Maxx exposure, 80 mile NIGHT ride... anyone else ?

weeksy59

http://www.trailbreak.co.uk/maxx_exp/?go=home

Anyone else having a go at this...? Entered myself and a mate today.

Nick Cod

Which of the three options are you doing?

weeksy59

the 80 miler. I'm a bloke, there's only 1 option

weeksy59

Many people do not also realise that over the 100 miles, the total of the ascents is approximately 3,555 metres or 11,660 feet, that's over '3X' three times higher than Snowdon (3560) from sea-level

Oh my word !!!!

bartimaeus

As you are doing Eastbourne to QE you will miss the last 20 miles to Winchester. Unfortunately for you, that's the 'easy bit' of the SDW. Hope you've got some decent lights.

I've not tried this (yet... need to do it in daylight first), but my top tip - after a mate did this - is not to make a pub stop right at the start, as the course is more difficult in the dark without the route markings and without a stream of riders to follow.

Have fun... and let us know how you get on. The SDW is hard work, and I believe that E-W is harder than W-E.

Nick Cod

I've signed up for the 20 mile loop, 80 miles just a bit beyond my ability at the moment I think.

Anyone else going for the easier option?

weeksy59

Nick Cod wrote:

I've signed up for the 20 mile loop, 80 miles just a bit beyond my ability at the moment I think.

Anyone else going for the easier option?

Get me a pint in please mate

What time is your 20 miler ?

Nick Cod

Think it's from 7pm onwards, I'll probably rock up about 7:30pm just as the sun is going down

weeksy59

Ahhhh i was hoping they all sort of ended at the same time, not started at the same time. I'll be about 60 miles from you then

Nick Cod

No worries Weeksy, good luck, 80 miles is a long way to ride!! :shock:

Diar

I did the SDW recently its a nice run, less harsh than our trails here in wales, I took a full sus and regretted it, just wasn't needed and the extra weight was a real drag over that distance. A mate in work does the 80 mile night run on a fixy, but he is mental and cycles in his sleep.

Would love to do it, but fixy is being built and have no lights :-( Have a great ride

weeksy59

80 or so riders starting out at Beachy head so wasn't the chaos at all.

First few miles, easy downhills, flats and some fucking ridiculously bumpy descents on rocks and stones, to say the 29er doesn't like that stuff is an understatement of epic proportions, but overall the bike feels sweet, handles well (although i tad flighty on the front) brakes really well and rolls nicely. It transpires that at the moment either CRust is totally FLYING on descents on the new Zesty, or i've totally lost all ability to descent.

Down into a quaint village and we miss a turn and end up with a 3/4 mile detour and lose a shit load of ground on the feild (we were not alone missing it). Up from there, and up and fucking up... it's just climb after climb... sometimes 20+ mins of climbing in the granny ring... WTF.. i never use that !!!! But it's more climbing... more climbing...

We end up at the top of the 'downs' i guess and we're having fun in all honesty.. it's epic views. Lovely sights of the world at night... cracking.

Into some decsents back to sea level and we stop for 20 mins as some fella with a Scott Carbon has snapped a suspension bolt and we try everything to get him going again.... no job... he's now got a 7 mile walk to the road... ouch.

From the river bridge crossing, you guessed it.. up up up up...

The some fast desecent on the grassy fields with cows, in the fog... at night !!!! we follow the trail to the left... 1 mile of down later.. we're at a gate..without a marker... it transpires we missed a marker in the fog and have 1 mile climbing to get back up.. FUCKING hell.

We get to checkpoint 1. This has been stripped bare (alomst) and we're fed on scraps and on our way... round the corner... into a climb of about 20 mins again.... How the fuck we're not on the moon with all this climbing i will NEVER know !!!! At this stage my left Shimano MTB shoes rips apart at the sole and half the shoe falls out, my toes are exposed and i try and butcher the solid sole back in... but it's knackered.

On and on we go.. again, we miss a marker (LOL story of our night) but only a small detour... more climbs back up to the top of the downs.... It's a pattern of the ride to have small fast decents followed by eipc long climbs...

Onto Checkpoint 2 and we've picked up some places and riders... we're 45 miles into the ride and you know what, my neck is fucked (a common issue i've got at the moment) my back is tired (too much weight in backpack) and i'm getting a bit disheartened in all honesty.

I then chuck it in the floor on a tight rutty descent after 3 almost crashes... Bunch of arse... no damage done... We end up in some leafy village with a short sharp climb and in all honesty i've lost the plot, we're 51 miles in and i've got nothing and had enough. I'm spending the next 30 mins working out how i can pull the plug and what i can do for finding some way out of this.

We end up at checkpoint 3, we've caught more riders now and are sort of enjoying ourselves... However that was all once again to change for me... After a fucking ridiculous climb in a mud-field for 20 mins we end up at a gate and i wait for Crust and another fella who has latched onto our ride. We set off and 100m later i realise i've left my backpack at the gate. LOL.. fatigue does funny things... I go back and collect it and get after them, shouldn't be an issue as i can climb quicker...Get to top of the climb and can't see them... or anyone else, lights, etc... Nopes... I then make a fucker of a mistake and read a sign wrong and i'm into a 2 mile descent into a forest... i mean a proper fucking 'Blair witch project' forest... descending on clay it's slippy and i end up on the floor again... I also end up at a pheasant farm, it's jet black and 5am and i'm lost beyond all comprehension. Crust rings me and in all honesty i've taken the arse. I tell him to crack on and make the climb back up... This is where is goes wrong and fcuk me, shoe 2 falls apart now... JEEEEZ...

Luckily i find the way as dawn breaks and i'm chasing them down and feeling remarkably good. Ploughing along and the 29er is having a find time. Catch the lads at the final checkpoint PUNCTURE... arrrrrse.

We then have 13 miles of "yeah there's a few climbs".... and well... they're climbs... long hard mothers of climbs... sheesh.

Eventually after more stupid climbs we're at the end and come into the finish...

Time... nothing like Phuks...14 hours and a bit...

This was the hardest event i've ever done... words fail me as to how tough it was... it was just an epic... long, hard, hilly, tricky to see... just... an epic.

Driving home wasn't a great plan... fatigue, tiredness and just overall exhaustion.... but eventually i'm home. Wash the Giant and hit bed for a few hours kip.

Lessons...
1. 80 miles is SOOOO far.
2. I found out we have 4000 mountain in the south UK lol
3. The Giant front suspension and tyre pressures were totally wrong
4. Don't carry so much shit... it's heavy....

We've got a habit of increasing our Epics year after year... the Afan monster was last years... but the Monster was easier than this...

i fucking DREAD seeing what we come up with for our Epic to trump this one hahahaha

bartimaeus

Chapeau. I've ridden about half the SDW, but never 70+ miles, and certainly not overnight... it looks very hard indeed to me.

You could always try the full SDW or have a crack at the 'double' - only 18h 3m 12s to beat.

weeksy59

Bartimaeus wrote:

Chapeau. I've ridden about half the SDW, but never 70+ miles, and certainly not overnight... it looks very hard indeed to me.

You could always try the full SDW or have a crack at the 'double' - only 18h 3m 12s to beat.

According to the experts the 20 or so miles we didn't have to do from QECP to wherever it ends is the easy flatter part lol.

however, i think 18 hours is slightly beyond me and my mate.

I'd like to think next years time will be 13 hours...

bartimaeus

weeksy59 wrote:

however, i think 18 hours is slightly beyond me and my mate.
I'd like to think next years time will be 13 hours...

The 18 hours is the record for Winchester to Eastbourne and then back to Winchester.

weeksy59

Bartimaeus wrote:

weeksy59 wrote:

however, i think 18 hours is slightly beyond me and my mate.
I'd like to think next years time will be 13 hours...

The 18 hours is the record for Winchester to Eastbourne and then back to Winchester.

I know...that was my point of i being a bit beyond us....

bartimaeus

If you are doing this again next year then I may join you... gives me nearly a year to prepare, and I think I may need all of it!

weeksy59

Bartimaeus wrote:

If you are doing this again next year then I may join you... gives me nearly a year to prepare, and I think I may need all of it!

Why not mate

I can see no reason why we won't do it next year in all honesty... i'm sitting feeling a little disappointed in myself in some ways. I thought we could and should have done better... but i rekon we both tried as hard as we could lol.

A little better planning, a little more thought and of course a little course knowledge will see us deffo dropping out time in 2012... By how much... is anyones guess.

The problem with this sort of event is, if you have a family and a life it's almost impossible to train for it.. you can't exactly go out each weekend for a 10 hour ride and life the wife and kids alone.
It bemuses me how some people can seem to do so lol. Maybe i'm under the thumb

bartimaeus

I know what you mean... I'm confident I can do 50 miles or so along the SDW, but I don't think I'm going to be able to recce Eastbourne to Amberley E-W, and I think that the climbing does get a bit relentless after a while! One advantage I have is that from Amberly onwards it is all pretty familiar, which I think is a big psychological advantage especially when it is dark.

I do plan to have a crack at home to Eastbourne next summer which will be the same distance but in the opposite direction... as you say that's a whole day of riding which needs to be 'negotiated' :oops: Should be good for a couple of all day sessions though!

bartimaeus

Hmmm SDW Double record is now 17:47:30. I think that extra 15 minutes puts it out of my reach now :shock:

weeksy59

The fastest guy at the weekend did it in 6.30 !!!!! for the life of me i can't even begin to comprehend that..

Even without being lost several times we wouldn't have been below 13 hours and we were far from the only ones around this time for the finish.

Nick Cod

Sounds like quite the adventure Weeksy

I rocked up about half seven and started with the group doing the 40 miler. Quick brief at the start line and away by 8:10pm. Three miles in I was on fire, not my riding skills, too many layers on. Stop, off base layer and on my way again. Through the woods and a climb up onto Harting down looking out on Petersfield below.

Found some poor guy dislocated his shoulder but had two mates with him and a ambulance inbound so no need to stop. Chalky decent, bike and me ended up on the floor, just my pride damaged as two girls saw me go down. Reached the 20 / 40 mile divide flying solo from here.

Made my way back to QECP, almost head butted a bat along the way. Slight diversion when I reached the park, decided to do the end of the orange route under cover of darkness. Headlight beginning to fade, no point switching out the batteries as less than a mile to go.

Arrived at the finish, tea, cake and a compliment on how nice my bike was from a fellow rider. Although if I'm honest I wish I'd have taken the hardtail, full sus too much effort for the downs

Next year maybe give the 40 a go but a bit of training needed first me thinks

trevron73

Hitting up the 80 maxx exposure , i got the bike 2 months ago @ 115k guy going out 3 hours 3 times a week ,mixing it up long road and trail centres to SDW swithching between long cadence rides to gnarly (for me ) done the 50 miles in 3 trips on SDW in daylight and cold . gonna hit some hot sun then a night ride from Eastbourne to devils dyke ,got a tester 44 mile wiggle ride to aim for then the big one .i used to pack 70miles 80 miles mixture 70/30 road mtb in regular rides a lot of years ago looking forward to meeting fellow freaks and planning some more epics .im not fast enough for racing but give me a mad enduro ride out ,and im right at home. it would be great to catch up with some fellas before the ride to train ,trevron73@yahoo.co.uk .im eastbourne end