|
NEWS
The South Downs Way
Randonnee – 28th July 2007
The what? – A
100 mile, one day, off road endurance ride with a total vertical climb of
10,000 feet! The route follows the South Downs Way from its start in Winchester
taking in some awesome (according to the locals) Hampshire and Sussex
countryside. It finishes in Eastbourne and is the longest continuous bridleway
in the country. Riders have to provide all their own refreshments and gear, and
are responsible for their own recovery in the event of breakdown (body or
bike)
For the past
four years I’d considered this event, but was told to ‘get lost’ whenever I
suggested it to my cycling buddies. So this year, Nora No Mates here decided
just to get on with it and ride it alone before I became too old and decrepit.
It proved to be
a very expensive decision, not because of the £30 entry fee, but because I
realized I needed a full-suss. My beloved front suss Kona Pahoehoe (means ‘fast
flowing lava’) got pushed to one side to make way for a shiny new full-suss Kona
The King (means ‘The King’)
Having not
ridden through the winter (I know, I’ve become a fair weather fairy) I’d
intended to do lots of training in the spring, which unfortunately for 20
reasons or another just wasn’t happening. I did a one day, 112 mile ride in mid
June – 54 miles of The London to Brighton on my mountain bike followed
immediately by a 58 mile XC return home – a stroll in the park compared to the
Randonnee. A week later a one off jolly on The South Downs Way, with my mates
Andy and Paul, proved to be literally a washout. With dense fog, a bike
length’s visibility and driving rain, we only covered a measly 10 miles or so,
and I was knackered, which was a bit worrying having only covered a tenth of
the route.
Raring
to
go
The big day:
After a very restless 2 hrs kip my brilliant buddy Andy picked me up at 4am to
drive me to Winchester for a 6 o’clock start. Luckily the weather was pretty
good on the day, but week after week of glorious English summer rain had turned
much of the track into a complete mud bath. The first 20 miles was a warm up
along an almost continuous deep narrow gully of thick bog, unrideable for many,
but I’m glad to say I remained in the saddle. Many riders dropped out here, at
the first checkpoint! (Andy was there to cheer me on, and at all seven
checkpoints, joined later by his Mrs, Tracy – thanks guys, you’re true mates).
Apart from long grass, slippery chalk and a hell of a lot of mud, on the whole
the terrain did improve. Oh but the hills, they were relentless, the lack of
trees meant you could always see them looming in the distance, I’d make it to
the brow only to see the next even bigger one ahead. At one point I was cycling
across a great flat expanse of very long grass into such a strong headwind,
that I couldn’t get above granny gear and only covered a mile in half an hour!
Fellow riders were very friendly and chatty for the first 50 or so miles until
communication later regressed to the occasional grunt. A few casualties along
the way and a near punch up between a farmer and cyclist, otherwise fairly
uneventful (in other words I can’t remember details – it’s all become a blur).
Feeling mentally
as well as physically exhausted, one of the biggest challenges was to keep
myself from slipping into a really negative mindset – ‘Never again. This is
hell. Why am I doing it?’ My muscles were O.K., but my feet hurt (weird I know)
and due to hours of vibration and constant gear changing I’d lost all feeling
in the fingers and thumb of my left hand; for the final 20 miles all rear gear
changing had to be done with the heal of my hand. By this time I was repeating
a motivating mantra ‘Hot drink, hot food, hot shower’.
8.55pm –
Yippee!!! 14 hrs and 50 mins later, with the light almost gone and the drizzle
turning to rain, I crossed the finish line.
You can imagine
then how pissed off I was to find that the people serving food & drink had
left, this year’s terrible conditions had resulted in riders finishing much
later than anticipated. But worse than that, no hot water in the women’s showers.
By now, devoid of all dignity, having been regularly flashing my butt when
peeing at the trackside, I boldly
marched into the men’s communal showeroom, shouting ‘Naked woman coming
through’ for a very welcome and well-earned hot hose down. No complaints, in
fact some guys felt they weren’t clean enough and perhaps needed a 2nd
shower!
Hubby was
waiting for me back home in Dorking, where I arrived at midnight apparently
looking like the walking dead. The sweetie tucked me into bed and left me there
for the next 32 hrs!
Starter riders: 467
Finishing riders, those who completed the full 100 miles: 115
Women riders who completed the full 100 miles: 5
Preparation
Nutrition: chocolate, ‘Body Fortress’ whey protein
for one month before the event, chocolate, complex carbs and chocolate (I’m a
girl. While there’s chocolate there’s hope).
Nutrition on
the day: a tub full of
homemade organic muesli with ss milk ½ hr before the start. ‘Go Electrolyte’
sports drink, with water in between. ‘Maxim bars’, ‘Go Gel’ sachets, and one
flapjack which contains more carbs but was harder to digest.
Mechanicals: one puncture 10 miles in, fiddly to fix
through all the mud. By the end of the ride 3 broken spokes and a buckled rear
wheel.
Total time: 14 hrs 50 mins.
Actual Riding
Time: 12 hrs 45 mins.
Many thanks to
Jackie, Simon and Rowan for supply, set-up and maintenance of my bike, which
has proved to be a sound purchase and a trusty steed.
Katherine Walker
Back
to
home
|
