if its in the sitbone zone, hack a hole in the saddle directly underneath the welt so it has a place to settle without pressure… and it gets loads of folk talking when they see your saddle. It took me from lopsided peddling to full power in minutes.
Be generous with the hole size – a saddle is a tool, not a jewel; you can always buy another saddle once the problem has healed.

Nor me; I did it last year and had trained well (was as fit as I had been for TD and ATR) and then the whole race and the winters training was wasted cos I couldn’t cope with the weather conditions. I will do it again this coming season, but will start with a good weather window presents itself and not get tied to a specified date again for a race like this.

Heated socks. I can ride in neg 20 with these – I use flat pedals, a warm pair of walking boots and can stay out for the length of the battery; you can get some really cheap heated socks that use AA batteries or you can pay a bit more and get rechargeable ones – they have an elastic strap that wraps just above your calf which has the battery strapped to it.
Problem gone away.

I tried to buy something from them…. my credit card company pounced on the transaction and auto-declined it on my behalf. They tactfully suggested that they are a real company, but if I could get the item elsewhere it would be the smart move.
From a bit of a search on the web, if they have the product in stock, you should be ok, if its not stock, you could be waiting a while for a refund or the goods.

I have been on the south downs a fair amount and in my opinion, green chalk is vindictive and its only mission is to have you off your bike; It can’t be reasoned with, it can’t be bargained with…it doesn’t feel pity of remorse or fear…and it absolutely will not stop.Ever. Until you are dead.

All these specialist bits of kit are great…. till they break and they never break when you are at home or outside your LBS.
I tend to ride Shimano xt 2×10 with a 22 small ring and an 11/36 cassette; you get reliability, can get spare parts anywhere in the world, up-spec or down-spec if needed and with that ratio, if you’re going any slower or up anything that steep, you are better off walking – it gives your legs a rest!

I’m still in the cardboard box end of the spectrum – taking one to Fernie in a few weeks. I just believe the ground crews take more care with a cardboard box than a hard case.
And they are free at Evans and Halfords!

Good luck with it all, one piece of advice regarding camping is try not to camp in the valley at Amberley as the cold moist air collects there, sucked in by the river and it will make everything damp.

I have no hope of riding up Old W hill; legs just won’t do it and it was even quite hard on an ebike, so I’ve always done the Warnford leg (esp when doing the double double) as the thought of hike-a-bike up that twice would have been orrible!

The cafe at the east end makes a better piccie than the old finish line too.

Last week the top link and bearings died on my (almost) ten year old Santa Cruz Tallboy; a quick conversation with Dan at Jungle and I have a complete top link with bearings and seals completely free of charge. I didn’t have to return the broken parts, I just took a pic of the part and whilst they were a little unsure they would have the part whilst on the phone, an hour later I got am email saying it was on its way ASAP.

Customer care is such an important part of buying a bike.

Things of quality have no fear of time.

Next year I’ll buy a new Santa Cruz.

I thought I’d have a go at the solo 24; never done an organised 24 before…… should be fun, its just learning to empty the tank at the right speed, right?

They were superb with me when their delivery company and I didn’t quite get it together and the shorts that I’d ordered ended up in Germany again. Bike-Discount.de got on top of it quickly after an explanatory email and they didn’t even charge me for a second delivery.
I believe the term is ‘chapeau’.

This one is free to enter, has a set route, ends at a brewery and you can do it again the next day.

http://www.ferniebrewing.com/trail-ale#

Fernie also has other superb trails, food, ice cream, beer and even more superb trails.

You can ride down from Calgary (mostly on the TD route) and there are lots of places to stay.

Tallboy gets my vote; mine is 2010 I think and a little like Trigger’s broom. Its going out to do the Exposure 24/12 in a few weeks and is the best bike I have found for the mix of comfort and speed needed for long rides…… I’ve actually never done a 24 hour race before but have ridden the Tallboy for 55 hours non-stop, so I know its comfy!
Bar ends and Ergon biokork grips may be all you need to make yours even better.
Don’t even bother with the lockout – if you’re like me you will forget to change over most of the time.

Billy just posted a video from BML – its snowing massive wet flakes right now; he says the trail is grim, and does a good explanation as to why the riders can’t move yet. I’ve ridden that trail twice; its over 9000 feet and is tough even during a warm dry sunny day.
The Armistice is holding for now.

Garmin 30x. Simply put….. 25 hours from the batteries, don’t have to take your gloves off to work it, it navigated me across continents on tiny trails, records everything you want (feet climbed, max speed, time stopped etc etc), lets you have background maps showing or not showing and just does not break.

I do. The right hand is the ‘go-to’ hand, so if you get into a situation, the right hand is going to hang on tighter and as I don’t want to lock up the front wheel ever……
Also, it makes life so much easier for me when doing hike a bike.
Its not just the Euro way, the Canadians and Americans ride this way too.
The only downside is when you lend a bike to a pal.

Our club – South Downs Mountain bike club – has its annual mooch on sdw this Saturday; its a go for us and I personally think the conditions will be fine – the above comments about the cheeky chalk are spot-on. Also, ride the tyres you know, and strip off daft extra weight such as dropper posts, mobile tool workshops and food you won’t feel like eating by the last half.
Zero effort on the uphill sections, work hard on the flats and give it the beans on anything that points downhill.

Uddercream, but not the peppermint scented stuff if you are off into bear country.
Sudocrem is also darn good.

Yep – I quit this one – there will be lots written about the conditions out there and I simply wasn’t good enough to get round the course safely.

Anything over 10 hours and the comfort of a FS will generally allow you to keep going at a better pace as you are not fighting an aching butt, wrists, neck etc that a HT will dish out to you – strip off the dropper post, fit some faster tyres and don’t take the kitchen sink.

My old Tallboy will let me stick a 22 on the front (a 2x system) and an 11-36 cassette on the back – lets me winch up most trails fully loaded. The 22 only works cos the bike is loaded or there can be chain rub on the front shifter.

I started on a 3x system ages ago, I ride a 1x on the fattie through the winter and this 2x system (above) is the most versatile I can find, and the chain lasts for ages!

Slow reply re going to the monument each time…. yes of course you have to go to the finish/start each time.
Re is it a good ride – yes I think so, but its so much easier than the top loop of the Highland Trail (I’ve just been up there and done it as a recce for the race at the end of May.

I have no idea how long the walk out of Eastbourne takes – I just switch of my head till I’m back on the bike!

I walked that hill out of Eastbourne both times. There is zero point in trying to ride it; it will just make you tired and slow you down overall.

Just go to Fernie; the whole of Whistler is designed to empty your wallet (it does make you feel great about being broke though). Fernie has lots of great shops that offer demo bikes and one that offers top end consignment bikes. The trail network is superb and the run ‘Contra’ is more fun than Morzine!
You can ride there in a day from Calgary too and that ride through the edges of the Rockies is amazing.
Be prepared to earn your turns cos the uplift is not the slickest

Please don’t take my double double time apart.

Watching. Not playing as I’m doing a recce for HTR550 next week. These guys are relentless.

You can always wear the bib part over your shirt – it makes going to the woods much faster…..

I just took some Rocket Rons off the Scott eSpark I’ve been on since November – I fitted them with Stans Race and when I changed tyres this week there were dozens of rabbit-dropping size pellets of Stans rolling around in the tyre. I had heard something rolling in the tyre for a few weeks and just ignored it…… anybody had droppings forming from ‘Race?

How long?

Sadly the bike I had, a Scott eSpark has to go back to Scott today – I got the challenge done, am very pleased Scott got on board for this and we found the limit of one battery is a whole lot further than expected by the ebike community.
I had it for a good few winter training months and with the massive light, it was a riot to use and I get why lots of riders use them.

Bikes are like gods – everybody has their favourites;that’s why there are so many to choose from…

But, I’m back on the Tallboy and loving it too.

Please don’t give me stick.

Here is a recap of the ride and some more background as to how it came to be.

To be honest, I didn’t know STW had an ebike specific section, but the world of e is growing, so why not?

Thanks for publishing and happy reading!

South Downs Way: One ebike, One battery, One hundred miles

To add to the mystery of ebike battery life indicators (I know they are not linear cos I spent ages testing/ watching it, the battery is showing two bars now and its been nowhere near a charger!
Shall I go round again?

Hi all, been for brekkie and a quick gym so sorry for the slow update.
I will do the details later, but safe to say the ‘Beam me up, Scott E’ was fun to ride – you can just point it and shoot. I really enjoy the suspension set up but 130mm is more than the SDW really demands, it did make for a faster ride on the bumpy bits and more fun approaching gates than my Tallboy permits.
I don’t actually know my best time for a SDW – I allowed 12 hours a leg when initially plotting the SDW Double Double and then tweeked the schedule and I did have a 14 hour time for this e-thing in mind before I got on the Scott back in November but I reduced that to 12 hours in the weeks before announcing the challenge (I kept it a bit QT so nobody else would beat me to giving it a bash!)
Super pleased with a 10.25 hour crossing and lots of that goes to the support crew who were really slick.

Got to wash the bike as it squirted loads of Stans Race all over whilst puncturing before Holden Farm – my first puncture for simply ages which took 10 mins to plug, coz I’m raw at doing it.

More later.

Hello all – all this chat is more detailed that I thought….. I plan to use ‘eco’ mode on the steeper uphills; for all those that know the SDW lets do a list of them and see how it stacks up. First hill I expect to need the ‘assist’ is the tarmac out of Chilcomb – who feels like listing out the next ones?
I’m getting ready for the rest of the day, thanks for the interest – I’m sure the bike will do me proud and get me to the Kiosk before I know it.

Enjoy stalking mo on
https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0gEppCB0bKu3eM1WtLx5spZzUQoo0vFCL&fbclid=IwAR0OxCduaaL1zPEQyKr6ghbtqSBaGqASjolQDO1BwWAf4LcpkWhqxbJhz3s

and Andy G will update the page with some pics as the day goes.

Hi all – sorry to put you through the ‘I hate ebikes’ thing all over again – this is just a bit of fun cooked up over a pint and meant to be just another way of getting out and riding.
I had to laugh over a few of the replies especially eddiebaby’s – will I have to do it on a unicycle next?
I have had the bike since November (and have to give it back soon) so I’ve been practicing on getting the best out of the battery and I will be riding the flat sections (I know some of the northern scribes think the entire route is flat) under my own steam to make the distance.

Its a totally factory bike except the saddle – the OE was good for about 6 hours for my ass so I changed it to a Prologo Tri, I changed the tyres to Rocket Ron’s and have left the grips, dropper and massive brakes as it came to me.

Maybe I could have been clearer on the goal – I really don’t want to hike a bike it at all, but some of the steep bits (Chanctonbury, through the woods near the A27 etc) are hike a bike normally for me and I wasn’t planning to drain the battery on these little bits, so will be pushing these.

The weather is settled, keep an eye on the SPOT tracker and I hope my pace doesn’t fall of a cliff around Cocking…..

Yep – I’ll continue to support the local branch in Havant – the guys that work there have bills of their own to pay.
I only popped in today for more ‘wet lube’ as the winter is dragging on…. they were quite busy in there and thats a good thing.
My wife had a bike from them just before they changed hands and the service was spot-on, and the staff are the same still so, yes, I think they are doing ok and Mr Ashley needs to make a profit somewhere or he can’t continue to rescue the high street.

I stuck a Mezcal on the front for todays ride( plotting to use them for the HTR550) and surprisingly, I slid around much more than with a Hanz Damph! I was doing it for a test….. best wait for some dryer weather for either of these Vittoria tyres.
On the hardpack it was superb though. And I think they are darn hard to puncture.

Either style of boot can be used if you shove a pair of these into the shoe first – I just did 38 days riding in down to neg 18 with these.

http://happyhotfeet.com/

They don’t really offer much of an orthotic shape, but warmth is better in cold riding situations!

The sixth lap of Butser hill.

C Cyclist just put last year’s Highballs on special.
The bikeshops in Fernie are all great; there are even some 2nd hand bikes up for sale in the Gearhub.
Straightline are superb for Santa Cruz and servicing.
There is also the Guides Hut and Ski Base for every other make you could want.

Fernie and Whistler are very different – they give you free beer just for riding your bike in Fernie; they would charge for the air you breathe if they could in Whistler.