Your best bet may be to get the last train to Eastbourne which gets you to the start of the SDW for 0230-0300 IIRC. We did this for logistical reasons and apart from riding into the teeth of a howling Westerly gale it wasn’t too bad…obviously the first couple of hours are night riding and you have to carry lights but it ensures you finish in daylight and has minimal impact on the rest of the family.

You’ll need to ensure your nav is good though – a gps or gps enabled smartphone with a gpx of the route is a useful nav aid.

The sections of the SDW I rode yesterday were fine – QECP had some puddles and claggy sections lower down but was fine higher up.

England were completely out played in the second half – and weren’t that great 1st half.

England’s unbalanced back row of 3 blind sides were exposed although it’s always hard to perform as a back row when your tight 5 are getting stuffed…

With 20/20 hindsight one of the key moments from an England perspective was Tuilagi’s knock on in space early in the 1st half; England needed to nail any try scoring opportunities to stand any chance.

Ultimately however it was a great performance from Wales and it would be churlish not to congratulate them as worthy winners.

Mauja,

I think the point is that you are getting the same rescue service as a local if your accident occurs within an area covered by a resort; unfortunately it’s not free.

If you need rescue from a more remote high mountain area then it is operated by the French national government and is indeed free.

mauja – Member

I think you should definitely have insurance but it’s worth knowing that mountain rescue for any EU citizin in an EU country is free. As a member of the EU you get the same access to emergency and medical services as a national of that country would get.

That’s not true unfortunately – see here for further details:

http://pistehors.com/backcountry/wiki/Articles/Search-And-Rescue-Costs

Stoner – fair point the cheaper stuff may well be compromised.

The high end stuff is still up there though – although I’ve always preferred 5.10 stealth rubber to vibram xs.

I’ve had a pair of Five Ten Guide Tennies for while:

Positives:
Great on rock (I’ve climbed up to sport 5c in them when I’ve forgotten my rock shoes).
Really comfortable – did some long days in the Dolomites straight out the box.
Last really well – had mine for nearly 3 years.
Not bad on a bike – stealth rubber and quite stiff.

-ves Rubbish on steep grass or mud (keeps my climbing partners amused though…).
About as waterproof as a sponge despite Nikwax etc

So possibly not what you’re looking for although most approach shoes would probably meet your criteria.

Oh and I don’t believe many climbers / hillwalkers share Stoners opinion of Vibram which is still used in a lot of high end boots and rock shoes.

Wiggle are doing Howies jeans at 25% off at the moment if anyone’s interested…

Alpkit give instructions on how to turn one of their dry bags into a bikepack if you’re on a budget:

http://www.alpkit.com/bikepacking/diy-saddlebag

I’ve got a bikepack.eu bag which I’m very happy with – it’s a large (12l) and if fully loaded I use an extra strap to provide further stability.

A Kiwi mate I used to play rugby with regularly went “pig sticking” back in NZ; he used dogs to hold the boar then killed it with a knife.

Cheers – that’s not too bad. I was imagining having to line the inside of the tyre with patches…

Did you use Stans?

I’ve got lots and can’t see that Conti’s Revo can be much different?

Sorry – I’m still not quite clear – was this just in the odd location?

If so how many?

I’ve previously fitted some well used Toro’s tubeless – these had really porous sidewalls but did eventually seal – but it was lots of small holes rather than the odd big one that needed patching.

Northwind – I think your review / post was one of the ones I read.

Could you elaborate on the patches? Do you mean you had to use tyre boots / innertube puncture repair patches or am I being obtuse?

BB – that’s what I’d read. I think someone wrote that they’d been forced to use so much Stans to seal the porous sidewalls they’d made up the 100g weight difference between the normal and UST versions.

Is there any reason Contis Revo works better than Stans or DT sealant?

I’ve just looked at the Conti website and can’t see why that would be the case?

Thanks Simon.

Has anyone tried these in UST guise or will late Oct be the first time they’re available?

Bump for the afternoon crowd.

This works really well for me:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p

Nice write up Tiger – what was your final time?

MM – that’s my point really – nice enough article just doesn’t actually cover much of the SDW.

I’d probably have agreed with you if I didn’t know the ride…

I suppose the main point is that he didn’t actually do the majority of the route he’s supposed to be describing therefore he couldn’t describe the way the route changes over it’s 100 miles or the way it feels to ride it.

It’s a nice enough description of a ride on the South Downs.

Fair enough – that stops the thread going off at a tangent…

At the risk of straying off topic…

People aren’t good at making their own risk assessments, generally.

I agree but how are they to improve if all choice is removed from them?

As I said I used the cycle path but it is undeniably slower than using the road, particularly going down the hill.

I haven’t ridden the route in 4 years but I have been back up there in a car and whilst the new road layout does make it more dangerous for cyclists it’s still much quicker than the cycle path.

IMO it’s all down to an individual’s personal risk vs benefit analysis and, so long as what they’re doing is legal, we as a cycling community should support them in their choice.

My decision to ride down steep mountainous terrain or, outside of cycling, climb mountains in winter may seem foolish to some, but I’d hate to live in a society where other people’s perceptions of what’s safe prevented me from making my own risk assessments.

Neil: I agree – however the reality is that at busy times, between dodging obstacles (prams, pedestrians, other cyclists coming up hill, the odd hungover UWE student) and the traffic lights you’re doing well if you can average 10-15 mph.

Having said that it’s still one of the better sections of cycle path I’ve come across…

Speed differential is a an important factor in safety though.
And dual-carriageways in particular are overly-represented in cyclist fatalities.

I agree but you can easily hit 40+ mph on that stretch of road coming down hill from UWE which isn’t viable or safe on a 2 way shared use path.

More generally it’s just a short leap to say that cyclists shouldn’t use any road with a speed limit above 50 mph; this would include many of the National Speed (NS) limit lanes and A roads we all use to link off road sections.

There’s also the herd immunity argument – the less people ride on NS limit roads the less drivers will expect to see cyclists and the more dangerous it becomes.

I used to use that cycle path daily to commute from Bristol city centre via the Bristol Bath cycle path.

Unless it’s changed in the last 4 years it is shared use (although seperated by a white line from the pedestrian path), has some junctions (Holiday Inn, Cold Harbour Lane and HP/UWE) and the odd bit of broken glass / detritus. It’s also a bit of a faff to cross the MOD roundabout at the end if you’re heading on to Filton.

It’s undoubtedly faster to use the road and, if you’re on super skinny road tyres / tubs, you’re much less likely to puncture.

That said I chose to use the cycle path but if my destination had been different or I’d been on a different bike I may well have chosen the road.

I dislike the inference that any road with a 50mph speed limit is by definition unsafe for cyclists to use.

Oh and I reckon 152 and thread locked Unklehomered…

Regularly get mid to late 40s (mph) coming down Butser Hill. That’s without pedaling or adopting a particularly aerodynamic position so I’d imagine an extra 10 mph would be achievable if you wanted to put the effort in.

Another happy Time user here – I’ve had my ATAC Zs (same ones as CFH’s first pic) since 2002 without any maintenance or snags.

In the interests of balance I haven’t really tried any other pedals apart from brief flirtations with SPDs (before I got the Times – didn’t like the lack of float and mud clearence) and flats to sort my manualing out a couple of years ago.

This coverage is a shambles.

Why were Team GB dressed as Gary Glitter impersonators?

Just as I was sneering smugly at the Yank’s gash berets too…

Might be worth getting the hospital to check it out…

My none medical opinion (based on 20 years of rugby) for what it’s worth:

Getting a second hit in the same place a few days after the original injury always makes things a lot worse – the whole area bleeds / bruises all over again and swells further.

I got tackled by an 18 stone Tongan hard enough to damage the surface of my femur (as x-rays subsequently revealed) but being young and stupid manned up and played the following Saturday – I got hit again in the same place and it was over a month before I could bend my leg or play again.

I’d say there’s one things you may want to watch out for based on your description:

cellulitis – a skin infection that can be life threatening if untreated, if you get any fever or swollen glands in the groin or a creeping red rash up your leg it will be worth getting to hospital for antibiotics.

If that’s not an issue then you’ll probaly be ok just icing it and feeling sorry for yourself but probably not worth crashing on it again until it’s fully healed…

inflatable not inflating

I’ve got a Numo and other self inflating Alpkit mats -all good bits of kit.

The Numo is an inflating mat and has the following advantages and disadvantages compared to a self inflating mat:

Positives – It packs down smaller and is lighter than a self inflating mat of the same size and thickness.

Negatives – It’s not as warm (ie has a lesser r rating and therefore doesn’t insulate form the ground as well), it won’t fit inside smaller bivi bags therefore you need to consider using a groundsheet if using on rocky ground (some people use thin packing foam which also increases the r rating) and (a minor point) it takes longer to inflate.

I tend to use the self inflating mats for car camping and the Numo for Spring, Summer and Autumn bivi’s and lightweight camping. For winter bivi’s I pinch my daughter’s alpkit “little kippa” self inflating mat combined with a bit of old karrimat.

Al – I agree bigger mats are more comfortable but you do get used to having a smaller mat and not moving about as much; all depends on where you’re prepared to compromise in terms of weight / comfort / cost.

JB – it was 49.4 miles door to door according to my GPS.

CG – thanks. I don’t think there’d been any MXers down Farley Mount just the odd Mountain bike and lots of water finding its way down a hill.

The test way may have been slightly better than MV but had lots of standing water; I just think the recent levels of rainfall have been huge – unprecedented in recent times – and it’s affecting even good wet weather surfaces.

I did the ride yesterday following the Meon Valley Cycle Way up to the SDW then across to Winchester and then CG’s route to Andover; one word sums it up – muddy!

It took me just under 5 hours with one stop but I’m fairly sure that I could take at least an hour off that, without thrashing myself, in drier conditions. The Meon Valley is a disused railway line and as such was fine on the embankment sections but pretty dire through any cuttings – 6 inch deep, gloopy mud. The SDW had mostly dried to sticky chalk by the time I got up there at about 1000 with the exception of the last section of BW before Winchester which was virtually unrideable; with hindsight I’d have avoided it.

I enjoyed CG’s route down from Farley Mount but the rooty steps section wasn’t the most technical bit – trying to ride a 4 inch wide, 6 inch deep muddy rut with tyres completely clagged up further down the descent was far more challenging!

The Test Way was in a similar condition to the Meon Valley and by the time I got to Longstock I was fairly hacked off with the mud and was running out of time so cut up through the Clatfords to Andover via the road.

I was riding an io-id with Bonty Mud-X which was probably the right bike for the job but still I had to stop a couple of times to clear mud; overall a rides always better than not riding but I probably won’t repeat that route when it’s this wet.

Thanks again to all that offered route advice.

Thanks all – going tomorrow morning so I’ll let you know how I get on.

Thanks Allan – hoping to get out with you guys again at some point over the Summer pre-Autumn rainy season once work and family commitments allow.

Thanks CG and JB.

CG – just had a look at the map and your route seems exactly what I’m looking for.

I’ve a couple of questions if I may:

How easy is the single track descent off beacon hill to find; I’m assuming it’s not the BW? Looking at the map I assume I turn left off the Roman Rd by the parking spot and head for the trig point; could you hazard a guess at a GR for the start or is it obvious?

What’s the surface on the Test Way – I’ll have mud tyres on but given proximity to the river is flooding likely? Any other year that would be an odd question in mid July…

Thanks for the response.

I need to get Andover in time for lunch, I know the route as far a Winchester fairly well – it’s fast and not particularly technical so I’d be willing to take the odd detour in order to add interest in the latter stages of the ride.

To quantify that I’d be happy to add an extra 5 -10 miles over the most direct route to add interest but any more than that will mean I’ll struggle to do it in the time window I’ve available.

teacake – completely agree. A combination of poorly worded headlines, misrepresentation of study results and accepted wisdom (rugby warm up stretches moved from static to dynamic about 10 years ago) dressed up as new revelations.

My thoughts on reading the link were the great Ben Goldacre catch all quote “I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than that…”

How many cars do you own between you?

If the answers two, can you get rid of one and cycle to work?

This then allows you to justify (to yourself or any other concerned party) any money spent on bikes as a saving against running 2 cars…

The big advantage of this approach is that when your place of work changes, as mine is just about to, from being 4 miles away off road to 15 miles away via roads you can use it as a good reason to buy a new bike.

The other plus is that if you’re commuting you’re guaranteed to get some miles in, which otherwise (as someone mentioned above) may be difficult (or make you very unpopular) with a newborn in the house.

Thanks for the response – I’ll probably e-mail Kinesis direct.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the original question?

So long as the OD is correct there shouldn’t be any reason why it needs to be zero stack is there?

I realise that most 50mm OD headsets are zero or near zero stack.