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SDWIAD - completing a challenge | Rides | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley

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SDWIAD - completing a rencontre | Rides | Muddymoles: Mountain wanderlust (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley Menu Muddymoles Muddymoles: Mountain wanderlust (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley Cycling News, Reviews, Chat and Ride reports Important! The functionality on this website requires Javascript but it appears that either your browser does not support Javascript or you have Javascript disabled. This will stupefy your wits of this website and in some cases may prevent key features from working correctly. SDWIAD – completing a rencontre Posted by Gordon, June 24, 2018 There are 6 comments so farWhenin 2011 I remember stuff in awe of groups of moles completing SDWIAD. That’s the South Downs Way In A Day. There were live texts published onto the website from one group so people could follow the whoopee in scrutinizingly real time. Never forget Andy661 in a burkha! I grew up near to the route and have unchangingly have a bit of a fascination with it. However, as the years wore on I’ve happily forgotten well-nigh the challenge. Forgotten, that is, until a couple of months ago when some loose talk in the pub suggested it might be a thing to do. I immediately thought ‘nope, not me’, but the next day I realised that I’d never washed-up it, and maybe could. The thought unfurled to gnaw yonder at me until I realised I might as well requite it a try. The training started and consisted of a couple of commutes on the MTB on the tarmac. The training finished with a ride withal the last bit from Eastbourne to A27 at Kingston then when to Eastbourne. I found a day which might be good. I chose a Thursday as I wanted the trail to be quiet and thought I’d want to sit lanugo the pursuit day so it might as well be a work day! Thursday 14 June was the planned day. Pre Ride Faff? I’ve unchangingly enjoyed a lot of faffing well-nigh surpassing I start a ride, but this one tapped all records. In fact, I renamed it as ‘Expedition Planning’. Route planning,Suppliesplanning, Water stop planning, top up tyre sealant, train tickets, train times. Oh, the list went on and on… The plan boiled lanugo to taking the first train from Woking to Winchester, then ride as quick as I could for the first 50 miles. That would requite me as much time as possible to imbricate the final 50 miles surpassing the last train left Eastbourne at 10pm. On the morning of the ride I had the route loaded onto my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt and a bag full of food, water and tools. The trains worked fine and I was ready to ride at 0637. Initially I made good time and enjoyed the ferocious tailwind. However, it started to rain and next it rained and rained. The trails were soaked and well-nigh as grippy as Streatham Ice Rink, but tilted to a 30 stratum angle. My glasses were misted up, and the world was an Unhappy Place. I rode slowly lanugo those early hills, and plane walked lanugo some bits. A funny moment from the morning was when I was soaked and filthy. I got to the marrow of a small ripen between 2 hills and the velocipede stopped dead. I had landed in a huge bog which was made of wet chalk dust. It was well-nigh 15 feet long and scrutinizingly came up to the wheel hubs. I pulled and pulled to get my velocipede out and then spent 10 minutes wandering virtually in the long grass cleaning my bike. By the time I crossed the A24 the weather cleared up, the trail zestless out, the sun came out, but… increasingly hills appeared. I rode the final part of the route well-nigh a week surpassing the big ride. At well-nigh 76 miles there is a short steep climb though the woods which I managed to ride up on my scouting trip. Well, erm, umm… this time there were 2 ladies, who kindly stood to one side superiority of me on the trail and I thought ‘yes, I’ll try to ride up’. The sad truth is I didn’t have the power necessary in my legs and I stalled, tried to put my foot down, failed and rolled yonder backwards into the undergrowth! I landed upside lanugo on my when with my velocipede on top of me. The onlookers didn’t scarecrow trying to stifle their laughs. It took some wriggling virtually to get myself when on the trail and the right way up. I got to Alfriston with my energy tank nearly empty. The hill out of Alfriston was the hardest part of the ride for me. I knew I had flipside hill to go, but spent at least one eternity climbing this one. However, I walked shit of it and rode shit of it and sooner reached the summit.Lanugointo Jevington to use the water tap, and up ‘n’ over to Eastbourne. Phew, made it! The next few days were spent mainly eating. I recently found myself pondering well-nigh tech improvements making cycling easier. I can only dream what it was like for the real men when in the old days surpassing the invention of proper GPS routing, 29″ wheels and puncture proof tubeless tyres! And if you read that 2011 report I linked to at the start, so can Barrie!! Filed under Rides in June 2018Well-nighthe tragedian There are 6 comments on ‘SDWIAD – completing a challenge’ We love to get comments from our readers - if you've spent a few moments to comment, thank-you. If you haven't had a endangerment yet, jump to our comments form if you have something to say. DaveW says: Let me get this right Gordon – you did this solo and in the wet – wow, big respect mate! Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 25, 2018 at 10:47 am Matt says: DDub, I was thinking the same thing! Hats off to you Gordon – SDWIAD is still the hardest thing I’ve washed-up on a bike. Reading this though, I’m now ‘slightly’ tempted to try again… Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 25, 2018 at 1:17 pm Mark Chillingworth says: Gordon, Finally completed SDWIAD myself last summer, on my 3rd attempt, bleedin nonflexible ride but worth it. Great work Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 25, 2018 at 11:29 am SSJ says: The true measure of the difference in our notation Gordon is that squatter with the conditions you had in the first half, I’d have bailed out long surpassing the A24. So your ride is a real achievement, 29″ wheels or not. Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 25, 2018 at 12:57 pm Dandy says: That was an entertaining read, Gordo 😉 10/10 for perseverance. As SSJ said, I think I’d have bailed when I got to Brighton … unless I had Barrie bellowing in my ear to get a underdone move on 🙁 I can’t bring myself to read that post from 2011, too many painful memories ! Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 25, 2018 at 9:39 pm Kevs2010 says: Great effort Gordo and an witty ride report (amusing as in I’m sat round the pool in Provence in 32c of heat and can’t be arsed to ride a velocipede until it cools down)! That’s a huge ride in a day, hats off to you for persevering. Add a new comment, or reply to this scuttlebutt Posted on June 26, 2018 at 7:10 pm Leave a comment… Cancel reply Have your say – we'd love to hear what you think.If you have something to add, just well-constructed this scuttlebutt form (we will not publish your email address).*Required information.CommentName * Email * Website This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your scuttlebutt data is processed. Search for:Go! Search for: Muddymoles Forum Support the MuddymolesWell-nighthe Muddymoles Contact us Archives Most recent Ride report: Saturday 22 Sept – Five dogs, a yellow and a lot of rain in France Well, that’s a first for me! Ride report: Friday 31 August – a short FatVelocipedeadventure Funn Mamba one sided clipless pedals review Ride report: Sunday 26 August – Dodging the rain SDWIAD – completing a rencontre Cheap and 12 Speed – SRAM NX Eagle Ride report: Sunday 10 June – Flying New velocipede kit purchased recently Links Our authors Meta Log in Share this page Home Contact us Forum Active topics New posts Unread posts Bikes Cake Tea-rooms & shops Cakes & energy supplies Moles Mole (Male) Femole (Female!) Mutterings Lifestyle Photos & video Stuff & nonsense Trends News 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 Rides Fe-moles rides Reviews Accessories Bikes Brakes Clothing Components Demo Days Forks Lights Racing Skills training Trails & Trail Centres Wheels & Tyres Tips Footer Copyright© 2018. Muddymoles: Mountain wanderlust (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley. All rights reserved Skip to Content