South Downs way, end-to-end, TBC

We rode this in the heatwave - 13/14 August. I got 8 punctures on the first day - we made 20 miles. Rode the rest of the route on day two - got in for a Spoons dinner at 9pm in Eastbourne. It was beautiful but testing - it makes me want to ride it on the hardtail.

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New women’s fkt by Polly:
13 hrs mid winter.

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MAD!

That's awesome.

Thinking of riding some tomorrow - anyone know what conditions are like?

I saw earlier that the weather station at Plumpton, just north of the south downs, has recorded 60 mm of rain so far this week.

I think it'll either be boggy or you'll have got that slippy algae that grows over the chalk

I live halfway along, we had some heavy rains yesterday and a lot of leaf debris is being blown around. I haven’t been onto the actual SDW for a few weeks but I would imagine the chalk is pretty slippery right now.

I'm by Southease the tracks are fine woods will be watery muddy and chalk and rocky sections will be slippery and slimy. East Sussex had almost 3 inches of rain in the last 48h. I'm running about 15 miles on it Sunday a decision may regret

Cheers - road ride instead then. thought I was being a bit hopeful.

Maybe towards the end of next week might be ok, forecast currently showing mostly dry days (around Winchester anyway, which is where I was going to start and do around 50 miles)

Just been up on South Downs way near Lewes and it's actually pretty ok at moment. A few muddy bits in more shady areas, but those are the places that will be unrideable further into winter. The main tracks were fine - probably better than when they're really dried out and bumpy in the summer.