South Downs Double Attempt 2019

The South Downs Double : 200 miles off-road ‘there and back’ along the full length of the South Downs Way in 24 hours.

I’ve ridden the South Downs Way in one direction from Winchester to Eastbourne three times. Each time vivid in the memory for the scenary as much as the undoubted physical challenge. My best ride time is 9 hours 45 minutes. For 2019 I always had a South Downs Double attempt in the back of my mind. It wasn’t an idea I shared with anybody, I only told my wife around a week before. I didn’t want the added pressure plus I was waiting to see how I got on at Chase The Sun, which was my first 200 mile road ride. Having comfortably completed that in 15 hours I decided the Double was on!

I gave myself two weeks to recover and relax after CTS. Doing short rides here and there to keep the legs ticking over. I was starting to get that heavy, lazy leg feeling in my thighs from the inactivity.

I asked advice from two guys I know both of whom have successfully completed the ride and also carried out some of my own online research. I took it all on board, but decided to do this very much in my own style - after all I am not unfamiliar with long distance rides! (Even if 24hrs solo is on a completely different level.)

The perceived wisdom seemed to be to start in the evening. Therefore completing the more hazardous night riding section of the ride when you are feeling more alert. I decided instead to set-off in the morning, based on the fact that I’d rather begin feeling fresh after a good nights sleep than hang around all day and then try to stay awake for almost 2 entire days! For me this was definitely the right decision, but I could perhaps have started earlier than 9am.

There are no rules of where you should start. Winchester – Eastbourne – Winchester is the common way to tackle the ride, but I started in the ‘middle’ at Cocking. Cocking is the closest point  on the South Downs Way to where I live, so it was only a 20 minute drive after breakfast. Also because I was riding unsupported, starting at Cocking allowed me to split the ride into two and leave a supply of food and a change of clothes in the car for me to pick up after 120 miles. I was also planning to get to the car late in the evening which meant I wouldn’t have to carry all my lights with me during the daytime leg. It ended up being a fortunate decision based on what happened during the day, but more on that later!

To be honest looking back I didn’t feel brilliant even as I set off up the first climb of the day from Cocking. As mentioned I was well rested, but I think my body operates best when it has been riding every day. I might also have felt sluggish due to the extra weight of kit and food I had with me in a back pack and frame bag, which wasn’t something I had particularly trained for.

The two people who I approached who had previously completed the ride, survived entirely on gels and energy bars. The advantage of these is that they are relatively easy to carry. Based on my positive experience at Chase The Sun and knowing that my stomach is a potential problem on longer rides, I took some familiar ‘real’ food. My back pack was straining with six large sandwiches! Beef / Ham and Jam my preferred choices. I also had a stack of fig rolls and banana’s hidden away in bags and pockets!

I started slow, spinning lightly on the pedals up the initial hills. I had decided to break the ride into 3 hour sections, aiming to complete approximately 30 miles between stops. I also had 20 mile time split times printed on the bike to make sure I stayed on schedule. Based on my previous South Downs Way rides I expected to be ahead of schedule at half way, allowing me some slack as I tired and slowed later in the ride.

Unknown to me the date I had chosen was the same day as the CX100 event. Hundreds of cyclists (many on cyclo-cross bikes) were attempting the one way 100 mile ride along the SDW to Beachy Head. They’d started from Winchester at 7am so I found myself riding with them. I had to make sure I didn’t get lured into chasing the faster riders, but it provided company and later in the day when further from home and less familiar with the route it made navigation much easier!

For the first couple of hours I trundled steadily up the climbs conserving energy and although I had been told to ‘bomb’ the descents I took these slightly cautiously too. Sometimes because of cyclocross riders holding me up, but also due to a fear of punctures. 25 miles into the ride and nearing my planned lunch stop at Devils Dyke, I hit a wide gravel descent and finally decided to release the brakes and let the bike go. I briefly enjoyed the speed and refreshing movement of air on what was becoming a steaming hot day. Then there was the dreaded ‘psft, psft, psft’ and feeling of latex on my legs. Oh no a PUNCTURE! I stopped. Standing still in the sunshine the temperature felt close to a million degrees and sweat flooded off me. I waited for the latex to do its job and then spun the wheel, but the hole hadn’t sealed. I ate some food while giving the latex more time, it sealed, but as soon as I jumped on the bike ‘psft, psft, psft’! Now I was frustrated and a little angry with myself. The week before I had written on my check list “Change Tyre Latex”, but it’s a faff so I’d decided not to bother. Now I was regretting that decision as the old partially dried up latex left in the tyre didn’t seem up to the job of repairing what was actually a fairly minor cut in the rubber.

Puncture - latex failing to seal!

In the end I resorted to putting in a tube and continued, reaching the 40 mile time check behind schedule. I certainly hadn’t planned to be chasing the ride this early on in the day.

There was plenty of opportunity to up the pace. As well as riding well within myself I’d also stopped to take a few photos to share with the family tracking my progress at home. I’d only just stopped to talk to Rory Hitchens, who as well as helping support one of the CX100 event checkpoints, is also one of those responsible for the South Downs Double website. In truth I had probably casually frittered away 10 or 15 minutes, which added to the stop to fix the puncture meant almost 30 minutes of standing still. Then there were regular stops for water at the trailside taps. In the heat I was stopping at every opportunity to refill my single bottle. The other factor that mustn’t be ignored and I probably underestimated was the gates! The educated guess is that there is about one every mile. I feel like I will be dreaming about gates for the rest of my life. They constantly break your flow and significantly impact your average speed.

There are plenty of taps on route so only one bottle needed even on a hot day.

I pushed on for the next 20 miles to Eastbourne slowly clawing back time. This is when my strategy of proper food had an impact. It’s not really possible to eat a sandwich while riding. So I had to stop and perch on a bench looking out over the sea. Undoubtedly it was good to stretch and recover, but in terms of that ticking clock, it was another 15 minutes when I wasn’t progressing forwards.

Physically I hadn’t really felt good all ride. Now 65 miles in, I felt as strong as I had all day. Maybe it was the sneaky icecream at Eastbourne! I suspect it was actually more to do with the lowering temperature. I wasn’t arriving at each tap now with an empty bottle and glugging the first refill immediately before topping up again and moving off. I was definitely moving along faster.

I was keen to get back on schedule by the 100 mile half way mark. Unfortunately when I got there not all of those 100 miles had been in the right direction! A problem with the SDW is that although it is a National Trail it isn’t always the obvious path, sometimes requiring you to turn off a broad gravel bridleway and down a narrow bramble strewn alleyway. I was trusting in sign posts and previous knowledge rather than following my Garmin. Head down I had missed a turn. My heart sank as I found myself at the bottom of a valley staring at the ridgeline high above me where I should have been. Not only did the detour cost yet more time, but also a considerable amount of wasted effort as I retraced my steps clambering back up through a corn field to the top of the hill.

On the evening before the ride as I’d gone to bed I’d checked the weather forecast on my phone for the 100^th time. Sunshine all day, a dry night and an anticipated glorious bright sunny morning to finish - perfect! The first mention I had heard of rain was on the radio driving to the start in the morning. The weather man mentioned cloud and a chance of overnight showers. I’d immediately checked my phone again and it now it said there was a 20% chance of light rain between 1 and 3am. Not ideal but hardly enough to put me off either. However, as the day drew on the clouds gathered and grew darker and darker and as the evening approached there was the ominous odd drop of rain.

The overcast sky meant I needed to turn on the light I had with me earlier than I might have needed to on a clear night. My ‘proper’ lights were sitting in the car in Cocking. Sunset was 9.20pm and I’d been hoping to get to the car ahead of my 11pm schedule, which might have meant I barely required the back-up light I had with me at all. Instead I faced a couple of hours with an Exposure Diablo mounted to my handlebars. It’s a good light, but it is normally used as a helmet light supporting my main handlebar light.  The effect of this was that I travelled slower in the narrow beam that I wanted and wasn’t pulling back the time I needed too.

Then it began to rain! First a light drizzle, the sort that makes everything really wet, but soon it was more persistent. The accumulation of chalky dust that covered me and my bike turned to white gloppy paste. I was soaked and my motivation hit the floor. There was still 7 or 8 hours riding ahead and although I had a change of clothes at the car I didn’t have any wet weather gear. Also chalk can be as lethal as ice when it is wet. Riding tired through the night in pouring rain was an unacceptable risk. I made the decision to pull the plug. I messaged my family who were still awake and tracking my progress at home, who all quickly agreed it was the right call. I then trudged the final few miles, reaching the car shortly before 1am. Had the temptation of the car not been there would I have carried on? Perhaps, but I genuinely doubt it.

I’ve now had a few days to review what happened on Saturday and I am still sorely disappointed. Frustrated with myself, but also the totally unexpected weather that caught me out and scuppered my plans. I suppose it balances out the freakishly perfect weather we had for Chase The Sun. However, I also have to accept that I was behind schedule when the rain arrived so the challenge was already in jeopardy.

I must however take the positives, 126 miles and 4500 m of climbing in 15 hours of riding is comfortably my longest, most challenging MTB ride and I should be proud of that achievement.

I learnt several lessons that can be applied to improve a future attempt. It definitely won’t be this year but perhaps one day in the future:

• Pick a good day. Weather is a huge factor, wind, heat or rain will all significantly affect your ride time. If there is ANY doubt that the weather may be unfavorable – call it off.

•  Replace the latex in your tyres the week before the ride. Punctures are down to luck but help yourself out by reducing the impact.

• Watch the clock right from the start. Be conscious of how much time you are spending stationary. Over the course of a day it quickly adds up.

• Take some meals that can be eaten on the bike to reduce stationary time.

• Have the route loaded on the Garmin ALL THE TIME with the off-course warning ON!