The Plan

We have a plan?

This blog covers the planning and documenting of 6 old guys having an adventure, riding along the South Downs Way in early April 2019.  

It all started with Andy saying that "he and Adrian have been planning to do this ride for 10 years!"

Ian Leitch, cycled the 200 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne and back in 15h 35m on the 5th of May 2015. The level of fitness of our team is generally pretty good (but not that good) so, due to various reasons we have decided to take 2 and bit days to complete the route.

Meet the team

Paul Gatens (Cyclocross)

Paul (PG) will be riding a Specialized Tricross, cyclocross bike.  Previous longest ride was Ware to Hunstanton and back in a day. That was a long time ago now.

Chris Eland (MTB)

Chris is our lead rider and likely to be first to top of each climb, Chris will be riding his.... Most Epic achievement must be running the Bob Graham Round in 2018 in 22 hours.

Gary O'Leary (MTB)

Gary O - 1970s Chopper (Mk 1) rider from Brum. Hoping for a "Nuts in May" style vegan experience on the SDW with the rest of the codgers. Don't ask G for mechanical or technology assistance - won't end well.

Andy Sturgess (MTB)

Andy is a LEJOG veteran and will be riding a Whyte 629. Recently refitted the old stock SRAM groupset with a nice new Shimano XT. Don't get me going on the bike tech lest I lull you all into a deep sleep.

Hugh Turner (MTB)

"Hugh is a water polo player and Nordic walking instructor and rides a Specialised 29". Likely to be bringing up the rear of the group!!"

Adrian Plant (MTB)

Adrian is a International resourcer for an education recruitment business.  Older than gods dog but not as fit and certainly less hair.

Support team

Garry Grey (Mitsubishi Lancer Estate - Support truck)

Initially dragged in as transport to start and back from finish, now more like team support role. I am happy with this as long as I can get a long walk or 2 in over the weekend.

I would have liked to have cycled with the group but am not cycle fit at the moment. I have previously cycled the route probably around 12 years ago and prior to that have run the initial 80 mile version. I have been on and around the SDW many times especially the 7 sisters having done the Beachy Head marathon several times.

Looking forward to weekend and hopefully get a bit of adventure in myself as well as supporting the cycle team.

The route

The South Downs Way (SDW) is a 100 mile/160 km long-distance off road National Trail which runs the entire length of the South Downs National Park, it is often referred to as the ‘Neolithic motorway’.  It can be ridden on a cyclocross bike (or mtb) along its entire length running between Winchester, the Saxon capital of England, and the white cliffs of Eastbourne. With a total of 3,800 metres, or 12,600ft of ascent, our plan is to split the route into 2 and bit days.

Starting at Winchester, city mill on Friday, the plan is to start riding at 4pm.  Our first nights destination is Wetherdown ECO Lodge, Sustainability Centre, East Meon, near Droxford. Total mileage should be about 16 miles, so a nice easy start to the adventure.

Saturday, we have a 44 mile ride from East Meon to Truleigh YHA.

Sunday, it's the last 40 miles (probably the day with most climbing) down to Eastbourne.

Travel arrangements

It was our intention to use trains to transport us and bikes down to Winchester and then back from Eastbourne, back to our base in Hertfordshire.  Due a number of changes to trains with the inevitable bus replacement service, we have also taken a car, which will be driven by Garry Gary and will follow our route.  Garry will entertain himself during the days and then join us each evening.

Gary, Andy and Chris plan to ride down the river Lee into London and then across to Waterloo station for the 13:35 train to Winchester.

Adrian, Paul, Hugh and Garry will travel down in the car with 4 bike rack on the back and two bike rack on the roof, so all bikes can be carried back to Hertford from Eastbourne.

Where to meet

Meetup location for the two teams is a car park half between Winchester station and the official SDW start - St Peters Gordon Rd, Winchester SO23 7DD