A good level of fitness is the starting point for the SDW in a day. After that there’s still the 3500 and odd metres of climbing and the discomfort of being on a bike (sus or not) for 10+ hours. That’s not to say don’t give it a go but I have a few friends in the cycling club I belong to who have come unstuck on it.

By way of comparison I did the 270km Tour of Flanders ride in April (in 10 hours) and I normally do the 3 peaks cyclo cross (in 4 hours). I still reckon doing the SDW in a day is harder than either of these.

Having said all that, nothing ventured nothing gained. There are any number of places to cut short the ride if it becomes insufferable.

I find a cross bike perfect. There’s nothing technical on the SDW and I’m not sure you really need to lug around any form of suspension. What you need is a fast bike that covers the miles. You should be fine with 34/34. My bike’s got Campag and the lowest I’ve got is 34/29. There are a couple of really steep swines that are very hard with this gearing but most of it’s fine.

As to tyres, fast rolling and reasonably strong. I use Hutchinson Bulldogs run tubeless. They’re meant to be 34mm but they come out a bit bigger.

I’m a bit of a SDW obssessive. Not sure which way your BHF route takes you but going from Winchester to Eastbourne gives you a better chance of a tailwind.

I’ve done it quite a few times. It sounds obvious but try to do it as fast as you can otherwise it can be a long old day. There aren’t that many places to stop without heading off the the trail, so keep plenty to eat with you. I’m doing it on Saturday this week (and Wednesday next week as it happens) and I’ll be carrying half a dozen energy gels and a few cereal bars.

I also don’t like stuff on my back for 9-10 hours so I always use bottles and a large saddle pack.

Finally, not sure how your bike is set up. I normally do it on my cross bike because it offers me a lot of hand positions. You might want to think about bar ends just to give you a change now and again.

Last kitten I ordered from CRC was shown as black in the picture. The one that turned up was tabby. I’ve given up ordering kittens from them.

We redesigned our club kit a couple of years ago. It’s my favourite.

Don’t know if you know the Kent bridleways. I live in Sydenham. Within 20 minutes I can be out into the fields and woods. None of it’s amazingly technical but there’s some decent fairly continuous offroad riding. You can make it is as challenging as you want according to how fast you ride and what bike you ride it on.

I’ve run four sets of tubeless cross wheels successfully. Three with tubeless specific CX tyres from Hutchinson and Stans (found Stans sidewalls terrible – three catastrophic rips – and they are very expensive). Also had success with Michelin mud2 tyres. The relatively narrow profile stops them burping at lower pressures and the sidewalls don’t seem too porous.

I found that Maxxis Locusts weren’t successful tubeless convertors.

I was so impressed with the Hutchinson CX tyres that I now run tubeless road tyres (Hutchinson again) on tubeless specific Fulcrum wheels. They are brilliant. Can’t see myself ever using tubes on my road bike again.

For the non-tubeless specific rims I use tape. I use sealant on all of them as it makes punctures less hassle.

If it feels like it’s on the front of your hips then it’s possible it’s your hip flexors. Google them and you’ll find any number of stretches and strengthening exercises.

I’ve had problems recently too, though to be honest I’ve had a few problems with them over the years. Still I keep going back…

I fear that they have become victims of their increased size.

Not quite matey

We can have a pretty nice Alfa at the moment or a BMW E89 5-series

I think we should stick for now, by the end of the year we’ll be in Mazza territory. This time next year Rodney…

Might I suggest an Alfalfa instead. A much healthier alternative. Or is the king of the alfs not allowed either?

Clearly. You’re basically riding a flat-barred cross bike – and that’s always wrong.

I’ve been running XMM 140 for a month. They have been brilliant, my favourite forks ever UNTIL they made a stange clicking noise and stopped working at the weekend. I’ve only put about 500 miles dry riding into them so to say I’m disappointed is an extreme understatement. The lockout has failed and they have become wallowy.

I’m sending them back today, so we’ll have to see what happens.

I got mine from Lex’s by the way. Doing them for a very reasonable £449 posted.

Rich

Thanks. That’s what I thought but good to have it confirmed.