at the moment but some rain is forecast for tomorrow.

With regards to the singlespeed record…I went with a 32-18 iirc (29er) and used a pretty high cadence a lot of the time. I suspect some strong legs and a 17 cog might be a good tactic. I went rigid but it’s really bumpy in places so front suspension is probably sensible as well…more important than on the South Downs Double imho.

God damn what awful news. Mike was a huge inspiration to me and undoubtedly masses of other people. Ride in peace, dude :cry: .

Hi all. I’m the author of http://ridgewaydouble.net/ and the route as posted on that site. The route is (to my best knowledge) 100% legal, which was one of the most important considerations when I was putting it together. There are some sections in the east that may be marked as footpath on maps, but on the ground they are permissive tracks open to bicycles (e.g. National Trust).

The “official” Ridgeway transitions frequently from bridleway to footpath to road, and another aim I had was to stick as close as possible to the real historic Ridgeway whilst remaining legal for bikes. You could of course choose any number of alternate sections here and there if you wanted to mix it up, but I think the route as it is pretty much achieves these aims.

Taps do tend to come and go from an operational point of view. As has been mentioned, some are directly on the side of the trail, some slightly off. There are loads though, so there’s generally another one not too far away if one is out of commission.

Whilst the Ridgeway isn’t the most technical of trails :-), imho as an introduction into longer rides/ITT/multi day riding in the south of England its a nice easy place to start. Lots of places to bivy along the route. Personally I like the stretch a little way after Barbury Castle, some copses with nice views over there.

Cheers. Mark

Thanks guys. Yep sorry I meant the Dales. Dumb southerner here :-)

Yup, sure is. Her current one doesn’t match the bike anyway :D

Thanks for asking…my wife (Ceci) is bruised & cut but pretty lucky we reckon. Her helmet hit the rock before her forehead did and we suspect took most of the impact. Could have been a very different story otherwise 8O

Ah thanks buddy, likewise! :D

lol! Not that much training really, but I suppose I’ve been doing this long enough that I can fall back on my base a bit. I’m only able to ride weekday evenings (sometimes lunch breaks) and every other weekend (have the kids every other weekend).

That was fun (possibly of the type 2 variety at times)! The early rain made the course interesting later on in the day – a nice mud/glue type concoction in some places. Predictably though, the Ashton Court trail remained nicely ridable throughout. 21 laps solo singlespeed here & enjoying eating my own body weight in junk today :-)

My wife was racing in a ladies pair & unfortunately had a nasty crash on the rock garden, cutting her forehead open. Paramedics were called etc, but in particular there was a fellow racer chap who stopped and stayed with her for the duration. I wonder if anyone happens to know who that was? I owe him a huge thank-you!

Hi all! Web site is temporarily down while I migrate it to a new web host. Tip – don’t go with Bluehost, they lure you in with cheap prices and then fleece you with the renewal! Hope to have it online in a day or two. If anyone needs the route, ping me an email. Cheers. Mark.

Ok great thanks. I’ve put together a pretty decent Tracklogs route based on Cross Border Route / Deadwater / Osprey / Lake Loop. Should be enough considering I have to drive six hours home afterwards :-)

Thanks andyr, will follow that advice.

Thanks guys. Considering it wasn’t all on public trails, I think I’ll come up with an alternative in the area…maybe a mixture of the Cross Border trail, the lake loop and some other stuff. Cheers.

Congrats to all who made it round. What an awesome course..had a bit of everything. I was totally gutted to have to pull out after 8 hours with a recurrence of this bloody ankle injury. Shame as I was within 90 seconds of Brett Bellchambers & feeling ok. Would have been a good tussle I suspect. Oh well, stuff happens. Time to recoup over the winter & focus on Weaverville 2015 for another try at toppling the Aussies :D

Live timing link:

http://lappedenduro.sportident.co.uk/home/event.html?eventid=b0652c4c-1cbe-44b3-8aef-50b9e8531bba

:-)

Oh yeah, cheers :-) Gulp! That is a bit hilly isn’t it? <runs around looking for the biggest ss sprocket he can find>

Only 12km lap? I’m sure I read recently that it was more like 10-11 miles..?

Just prepping my bikes today (yes I know, not leaving it till the last minute at all!). I’m more accustomed to self-supported stuff so a bit clueless about this whole concept of “spares”. With that in mind, I’m bringing (amongst other things) two bikes, eight wheels (in fairness including the wheels that are actually on the bikes) and ten spare sets of brake pads. Basically the entire contents of the shed. The benefit perils of owning a van!

Cheers. Presumably this will also reduced the axle-crown height (which is what I’m really trying to achieve)? ie, unlike the Lefty which retains the same a-c when I insert spacers to reduce travel.

Thanks guys :-)

Yay, looks like my ankle has mended. Shame I got a bit fat in the meantime. Anyway, I’ll be there on my trusty singlespeed :D

I (allegedly perhaps) got to interview stage with MI5 some years back as a tech geek. Decided not to go through with it as the pay was crap.

My experience of Ti frames suggests, just like with a steel frame, it’s all about the tubes & the builder. Use silly thin (but super light) tubing…maybe you’ll get a nice “compliant” (flexy) ride, but don’t be surprised when it breaks. Having been down that road in the past (along with quite a few other people :wink: ), my current custom Ti frame is just about the stiffest MTB I’ve ever ridden due to being designed to not break.

molgrips beat me to it :-)

Having used a whole variety of NAS boxes & server-based file sharing/storage malarkies over the years, I am hugely impressed with the Synology box I’ve now had for a year or so. 100% reliable, super simple to set up and maintain, and excellent support from the vendor and 3rd party add-ons.

I’ve got a Rab Microlight with hydrophobic down. It’s one of those things I look forward to wearing in the winter :-). It’s plenty warm & comfortable, but still lightweight. I don’t find Rab jackets necessarily has the best cut…Pattagucci stuff I’ve tried on (and I own a Micro vest) seem to look better, and my wife’s down jacket looks ace (on her…maybe I’m biased), but other than that I reckon the Microlight is lovely. Mine’s only seen light rain, but it didn’t crumple like the wicked witch of the west (east?) or anything.

Sam – BETD’s site will always show them as in-stock, even when they’re not ;-). Last I spoke to them a few weeks back was that they should be ready soon though.

Hi Greg. Depends on my ankle ;-)

Thanks for the link, Graham :-)

Great stuff, Steve! Glad you enjoyed it, and I’m particularly pleased that someone else has had a go so soon :-). Bad luck with the punctures…the perils of flint (I got lucky on my ride). Definitely worth mentioning that Ashridge Estate (near Ivinghoe Beacon) gets very busy at peak times. The trail through the estate is wide, but can nevertheless be rather slow as you (politely!) dodge through the day trippers.

It was your fault I got one, James! :-)

As per my previous post, I’m a huge fan of the Onekey on my singlespeed. However, I don’t agree with the theory that you can go with a bigger oval chainring than your usual round one and get free speed/power. I originally replaced a regular 32T with a Onekey 33T and, whilst I instantly liked it, I still felt like I was pushing a bigger gear, albeit more smoothly. To compensate (when I’m riding in the hills), I’ve dropped from an 18 to a 19 sprocket, which works great for me.

The main thing I notice with the Onekey is a smoother pedal stroke. Two other experienced singlespeeders have tried mine out and immediately noticed the same thing. Whether that translates to “moar speed” is debatable, but it sure does feel nice to ride :-).

Is it worth saying that you won’t notice it when you’re riding? :-)

Huge fan of the Goldtec OneKey here. I have 5 on back order :-)