South Downs 100 Sportive

Attracting thousands of riders the South Downs 100 Sportive twists and climbs around the lanes and hills of the national park. Four of us set out on a none too special day weather wise. The news had just come in of a tornado near by at Hayling Island and intermittent showers meant the roads were greasy. The wind has also brought down a lot of debris, the lanes were littered with twigs and leaves. Add acorns and conkers to the mix and it could be quite dicey on the fast descents and sharp bends. Even at road events I get muddy!

We set off from Chichester up the first climb to Goodwood. Here we soon picked up a nice group of riders and by Petworth our numbers had swelled to around 20. The wind on our backs and fresh legs meaning people were keen to take a turn at the front we raced north at over 20mph. 

The roads around Kirdford seem to be constantly undulating so it was with much relief we piled into the first feed station to pick up fig rolls, bananas and gels. After the stop the group was disbanded and we had to make our own way across to Midhurst.

The rain had also brought a lot of grit out onto the road. As we moved past slower riders we constantly had to swap the side of the road and risk the flints and stones between the car tyre tracks. We'd already seen dozens of people at the side of the road, pump in hand, fixing flats. So with eight tyres between us we knew that by the law of averages we'd eventually have to stop to repair a puncture. As we hit the bottom of the climb at Woolbeding it happened - to my relief it was Dave! He fought with several pumps until we finally got rolling, only for it to go flat again almost immediately. All those riders we had passed earlier in the day were streaming past until with the help of Jon's CO2 and my spare tube we eventually got back underway. 

We weren't too bothered by times so stopped shortly afterwards for a coffee and cake at our new favourite haunt at Milland. By now it was after lunch and I needed to get home, so at the top of Harting Hill I made a beeline back to Chichester. The others continued east to East Meon and the climb back over Butser Hill. By then I was at home with my feet up, which was lucky because this was when the hail storm struck!

My shortened route came in at 82 miles, the three boys did the full 100 plus some bonus miles by the time they got home. Despite the weather it was brilliant to share our local roads with so many other cyclists who had travelled from across the country.