Distance: 202.3 miles. Elevation: 7779 ft.
I decided to re-ride a route I did ten years ago, but I modified it slightly to bump up the mileage from 193 to 202 miles, to give it more kudos.
The forecast was for a warm and dry day, so I didn't take arm warmers or rain jacket. Because it would be a long day I took my power bank to recharge Wahoo, action-cam, phone, lights, etc if necessary. I took 2 bananas 2 energy gels and a couple of Clif bars. Café stops would be my main source of food.
I had intended to leave at 05:15, but ended up leaving 15 minutes later. Of all the things I had considered, pre-ride, the one thing I had not predicted was the thick fog I started the ride in. Well you can't have everything, I mused, and I expected it would clear shortly, maybe as soon as I'd dropped down off the ridge into the Weald, if it had been just low cloud.
In fact it didn't clear for ages, at least an hour or so. There was nothing much to report early in the ride. Gradually the initially empty roads started to fill up with morning traffic. The fog eventually lifted but not to reveal a lovely sunny day. It was overcast until later in the ride.
The first 70 miles of this route is very flat, with just a few lumpy bits west of Crawley. Maybe due to the familiarity of the roads, I didn't feel inclined to use my action cam until I got to Crawley, over two hours into the ride.
I arrived at the first planned café stop after exactly four hours, during which I had only stopped for eight minutes. I sat outside and had a lovely scrambled eggs and toast and a coffee. I overheard conversations about (possibly 'black market') weight-loss drugs and their effect. Wasps were a slight nuisance. The owner asked if I'd like to move inside but I declined, having almost finished my breakfast.
After thirty minutes I was back on my bike, now heading south towards the South Downs and the sea. There were some lovely lanes through forest, but mainly I found myself on traffic-heavy roads for quite a lot of the rest of this ride. The first main climb of the day was the 1½ mile long Houghton Hill which climbs from Amberley and over the South Downs. Last time I did this ride I descended to Arundel, but the extra mileage I'd now added to the route meant I headed further west on the A29 towards Bognor Regis. That was a horribly busy road. I was glad to reach the sea at Littlehampton, by which time it was after midday and I had done ninety miles. I rewarded myself with a choc-ice which I ate while watching people strolling along the sea front.
A mile further on, at Rustington, there is no bike path by the sea so I diverted inland for a five mile detour to Goring-by-Sea. The next 24 miles were along the coast, through Worthing, Shoreham and Brighton, by which point there were thick local clouds/fog causing the temperature to drop slightly. Then comes the rolling road, where the South Downs meet the sea, past Rottingdean, Saltdean and Peacehaven, where I had my second café stop of the day. I sat outside the intriguingly-named "Y The Yemeni Coffee Co", with a tuna mayo sandwich and a coffee.
Thirty five minutes later, after refilling my bidons, I was on my way again. Past Newhaven and Seaford I soon came to the second climb of the day, from Exceat to Eastdean. That climb can be frustrating because the road is narrow and busy and I get stressed about holding up the traffic behind me. This time it wasn't too bad - vehicles managed to pass quite readily. But I was glad to be off that road and descending towards Birling Gap, which I found to be heaving with tourists. I had a quick look at the beach and cliffs.
I carried on up the wonderful road to Beachy Head. And that was the first time for seemingly hours that I was away from the traffic. And that was the longest climb of the day at 2½ miles long.
At the top, encouraged by the sight of an ice cream van, I had a Twister to reward myself.
The temperature was mid-20s. Time was now 5pm, with 166 miles done.
I descended to Eastbourne, then a further 20 miles along the coast through Pevensey Bay, Normans Bay, Bexhill and St Leonards to Hastings, where I was beginning to realise that most cafés ahead would be closed.
The beach at Hastings had lots of people on it even though it was nearly 7pm. Low on water, I popped into a Fish and Chip shop at the east end of Hastings to get a top-up. The owner was a Colnago fan and commented on my bike. We struck up a conversation and he showed me some wooden bike wheels he had inherited.
It was a nice chat and a welcome break, but that's where I made the big mistake of not actually buying and eating something there. I suppose I still had Rye in mind, even though I'd already worked out the cafés would be closed. Looking back it seems stupid, but I was feeling OK and wasn't aware of what was to come.
I thanked him for the water and bade him farewell and carried on, knowing that the steepest gradient of the day was just a few minutes further on. I slogged away slowly up that sharp initial ramp that signals the start of the Barley Lane climb. Then 1.5 miles of climbing to the highest point of the ride, although I stopped near the end to say hello to some sheep, who were making silly noises as they do at dusk.
The last steep bit away from the sheep led to the top of Battery Hill, the highest point of the ride. With the last major climb of the day done (excluding the ever-compulsory Barn Hill up to my house at the end of every ride), I descended to Pett Level, through the nature reserve, through Rye and along the Military Canal road to Appledore, all of those 16.4 miles done at an average of 17.4 mph, helped by a favourable, though gentle, wind. I even got some PRs on this bit.
Somewhere after Appledore I started to weaken. I was getting an unpleasant feeling in my stomach and generally felt rough. I stopped at a gate somewhere. It was dusk. I thought maybe I was getting low on sugar levels, so I had an energy gel to help me make it to Tenterden where I hoped I'd be able to get something - a Mars bar kept coming to mind. As I rode into Tenterden I was looking out for a petrol station, but I saw a convenience store open so stopped there. I was feeling a little unsteady on my feet and definitely not 100%. I don't know how I looked but the shop assistant asked me if I was okay. I said something like "not really - I need some sugar. Do you sell Mars bars?" She showed me where they were. Looking in the drinks chiller I saw a coffee-flavoured milk drink. I knew from experience that milk is a good re-hydrator (not that I thought I was particularly dehydrated) so I bought that as well. Outside the shop I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. I was feeling really rough but slowly drank the drink and ate the mars bar. It took me ages (turned out to be 15 minutes - felt longer) just sitting there hoping that I'd start feeling better. Various people were around using the shop and car park.
I stood up, still feeling slightly unsteady, got on my bike and carried on with the task at hand. I had 20 miles left to get home. Gradually I started to feel slightly better. Same as I had been doing earlier, I listed the waypoints in my mind - Biddenden, Frittenden, Staplehurst, Marden, Barn Hill, then home.
It was near to total darkness by now. I had my front light on steady beam, and I left my sunglasses on because there were so many insects flying around in the balmy evening air. I could feel them bouncing off me. I didn't want to get anything in my eyes because I was wearing contact lenses. So I couldn't see the road that well. I only hit a couple of potholes. There was very little traffic - just the odd car to light up the road and afford me a brief clear view of the road surface ahead.
Gradually the waypoints disappeared into the past, the way that everything inexorably does, and I reached Barn Hill. I got up it with a bit of a struggle and once again reminded myself that my gearing was quite a bit lower than I'd had on the previous edition of this ride. I got home at 22:45, after more than 17 hours, 14 hrs of which were on my bike.
Most of the way through this ride I was congratulating myself on how much better I was doing than I had done 10 years ago. Although I think that day was probably quite a bit warmer. So I'm particularly annoyed at myself for not managing fuel properly at the end. I did the last 86 miles without any more real food. And yet I had stood inside a fish and chip shop!
Coincidentally the duration of the ride (moving time) was exactly the same as the ride of ten years ago, 14 hrs, 9 minutes. But of course this one was 9 miles longer. Hence my average speed was higher than before: 14.3 mph vs 13.7 mph. But interestingly all the big climbs were slower this time around. On every hill today I was aware that I was using gears lower than my lowest gear of ten years ago.
I'm pleased to have done it, but I probably wouldn't do this route again, purely because of the traffic.
Check out the video for a lot more info (and waffle) from the in-ride reports.
OOOF! That is a long day at the office Vince, but a beautiful one that I’m sure you’ll long remember. Chapeau and thanks for sharing it.
Cheers
Thanks Martin – yeah I won’t forget that one in a hurry, especially the last 30 miles! Cheers