South Downs Way in a day

richvass

Hi, I am toying with the idea of riding the SDW, in a day, in 2011, starting at Winchester and ending at Eastbourne.

I think before committing myself I need to factor in training, logistics etc.

Has anyone completed the SDW in a day? Want to share your thoughts?

Having scoured the web I reckon need to factor 10 to 12 hours to complete this from end to end.

I'll try and encourage some friends from work to have join me but in the end I'll end up doing this on my own!

AndyOgy

A local guy recently rode both ways in under 24 hours on a singlespeed.

Check this out:

http://www.southdownsdouble.net/

bike-a-swan

Ride it with the BHF- raise some money for charity and have some support and company too!

Either way, it's a fantastic day's riding, you should really enjoy it. How much long distance work do you do? If it isn't much at all, I'd suggest 12 hours would probably be the fastest you'd be likely to manage unless you plan on doing a fair bit of training and then ragging it on the day.

As for tips-
-take lots of food and drink.
-find some nice fat, fast rolling tyres- they'll save your spine after all day riding over hard baked chalk ruts
-suncream
-be very careful if it's wet, the local geology feels more like ice!

Harveytile

I rode it with three mates earlier this year. We rode at a pretty steady pace (not fast) and did it in 14.5 hrs. The main thing is its a long day in the saddle and getting enough liquid and food in is quite a battle.

I found the last 20 miles a bit annoying and kind of lost interest at that stage. I would suggest getting in some long, unsupported rides in to get the mind right. If you have an understanding "other" then try to get them to meet you just after halfway with sarnies and drink. Our lovely ladies even had tiny pork-pies and some instant energy in the form of a drink that rhymes with Poke! :roll:

Looking back it was a great day out with mates. Take it steady and get in loads of miles. Oh and enjoy it!

richvass

Hi Guys, thanks for the comments. The more I think about riding it the more I want to do it. I shall certainly put some training in, get those miles in the saddle to make the ride a pleasure rather than a grind and I should allow 12 to 14 hours in the saddle! Phew!

bike-a-swan

Really? I really enjoy doing the last 20 miles or so, despite heading towards a general feeling of brokenness.

mortozola

I did it this year with another person who had recently ridden it over 3 days so he was familiar with the route which avoided some navigation issues. Its pretty obvious for the most part but you will need a map or gps for those "that way or that way" moments. We did it from Eastbourne to Winchester as we live in Winchester so it felt more sensible to finish at home. It did seem hillier at the Eastbourne end and I think had we been riding in the other direction the views would have been better.

I did it on a CX and whilst the weather and ground conditions were perfect I did quickly wish I was on a HT so dont sacrifice comfort for "speed"!

As others have said, it is a long day and you should probably allow between 11 and 14 hours at a comfortable pace. This will include a bit of time for filling up water bottles and getting food down, which you should probably try and take with you to avoid having to find places in villages that you occasionally pass through.

It is a great day out so try and convince someone to go with you, if only to reduce the burden of having to open a gate seemingly every 20metres!

richvass

It's a case of doing something challenging each year before I get far too old and infirm. I rode 75 miles last September and never rode that sort of distance before and kind of go the bug. Funnily enough people are quite interested when to tag along then when I say its 100 miles the facial expression changes!

Freshfunkmeister

I did it last year so amen to all the advice above. I will almost certainly be doing it again this year but the BHF website doesn't have the ride listed for the june or july dates. I have e-mailed them in the last few days asking if they will be supporting the event this year but haven't had a reply as yet....

beechtree

Hi did the SDW in a day in July as with the BHF. It's a great day out and very doable in a day if you are reasonably fit.

I would add that it's not just the 100m distance, the amount of climb is a factor too. From memory it's about 3,500m of ascent in total.

I'd recomend getting the Harvey Map, which is printed on polythene and if you do it unsupported, to study where the taps are (they are marked on the map). Most are obvious on the trail, but a couple are tucked away. The route is pretty well over the top of the downs and opportunities to grab snacks / drinks at corner shops are very limited. So apart from what you're carrying, the taps are the only source of liquid.

On route marking is variable, some bits are very well marked, others less so. So i would not consider thinking "i will just follow the signs". Taking a wrong turn can easily add 5 miles and another 200m climb to the route.

As part of preparation also consider riding a couple of the sections to give you an idea of the terrain and of course the route itself.

Lastly, it's very possible to catch the train back from Easbourne to Winchester, last one leaves about 22:00 and takes 2 hours to get back to Winchester (changing at Clapham Junction).

And completely agree with previous comment; wet chalk is very very slippery! Add at least an hour to your estimate if it's damp.

richvass

Hi, I started my training for this yesterday but still managed to have freezing cold toes and fingers after only an hour of cycling. The side roads are still dodgy and iced up. Felt good after all that Christmas cheer and eating all that rich food!
I am debating whether to complete this with BHF or just turn up and go one weekend where the weather is sunny and fine. I e-mailed BHF and asked if they could include on their website a car share forum where people can click onto and arrange to travel together in one car and share the cost of travelling to this event. The earliest I can arrive at Winchester is 09.00 (approx) by train and registration is from I believe 05.30 onwards and being able to share a car to this event would reduce my carbon footprint and cost of travelling.
Food for thought?
I read that the SDWt plays merry havoc with wear and tear on the disc pads. can anyone shed any light on changing pads?The Shimano blurb says the mineral oil reservoir needs to be opened when changing the pads, is this necessary when pushing back the pistons?
I discovered this website containing info on the SDW: http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/
A fantastic resource on the SDW.
Mr FreshFunkMeister, How much mileage did you put in prior to the event? Any other tips?

richvass

Does anyone have the BHF map or a copy of it that I could have to help plan my training?

beechtree

My BHF map turned to mush after 4 hours in the rain ... this baby still looks like new. Thoroughly recomend buying this.


http://www.harveymaps.co.uk/acatalog/South_Downs_Way.html

Cheaper on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/South-Downs-XT40-Route-Maps/dp/1851374779

JokerZero

We did a run on the SDW last year few tips.

1. The harveymap is essential, (when will someone do a decent GPS app for smart phones - hmm another post needed for that one)
2. Take plenty of stick on puncture pads, at least 3 inner tubes and a couple of boots or the means to make them. The downhills are hard on the rubber. Break hard at 25mph on that flint and there is a good chance it will tear your front tyre.
3. Riding down the front of Butsa hill is fantastic - watch for sheep and walkers.
4. Riding upo the other side of the QE county park after a bacondouble cheese burger at the bottom is a killer - stick to light but healthy fuel until you finish, then hit the grease.
5. If you not an enduro rider, pace yourself - its a long way with a lot of climbing.

We are going again this year - might make a 2 day trip out of it - either way I'm investing in anti puncture tape - to hell with the weight.

photographicsafaris

Joker xero when are you doing this?

might want to tag along if thats ok

Sheppy

Where did you guys park when you did it? I was planning on going from Winchester later in the year and will meet the wife and kids at Eastbourne (hopefully ) for a night or two camping. I looked at carparks but they have a 24 hour limit so I was thinking a quiet residental road in a nice area. Anyone from Winchester area have any suggestions?

I've done small bits of it before (never from Winchester though), and I agree you need a map, I got lost a lot of times trying to just follow the signs!

anjs

A lot of info here

http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/

beechtree

I looked at carparks but they have a 24 hour limit so I was thinking a quiet residental road in a nice area. Anyone from Winchester area have any suggestions?

What about the SWT station car park?

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/station-search.aspx?stn=WIN#page=additionaltravel

andy40man

Did the BHF ride in 2006, took 10hr 30 mins to complete including stops for water top-ups and food. Wife and kids made a great support crew, we arranged to meet where route crossed roads plus it's good to have someone cheering you on when the legs start to feel heavy. Cannot remember name of places we stayed in but had a night in Winchester pre-event and a night in Eastbourne to celebrate the achievement. (It's good education for kids to see dad get wasted.) :shock:

Hoping to do it again this year with some mates from work over a more leisurely couple of days.

Anyone recommend anywhere to stay around the halfway mark?

mozzy10

I did it in two days in 2009, stayed at steyning doing the route from winchester to eastbourne. Steyning is about 60 miles so leaves you a slighty shorter but hillier ride on the second day.

I am planning on doing it in 10 hours this year and started training in October. Every weekend I do a two hour loop on the downs, plus I have a build up of long 60-120 k solo rides before I tackle the full length (160 km) in spring next year. I'm doing it with one other friend and our other girlfriends are driving meeting up a road crossings so we don't have to carry too much food/drink/spares ourselves.

I reckon weather will provide the biggest difficulty, with a strong headwind and wet chalk slowing us down. I can average 16 km on the downs quite easily in the dry, even on hillier routes than the actual SDW, however, I know from my training rides that wet ground can add 20% to a ride time. I desperatly hoping we have dry spring!

beechtree

http://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/view-event.aspx?ps=1000989

Didn't see the SDW listed a few days ago when i was looking so think these have only been added recently ... either that or i was looking in the wrong place.

mea00csf

We did SDW over 3 days carrying camping kit in panniers so had 10kg hanging off the back of the bike, certainly made the 3500m of climbing more challenging!

Would agree that the Harvey map is essential. We only went wrong once, but were checking it reasonably often to make sure we were still on track. Boyfriend possibly has the GPS log somewhere if anyone's interested, although it will contain 2 detours to camping places, both of which add a couple of hundred metres of climbing onto the route!