Don't be afraid of the dark!

Couldn't sleep so I strapped some lights to the bike and headed for the woods for the first 'night' ride of the winter.

It's a totally different experience riding a familiar trail in just a pool of light. Many of the normal cues were gone (well invisible) so the normal method of slow down just past the tree stump for the right hand didn't work and I had to rely on what I could see in my lights. Some turns were overshot and others taken faster than I'd thought possible. I once read a piece where the author advocated skiing blindfolded (on an easy slope!) and relying on the feel of the snow rather than looking at the terrain and this was a similar approach as I found I was getting more feedback from my tyres than looking at the ground to stay in control.

I'd originally planned to ride the loop the 'slow' way going up the steeper hill rather than down it and then come home along a flat path  but as all I saw were some startled rabbits and nonchalant foxes and I was having so much fun that, when I got to the top of the hill  I decided to come back down. That was a blast! Not quite flat out, but certainly on the 'edge'!


And yes, those weird sounds that I couldn't identify certainly helped to keep the speed up in the darkest parts of the woods....

London to South Coast Offroad

Well I made it!

First of all a big "Thank You!" to everyone that sponsored me so generously.

Signed on at 7am and made my way to the start to find that we couldn't leave until 7:30. Still at least that meant that I was in the front row of the grid :). Eventually we were allowed to go and for a moment I was first, even though it's not a race!

We started by going through Richmond Park with deer looming eerily out of the mist and their weird barks booming around us. I set a steady pace on my singlespeed and was soon left behind by the group I started with on geared bikes. A few minutes later I was left behind by the second group, never mind I was happy with the pace I was making.

The route continued along the towpath by the river. After an hour I was warm enough to stop and take my jacket off when disaster struck! I pulled out my iPod only to find it was flat so I wasnt going to have any music to motivate me.

As soon as we crossed the M25 the route cut into the woods and became more interesting with sections of single track and muddy paths with just enough challenge to keep us on our toes, although I wouldnt have wanted to be one of the later riders (apparently 1000 people had entered) coming through some of the muddy sections. Although looking at the state of my bike this morning I may have done them a favour by bringing most of the mud (and stuff that doesn't smell like mud, but I won't go there) with me. Sections of road linked the off road sections together providing some variation.

By now I was slowly passing those who'd rushed past me at the start and were probably regretting their initial pace and from then I passed more people than passed me, playing cat and mouse with a few riders as we took our break stops at different times. Coming out of Shere disater struck for real, there was a loud bang and my chain had come off! That's not supposed to happen with a singlespeed! Closer investigation revealed that the wheel had slipped out, something that I can only attribute to the superhuman amount of power my legs were pushing out. Either that or sloppy maintenance. Problem was quickly resolved and I was on my way again.

The middle section of the ride followed the Downs Link that connects the North and South Downs Ways. Thirty or so miles of flat straight railway track. At least I could make up some time. This was teh point that I regretted not putting a faster gear on teh bike as my top speed on the flat was limited by how fast I could pedal rather than how hard. Nevertheless I made up some time despite a puncture about half way along.

The flat section ended eventually and we hit the final climb, up onto teh ridge of teh South Downs Way. Apart from a couple of places where I had to stop because the trail was blocked by other riders this was teh only section that I had to walk. Even then I was not much slower than teh one person I saw ride all the way up. And by then he was so exhausted that I passed him on teh flatter section at the top. Next a flinty track before we descended into Shoreham.

The last few miles are best forgotten; it's hard to find anything nice to say about Shoreham Harbour so I'll say nothing at all. This was made up for by the welcome we received as we came into Hove. The finish area was surrounded by people who cheered every rider in (as did most of the marshalls on the route) and, most importantly, a burger van! I was apparently in the top 50 riders in, and the first single speeder (and possibly only as I didn't see any others!).

All in all a great day out, and a great sense of achievement. I'd have liked a more challenging route but that's not really viable given the number of riders and the range of abilities, if I want more challenge I can easily find that for myself. I covered the 75 miles in 7 hours 10 minutes with a moving average of 11.8mph and raised nearly £400 for the British Heart Foundation.

British Heart Foundation London to Brighton in the South Coast Off-Road Bike Ride

On Saturday September 24th I'll be riding from London to Brighton in the South Coast Off-Road Bike Ride to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. It's  a 75 mile (120km) ride, mainly off road and, just to make it a little more challenging I'll leave the gears at home and ride ‘singlespeed’ - so I will really have to work hard!
 
I'd appreciate any donation - of whatever size - you feel you could give to sponsor me in supporting this worthwhile cause. I’ve set up a page at Just Giving where you can donate online
 
In case you don't know about Just Giving, it's a totally tried and tested and simple way to sponsor. Its secure and they won't give your details to anyone, and will never contact you. Also they arrange that gift aid is claimed

South Downs Way in a Day

Well it seem like a good idea at the time. The South Downs Way in a day; no problem, leave Winchester at 6am, ride for 10 hours and home in time for the Tour de France highlights at 7. What could possibly go wrong?

The South Downs Way is a 100 mile mainly off road path between Winchester and Eastbourne which is thought to follow a Bronze Age trading route.  A little research soon found me a track to load onto my gps, a paper map was bought from Amazon and water points noted. A little more research stated "very little of the Way is flat". Armed with this nugget of information I decided that I knew enough.

Things started to go wrong 10 days before. There was a delay getting the new rim that was to be built into a geared wheel. Something to do with Bastille Day apparently. No problem last year somebody rode the 'double' (Winchester-Eastbourne-Winchester) on a singlespeed bike in 19 hours so it might just take me a little longer. I put a larger sprocket on to help up the hills (32:18 if you're interested) and all was set. 

Saturday morning at 6 saw me under King Alfred's statue as planned and in was underway.  The first few miles weave through the outskirts of Winchester and then it's the South Downs Way proper. The track was in great condition dry and deserted. I only saw 3 other people in the first 3 hours!

About 10 miles out of Winchester it was clear that I'd been lucky with the weather as there'd obviously been heavy rain which made parts of the chalky ground more slippery especially when going uphill but I was making good time averaging faster than I needed to make my finish time. I had to get off and push a couple of times but was still doing well. 

Every so often the peace of the rustic trails was disturbed by a reminder of 21st century life as the trail crossed the main roads and the calm was disturbed by the by the roar of traffic drowning out my iPod which, set to shuffle, was sending out motivational tunes. 

Beacon hill saw the first big challenge and was the first place I couldn't blame having to walk on a lack of gears. Once up there the views made it worth while, right down to the English Channel which was to be almost constantly in sight for most of the rest of the ride. 

Not that I was taking much notice of the views at the stage. The ride had settled into a pattern of grinding slowly up the hills; getting off to push and save energy as the hills got steeper and descending as fast as I dared - I hit close to 40mph on one steep wide grassy descent; food was a combination of gels, Powerbars, flapjack and energy drinks. My gaze switched from admiring the view to watching the distance to the next turn tick down on my gps and my estimated arrival time slipped further and further away as I walked up more and more hills jumping off my bike each time the track pointed upwards. 

At 4 pm relief came in the form of the Cafe at Saddlescombe, a mug of tea and pannini providing welcome relief from concentrated chewy carbohydrates. Refreshed I was able to push on a little faster but was nearly tempted by the option of bailing out at Brighton, just a short roll downhill from Ditchling Beacon and even, a couple of hours later by even the bright lights of Newhaven!

Just beyond Streat Hill my gps decided it wasn't going to play ball any more and insisted on pointing me back the way that I'd come. Fortunately the signage along the way is very good - most if not all of my off piste lapses can be attributed to my over enthusiasm in hurtling downhill rather than any shortcoming in directions. I wouldn't recommend it but it should be possible to complete the route without map or gps, relying on the signs. The temperature had started to drop now so it was on with an extra layer. As walking uphill was easier than riding at least I wasn't going to overheat. 

The sunset somewhere close to Firle Beacon but on the open heathlands I was able to press on without losing too much speed on the downhill sections. As a precaution I'd packed some lights "just in case I need them back from the station to get home at the end of the day" and these were fitted to help light the way through the dark wooded sections. Now mountain biking at night is great fun if you know the trails or you're feeling fresh but with neither benefit my pace was dropping as I had to slow to avoid crashing and inspect every pole to see if it had a direction marker my gps still stubbornly refusing to point me in the right direction. 

After what would have been, in daylight, an exhilarating descent into Jevington, but in pitch darkness involved riding the brakes and avoiding the potholes I decided to follow the road to Eastbourne, the prospect of walking up another hill and what another rider had described as "a run you'll really enjoy" being too much for me. I found the station in Eastbourne easily and was in time for the last train of the day, 25 minutes later. As I walked up to the ticket barrier and the guard said "you'd better hurry the London train's about to go." It seemed that the previous train was running late so I was able to get home an hour earlier - for some reason the last train, despite leaving only 30 minutes later arrived an hour later. Finally home at quarter past midnight. 

Highlights of the day: a deer bounding out in front of me on the way out of Winchester, Swifts feeding above a field, a glider soaring over the ridge, the views before I got too tired to appreciate them and finally sinking into my my own bed. Almost everyone I met was uniformly friendly, lots of great conversations with other people on the route, just out for a walk, doing the route (more sensibly over 2 days) or section by section or the one other person I met who was also trying to do it in a day. 

So all in all about 107 miles in 15 hours, one puncture, nearly 7000 feet of climbing and two very stiff legs the next day.

But I have 'unfinished business' because I didn't do the last 5 miles I can't claim to have completed it so I'll be back, but with gears, definitely and fitter, maybe?

Singlespeed Swift

Singlespeed Swift
Originally uploaded by paulfulford

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