Wiggle South Downs 100 - how hard?

chrisaonabike

How hard is the Wiggle South Downs 100 compared with the Ride London 100? It's categorised as 'Hard' :shock:

Thinking of giving it a go - new challenge and all that.

mustgettaller

I'd say it's appreciably harder.

I base this on my riding buddy who did Ride London in 4hrs 48, and we usually do the South Downs 100 together (and other 100 mile rides around the Downs) in around 6 hours - last year our time for the SD100 was 6hrs 14.

It's pretty hilly - not a huge opportunity to get into a good rhythm on long flats - with some long hills and quite a lot of short, sharp ones.

Don't let this put you off though - it's a great area to ride, and a nice route.

ju5t1n

The RL100 isn’t really a good benchmark to compare with other sportives. It was significantly easier than most events of a similar distance, mainly because apart from the two hills in the middle it was pretty flat.

I’ve not done the one you ask about but I have done other events on the South Downs and the organisers like to throw in a load of challenging climbs, and if Wiggle have categorised this one as 'hard' then it probably is. You’d assume they know what they’re talking about.

chrisaonabike

mustgettaller wrote:

I'd say it's appreciably harder.

I base this on my riding buddy who did Ride London in 4hrs 48, and we usually do the South Downs 100 together (and other 100 mile rides around the Downs) in around 6 hours - last year our time for the SD100 was 6hrs 14.

Hmm. My RL100 time was 6:53. I'm probably looking at 8:30 or even 9, then, for the SD 100

Maybe I'll do the 70 mile version and see how I get on. I was thinking about timing myself solo round the Legs of Steel route - that looks quite hard too. I can get up White Down Lane, so I should think it's at least do-able.

Thanks.

mustgettaller

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

...
Hmm. My RL100 time was 6:53. I'm probably looking at 8:30 or even 9, then, for the SD 100

Maybe I'll do the 70 mile version and see how I get on. I was thinking about timing myself solo round the Legs of Steel route - that looks quite hard too. I can get up White Down Lane, so I should think it's at least do-able.

Thanks.

Doing the 70 miler sounds like a good plan - it's still a great ride. There are several other 100 mile rides around the Hampshire/West Sussex area, which you can do once you've calibrated youself.

Good luck!

chrisaonabike

mustgettaller wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

...
Hmm. My RL100 time was 6:53. I'm probably looking at 8:30 or even 9, then, for the SD 100

Maybe I'll do the 70 mile version and see how I get on. I was thinking about timing myself solo round the Legs of Steel route - that looks quite hard too. I can get up White Down Lane, so I should think it's at least do-able.

Thanks.

Doing the 70 miler sounds like a good plan - it's still a great ride. There are several other 100 mile rides around the Hampshire/West Sussex area, which you can do once you've calibrated youself.

Good luck!

Cheers - have signed up for the 'Standard' one. 75 miles - back to training I guess

superfourben

I did the Standard 75 miles last year, it was really good, much harder than the RLS 100 in comparison (which in my opinion was very flat), get some hill training in as far as I remember there is an absence of flat sections on this one. A brilliant course though so ride it and enjoy it!