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Downs in a Day

The South Downs Way in one day - should be doable. Simon (Brixton Cycles) got the ball rolling. He'd done SDW before from Petersfield to Eastbourne but was hankering to do the whole hog - Winchester to Eastbourne - 100 miles+, of mostly offroad riding and an altitude gain of 10,000ft . Ouch.

D-Day was to be April 13th - my girlfriend was on holiday, he felt refreshed after his break in South America and the trails were bone dry - all excellent reasons to do some serious biking.

Sunday, 13th April - Awoke at 6.30 in Winchester minus a hangover which is always a good sign. After a hearty breakfast of cornflakes and tea we set off with full bladders. As forecasted it was a clear morning and looked set on being a warm one. At this point I should have thought about suntan cream but it was already too late we had done Winchester and now we were on the SDW - next stop Eastbourne

It was all straight forward once we had located the route - just stick to the path. For the first 20 miles the ride was very grassy and undulating not the best terrain. After that it switched to very chalky and undulating - slightly better. With Petersfield behind us we started to gain a bit of height and soon discovered that the 13th was not to be our day. The prevailing south-westerly was prevailed by the in-your-face south-easterly and with a wind speed of 15 to c.20 mph it was a case of heads down and spin. The relentless descending, ascending and constant exposure to the wind meant that energy levels were sapping. Even the downhills were hard work. A pinch puncture on one of the few rocky descents brought a brief respite from the punishment.

At 15.00 and 60 miles into the ride Simon decided enough was enough and headed down to Brighton to catch a train back to London. He was drained. I was drained too but after a banana and avocado sandwich I was ready for more pain. It was a late lunch and I was running late - 15.30 with another 40+ miles - now it was a race against the darkside.

Cycling on your tod is not much fun so I was buoyed when I bumped into Aodan at Ditchling. He'd been out in Brighton and was riding off a hangover. Aodan must have seen that I needed a bit of moral support and so he did a u-turn and cycled with me towards Newhaven. Now, it could have been me but the hills seemed to be getting a lot longer. The one with the huge wall of death carved into it seemed to go on and on. I suppose it was a sign of things to come.

When we reached Rodmell, Aodan decided that he should head back to his car which was by now a good 15 miles away and let me continue the trek to Eastbourne. Wise man. I think he must have known about the next climb. Marco and Simon when describing the route had mentioned this killer hill. It was not particularly steep or technical just long especially after c.77 off-road miles in the saddle. For me the killer bit was seeing the chalk path disappear down the hill only to reappear going up another hill in the distance.

The relentless white line was only broken up by a trip into Alfriston - the first inhabited area of any note since Winchester. I got lost here. Bad sign posting. This was followed by a downhill which left me with a smile on my face. A really nice rooty piece of singletrack which dropped you down into the next little village - Jevington. If only all the ride was like that.

From hear on in it's a bit of a blur. Finally, on one of the climbs I heard the wail of sirens. Ahhhh the sound of the city and sure enough at the apex of the hill I looked down to see Eastbourne glowing. By now the light was fading so I hit the comfort of the road and wound it up to Beachy Head. 19.40. Took a quick picture of the war memorial and tucked down to Eastbourne for the last train home.

According to the computer 104 miles had been ridden over 11 hours. Total time was 12hrs 40 (I suppose opening and closing all those gates takes time). Certainly the longest offroad ride I've ever done and as I kept telling myself that day -"it's all good training for The Cristalp".

Rory B