Training For South Downs Way

squeeze_10

Hello all

I am doing the SDW( in 2 days) in 15 weeks & feel now is the time to make sure my training is increased & more specific. Time is unfortunately limited, so I want to make sure I am making best use of the time I do have.
This is my plan, and any comments would be grateful:
Tues: 1 1/2 hour off road fast pace, increasing to 2 hours when light imoproves (early June).
Thurs: 1 1/2 hour on road fast pace, increasing to 2 hours when light improves (early June).
Sat/ Sun: 25-30 mile off road, easy pace, with a 50 mile once a month.

Evening runs need to start from home & where I live, off road tracks are limited & very flat. Hence the reason I thought I do a road ride once a week to break up the monotony & to get some speed in the legs. Is this a good idea, or should I be sticking to off road for all training? Luckily my weekend rides can include some testing hilly rides, all within a half hour drive.

I would appreciate any thoughts & comments, especially from anyone who has completed the SDW.
Is there any other advice you would suggest?
Thanks for taking time to read this.

STIJOHNNY

Hi Squeeze 10

I live close to the SDW and ride it regularly and all the way from Winchester to Eastbourne once (West to East gets the prevailing wind).
Your training is quite varied, which is good but I would build up the long rides at the w/e by adding an extra 5 miles each one. Try to get your longest ride to around 65-70 miles, this will give you plenty of stamina. The SDW is constantly up and down, not too high (upto 270m). So be prepared for some steep but short climbs and then fast sections down again. Its usually dry in the summer and very flinty also so choose tyres carefully, the flint can be like glass fragments going into your tyres.
Over the 2 days plan to complete 60 miles on the first day, then the second will be easier because you will feel a bit tired once you get back on the bike.
Lastly, enjoy your time in Englands newest and best National Park, the beauty of the chalk downs is amazing. Sea views one side and the weald on the other, you will catch site of Buzzards, Red Kite, Hobby Hawks, Roe Deer and meet a lot of other MTBers along the way.

cheers

STIJohnny

andyturner28

Yep definitely try to increase those distances a bit and try to ride a few more days during the week. There is nothing really technical on the SDW, but there are some quite long and steep hills, especially from Steyning(sp?) onwards, so try to include as many hills in your training rides as possible. As said above try and do 60+ miles on the first day as the hills are a lot steeper on day two and the first day is relatively easy. It's a really good ride with some really fun downhills, and the scenery is fantastic. I'v done it twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out the pics in my Pinkbike album.

mudslinger

Which event are you doing?

I did the SDW last w/e over 3 days & agree with the above. I would have preferred to do it in 2 days to make it a bit tougher. There is lots of climbing i.e. a total of 11,500 ft & is constant up & down with a few very long climbs.

There are a few areas where it is easy to come off the SDW by mistake as the are so many bridleways so prepare for that.

You will be probably be averaging about 9-10mph so be prepared for being in the saddle for 6 hours.

I would say the most important thing is to train for the hills & increase you distance.

www.bikedowns.co.uk has some useful info.

squeeze_10

Thanks for all your replies. I will try & up the Sat / Sun rides, but time is not always on my side.
Mudslinger, do you really think I'll be averaging 9-10 mph? I was thinking nearer 6-7mph.

Hills are certainly my weakness, so I'm going to have to get some serious training in on them. Luckily I'm not too far from Box Hill & Leith Hill, and the SDW is only half hour drive, so was thinking drive down & have a couple of training sessions there.

Any other advice on what to do & what not to do is always appreciated.

andyturner28

squeeze 10 wrote:

Thanks for all your replies. I will try & up the Sat / Sun rides, but time is not always on my side.
Mudslinger, do you really think I'll be averaging 9-10 mph? I was thinking nearer 6-7mph.

Hills are certainly my weakness, so I'm going to have to get some serious training in on them. Luckily I'm not too far from Box Hill & Leith Hill, and the SDW is only half hour drive, so was thinking drive down & have a couple of training sessions there.

Any other advice on what to do & what not to do is always appreciated.

Surry Hills is an excelent place for some hill training. I suggest you sort a route with as many steep hills as possible and do as many laps as you can. Click on my second link in my sig and have a look in the Surry Hills rides section. Buzzlightyear rides there all the time and knows the area like the back of his hand, and will definitely be able to sort you out with a suitably knackering route

mudslinger

Mudslinger, do you really think I'll be averaging 9-10 mph? I was thinking nearer 6-7mph.

Obviously I don't know how fit you are but 8 mph is generally recognised as a fairly good speed for the SDW. When I recently did it in 3 days I was doing 10, 9.6, 7.8 mph however my knees were getting sore so I took it very easy on last day.

You are doing it in 2 days so you are doing more miles per day so maybe 7-8 mph is realistic. But if hills are you weakness then you could be in for a nasty surprise as there are some killer climbs. Personally I like the challenge of the climbs & I seem to ge able to keep going & going.

The point I was making about the speed was really to do with how much time you will be in the saddle. So if you are doing 6-7 mph then you are going to cycling for nearly 8 hours each day.

Like andy says, you need to do lots of training on Surrey Hills. You can build some nice loops on the SDW around some of the big hills e.g. Washington.

Good luck & which event are you doing?

squeeze_10

Andy - thanks for the info. Your photos of SDW are inspiring! The snow on your first attempt seemed to come on pretty quickly & quite severely.

You suggest to try & ride a few more days in the week, but unfortunately this just isn't possible. Any time I do get on the bike, I need to make as intense as possible. I will probably be able to increase the w/e ride every fortnight, by doing 30 miles every other week & then increasing by 5 miles every other week. ie 35, 40, 45, 50 etc.

Mudslinger - I'm doing the ride with my local YMCA. Luckily they are organising some extra training. We will be doing Surrey Hills every Tuesday from now, with long rides once a month.
I'm really looking forward to the challenge & certainly am not under estimating it, but I do think I've over estimated how much time I have to train. Initially i thought I'd be able to find 10 hours a week to train no problem, but with work, a young family & a new puppy(!), it's proving harder than I thought.