First long sportive

Dont get draw into to keeping up with faster riders at the start, stick to your own pace. Otherwise you'll pay for it later on.

Make sure you eat regularly and drink plenty, little and often I find works for me.

You'll go through stages where you feel terrible. Just stick it in a low gear and keep pedalling you'll ride through it and you'll feel better again.

Just try stay relaxed and enjoy the experience

There's quite a lot of info on the thread about the Manchester 100miler in the Sportives area as lots of people are doing it as a first long ride/ sportive

Patchy - where do you live and have you any experience of riding in the Surrey Hills? Many of the roads are quite narrow, feature some pretty rough tarmac and pretty steep hills - if you're not familiar with the area try and find a group that knows the route, otherwise you'll lose lots of time navigating - there's no point of blasting off on your own if you need to stop and backtrack. Likewise, you need to concentrate on the roads - some of the descents can be tricky and can catch out the unwary. Many roads are unsignposted, so it's often difficult to work out exactly on the map where you are - I've been riding these lanes for years and still need to stop and think about my route at times. As the weather's been raining, there'll be flints aplenty so make sure you pack a good pump, spare tubes and patches. Check your brakes are working well too and have plenty of rubber on the pads. The hills don't really kick-in until after Cranleigh - Horseblock to Winterfold and the steepest part is the very top at over 20%. Whitedown is probably the toughest climb and then the long way up Leith Hill from Westcott will be hard on tired legs as it is a long climb. My favourite climb is from Peaslake to Holmbury - not too steep but I've had some special moments on quiet winter roads with the sun through the trees that make it quite memorable. There's a shop in Shere and a cafe at Box Hill for refreshments too. Have a great day.