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I don’t make any claims to be a greatly charitable person (as would vouch those who go to the pub with me!) but in recent years I have taken part in a few fundraising events.
We got our numbers (Number 1 for me!) at about 5.20am. In the queue the guy behind me noticed my name on the card and introduced himself as Richard, a member of the mountain bike forum I run. I reset the GPS at 5.36 am and a few minutes later Matt (with whom I rode the SDW last year), Richard and I set off together. Considering the three days of rain before the event we were exceptionally lucky to not have any rain for the whole ride. At times there was a strong crosswind, sometimes giving a bit of a push and sometimes being a bit of a headwind. The section from Chilcomb to Cheesefoot Head was very slippery but the tyre combination I had put on just gripped enough and proved a perfect set up for the rest of the route. I rode away from Richard and Matt on the way to Exton but then had to stop to tighten up a loose cleat and rejoined them for the Meon Railway section. From Old Winchester Hill we were all together to QECP.
Minimal stop at QECP at 8am, not taking on water. I was keen to push on to Cocking. On the way to Cocking, Richard and I lost sight of Matt but I stayed in contact with the walkie talkies.
Stopped at Cocking (9.30am) for about 20 minutes (longest stop of the day). Upon getting to Botolphs (Steyning Checkpoint) at 12.57 I filled my bottle with two sachets of energy drink and then got my wristband scanned.
It felt like I was going well through all this mid-section. On the approach to Devil’s Dyke my completely full bottle jumped out but I didn't notice until miles later, minor irritation. Also, despite having GPS, I then made two navigational mistakes. The first one was through not looking at the GPS – I came out of one bridleway at Mill Hill just before Itford Farm and was certain the farm was down the tarmac. Started to speed down it but thought better check GPS which showed I'd gone wrong. No worry as I'd only gone 30 metres. Backtracked and continued on.
Getting to Itford Farm at 4.11pm felt really good (last year I got there at 6.19pm, just ahead of the 6.30pm cut off) and I did the ride out of there with no problems (a low point walking for me last year). By now very low on water and energy so stopped in Alfriston and bought water, a diet coke and a chocolate bar from the shop. Not sure that top athletes drink coke on route but it was a morale boost. To give you some idea of the stupid terrain the SDW sometimes goes through this is the path just after Alfriston:
Encountering this after riding 90 miles requires some mental grit (so I walked it!). Went the wrong way just before Jevington and ended up going 100 metres down a very muddy path and having to backtrack to correct.
Once out of Jevington I couldn't remember how many more hills there were so checked the GPS. Upon realising I was on the last major ascent I really pushed my pace, getting out of the saddle for most of the last couple of miles. I bombed it down into Eastbourne and sprinted to the line.
I went straight in to have my wristband scanned and then relaxed. About five minutes later I remembered to stop the GPS tracking.
So some stats from the ride:
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. Next year I'm going to give the SDW a rest and do something different!
At the end of July 2008 I undertook the British Heart Foundation South Downs Way Randonnee. This is probably the most extreme cross-country mountain bike event run in the UK. Starting from Winchester at 6am I rode the whole of the South Downs Way to Eastbourne, a distance of 100 miles off-road. Thank you to everyone who sponsored meand helped raise £280 for BHF. There is a video of my ride at www.petersfieldmountainbikers.org.uk/video.htm.
At the end of May 2008 I took part in the Back-Up Trust Snowdon Push. This involved teams of ten working together to get the wheelchair user within the group to the summit of Mt. Snowdon. I did this as part of team with my brother-in-law in the chair. The team raised over £2500 for The Back-Up Trust. I personally raised £300 and wish to express my thanks to everyone who sponsored me for this challenge. Photos of the trip are available on the General images page
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