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Sooo...yesterday.
It almost didn't happen at all. I thought I'd take a 'short cut' through balham suburbia to get to Clapham Junction. This was a mistake. One wrong turn and I was scratching my head and digging out google maps. Made it to the station with three minutes spare, three texts, two missed calls and a slightly concerned Howard.
We paused in Winchester for caffeine before taking a deep breath and starting. We had a few moments of 'which way?' 'this way?' whilst my Garmin (and brain) got orientated before finding the right path and our first of many views of 'grassy field with uphill path'.
First few hours went past pretty easily. We were moving fast for the terrain and didn't make too many stops. Took a wrong turn somewhere here and went down a footpath only SDW, which led to all the gates and a proper steep and sketchy decent, but kept pushing on. Suspect I came across a bit strange with the gates- was determined not to be slowed down and treated it like an challenge. First proper break was after 2 hours, as we got stuck on a lane behind slow moving cows.
To be honest I don't remember much about the next few hours, other than detouring around a ridge that looked like a cliff with a bikepath straight up it. And getting lost. Again. At this point the sun started to make its way known- it was properly hot without a breeze. Bright too. I was very glad for my sunnies. I think about here we hit the ridgeway proper. Navigation turned into a game of 'follow the dead straight white road.' Good in that progress was easy, bad because boring and really bloody hot. Oh, and if you weren't climing, you could always see the next one coming up.
We chatted to a family just before Brighton who were doing the downs link and compared notes. Stopped for food at the pub on Devils Dyke and got a kinda-passable chicken sandwich. Not great cuisine but everything I needed just then. A short (slightly terse; I was tired) conversation about continuing and we went and found the next hill.
From here on in it was both easier (cooler) and harder as the terrain went from rolling to something more akin to mountainous. Absolutely beautiful, too. Garmin said there were four big climbs to get over. What it didn't say was that each one would take a solid 60-90 minutes to complete. This got a little long after a while, and we were both making odd noises from time to time. I find singing can help. So can swearing at everything. Ditto incoherent growling.
On the last hill night proper fell so we switched on lights and proceeded at a very gentle pace; the kinda speed you might keep riding ruts when your co-ordination is shot. A fair amount of time was spent walking up the harder bits. Some of the easier bits too..Slightly odd moment when Howard got a phone call. We were in a meadow, on top of the hill with a full moon above. Generally being silent- a normal conversation sounded completely out of place.
Seeing Eastbourne below was fantastic. Picture postcard beautiful. And alll downhill (well, relatively). Came screaming down the main road and somehow found the train station on first attempt. To be told 'sorry, no trains. You picked the wrong week.' Followed by 'sorry, no bikes on the replacement bus. Against the rules; you might be sued.' I kinda giggled resignedly. Think Howard was ready to go all Hulk man. Got home for 1.30 and proceeded to eat everything edible in my cupboards; a tin of mackerel in tomato and slice of bread. Really need to stock up in advance next time.
TL:DR. It was easy! You should definitely do it! Use a boris bike, it'll make it more fun!
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Thoughts for the next ride:
- The ride is hard. You can do it singlespeed/fixed/CX but it will just make it worse. You need to find ways to make it easier. Short travel full sus would be perfect.
- Pictures make it look like it's never-ending chalk paths. This is not true. There are miles and miles of lumpy, bumpy, bouldery, chattery, gravelly paths which beat you up.
- Suspension is a godsend.
- The descents are amazing.
- Don't fuck about in the hills between Brighton and Eastbourne. The are big, isolated and exposed. You need quality clothing there in anything but perfect sunshine.
And a couple of pics.
3 Attachments
- The ride is hard. You can do it singlespeed/fixed/CX but it will just make it worse. You need to find ways to make it easier. Short travel full sus would be perfect.
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Good effort!!
Living in Brighton I know the South Downs very well indeed and I know all too well the amount of hills and unfriendly paths. This must have been a big day and I drop my hat to you.
Anyone else wishing to do this I can tell you of some great pubs just off the north side of the Downs for a splendid bit of grub and great Sussex ale.
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Much rep
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Get an e-bike
Already stored away, in a giant one of these.
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Epic effort. I still remember riding the Brighton to Amberley part of the trail on my old, heavy af ssmtb. With rack and only one brake. Lots of walking and brutally pummeled on the descents, even with 2.2" tyres. Totally worth it to avoid West Sussex roads, see real mountain bikers' expressions as I hurtled past and for the beers I'd taken with me at the end. Doing the whole lot is definitely on the cards for next year
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I miss #rep
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lololol
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Looking forward to your report! I'm so keen to give it a go as well but I now realise that I recently did 2200 meters of fixed climbing over 100 miles (most of the climbing was off road) and I was proper fucked afterwards so another 1500m of off road climbing on top of that seems not yet achievable for me, even if I lose almost 20gi and go SS. But don't let my weakness discourage you!
Howard
psg1ben
LHL
Tomo187
umop3pisdn
AdsH
BareNecessities
TvH
branwen
youramericanlover
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South Downs way, end-to-end, TBC
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@Dammit
I really want to try this as someone 15 years younger and 3 stone lighter.