Eoghan McHugh loves a challenge, after participating in the first-ever Atlas Mountain Race in February of this year he set his sights on a new challenge. To ride the South Downs Way Double, yes, twice, covering 200 miles in 24 hours or less! In his last blog, Eoghan shared his thought's on the challenge and how he was preparing to take on this epic test of endurance. Here, Eoghan's tells us in his own words about his attempts to complete the challenge, not once but twice! Read about Eoghan's experiences in his blog titled; 'The South Downs Way Double - Double Attempts'.
A Quick Recap
The South Downs Way Double is a 200-mile off-road challenge. It spans one end of the South Downs to the other and back again. To successfully complete the challenge, it must be ridden in 24-hours or less.
Well, that was the plan. But, things don’t always go to plan. Sometimes, it’s the case that things don’t go to plan more than once. I attempted riding the South Downs Way Double, twice! The first time was with a friend and the second attempt was a solo ride a few days later. And, I missed the mark on both occasions.
I’ve already covered what the South Downs Way Double challenge is in more depth, my preparation and thoughts around the challenge. Now let's get into the meat and potatoes of the ride.
First Attempt - 145 miles covered in 20.5 hours
The first attempt at cycling the 200-mile South Downs Way Double was done with a friend. The plan was a midnight start at the top of Ditchling Beacon. We would head 70-miles west to Winchester to arrive in the morning. Across the remainder of the morning and early afternoon, we’d make a return loop back to the Ditchling Beacon to complete the majority of the challenge. Hitting the Ditchling Beacon, we would ride a smaller 60-mile loop to Eastbourne and in doing so complete the overall challenge!
We were on top of the Ditchling Beacon about 23:50 - 10 minutes before go-time. We took an obligatory selfie together, counted down to midnight and started our adventure! Straight out of the gate, we had a strong headwind. But, we had fresh legs and that headwind was to become a tailwind for the ride back, when we’d start feeling some fatigue.
On we spun, ticking off the miles by the local landmarks that we passed – Jack and Jill windmills, Devil’s Dyke, the long descent from Truleigh Hill to cross the River Adur, past the pig farm, the prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill, then the descent into Amberly and the River Arun crossing.
The wide and uncovered run to Chanctonbury Ring was hairy. The wind was at its strongest point as we battled a cross-wind to cover the ground. A rabbit absolutely flew across our path, almost directly under our wheels. My friend and I later joked about mechanical doping – the wind was helping it hustle in an unnatural way!
Cloud cover was negligible. The moon was almost full and very low in the sky. We had some beautiful scenes – particularly when riding along the bank of the River Arun. The moon was big, wide and bright right in front of us, with it reflecting off the rapidly flowing Arun.
Our intrepid duo brave the blackest of nights in their attempt to conquer The South Downs Way Double
Soon, we were into Hampshire and off our home turf. Less familiar landmarks informed us of our progress - the commercial forests, the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, the Meon Bridle Path, Winchester Hill Lane, Cheesefoot Head, that descent where Winchester Cathedral is visible, Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium, and finally the ring road around Winchester. All of this before ending up standing in front of the endpoint – the statue of King Alfred the Great on the Broadway.
The dawn was simply stunning. About 3:30-4:00 am the sky started to lighten. Then the birds started to wake up. And, it was just the two of us cruising over the landscape to take in this unadulterated beauty. Crossing the A285 was dichotomous splendour. Looking left we had a clear view of the waning moon – still wrapped in dark shrouds of night-time. Looking right, the nascent day was barrelling forward with joie de vivre.
Near Elsted, the South Downs Way runs along the edge of the hill. At that point, the hill quickly drops away to the lowlands providing an almost endless view Northwards. At the time we were riding through, the morning mists were rising in the fields below us. Then the wheels started falling off. My friend had torn his Achilles years before. The legacy is occasional tendon strain in his knee. It was no surprise that the pounding that comes with smashing many off-road miles tweaked his knee.
He gritted his teeth and tried his best to get into Winchester. Once in Winchester, we had a quick break – he lowered his saddle, I raised mine, we ate, I stripped layers and updated everyone with where we were.
Then, we were off.
A few miles out, my friend had a puncture. He had been tempting fate by putting the biggest tyres he could possibly fit onto his bike to ride the SDW Double. Replacing the tube, the tyre just wasn’t sitting right and he had tyre wobble. It took about an hour to sort the issue so, eventually, we were off… again.
The strain in his knee was initially relieved by the lowered saddle, but the pain soon came back. And intensified. The next solution was to take the clips off his shoes. As we pushed the bikes up the steep, grassy hill of Old Winchester Hill, we made the call. Time for the clips to come off (he’s got very wide pedals, so was fine without clips).
Across the day as my friend’s knee went from bad to worse, the mission changed. It became less a goal to hit 200-miles in 24-hours. Instead, it became a ride for the two of us to get back to Ditchling Beacon together. While planning the ride, we did talk about leaving each other and riding solo if something went wrong. But, you can’t leave your friend in the lurch like that! Not to mention that they may suffer a big mechanical or a serious bonk.
I then had a slow puncture in the rear tyre. I was able to stop when needed and top-up with air, which was easy enough as I waited for my friend. My tyres are tubeless, but the sealant was a minimum of 5-months old. Meaning, what was left of the sealant wasn't sealing the tyres effectively.
By the time we ascended the off-road part of Truleigh Hill, the slow puncture had become a mighty torrent that would have easily powered a minimum of 40 wind turbines. In my fatigue and lack of experience dealing with tubeless, I flopped between solutions. I looked at patching. It quickly became clear the logistics didn’t work. Then, I was going to put a tube in. That plan was foiled when I couldn’t get the tyre off. My solution to mending the tyre was to use a thorn as a plug (by the way, patent is pending on thorn as a plug)! There were loads of thorn bushes around me. I pulled a thorn off a vine and shoved it into the hole. And, it worked! Two days later, there was still a good amount of air in the tyre!
As covered in the preparation article, we had organised a resupply on the Ditchling Beacon. But, our resupply agent couldn’t stay later than 16:00. With progress being hampered, we weren’t able to get to the Beacon before he had to leave. So, he hid our resupply. Both of us had food. I had a whole new change of kit. Our friends started arriving on the Beacon about 17:00. They followed the instructions left in the WhatsApp chat, but couldn’t find the bag. Five different people wandered and searched. It was nicked! Can you believe it?! What is so attractive about a couple of pasties, sweets, pasta's and lycra that inspired someone to steal it???
But, we managed to get back to the Beacon, where it had all started for us 20-odd hours before. Five of our friends were waiting to cheer us on. Thankfully, one friend had brought a Snickers Duo for each of us! It was delicious!
And, that’s where we left that day’s ride – 145 miles and 16,500 feet of elevation gain later.
Second Attempt – 178 miles covered in 23 hours
Less than a week later, I was back on the bike for a second crack at the South Downs Way Double.
I did the second attempt on my own. I also made a few other adjustments too:
- As effective as it was, I replaced the thorn as a plug. The tyre was mended and new sealant put in both tyres.
- I swapped SPD pedals for flats and decided to ride in trainers. I had lost bolts on the first attempt and hadn't been able to replace them in time. Plus, I thought that if I started to get any pains anywhere, I could change contact points between my foot and the pedal to make it more comfortable.
- The rattling had proven too much for my bottle cages. Both had broken. They were another thing I couldn't replace in time. I decided to rely solely on my hydration pack slung over my back. There are public taps situated at regular intervals along the route so this wasn't a problem. Also, when going down a few bumpy descents, my bottles would rattle out and go flying. It was a bit of a bore having to stop, get off the bike and go running back up the hill to rescue the errant bottles.
Aside from those smaller changes, everything else remained the same. I planned to start from the top of the Ditchling Beacon at midnight and head west towards Winchester. And so here I was, seven days later, carb-loading and trying to squeeze in a nap before the eventual spin back up the Beacon for a midnight departure.
Another obligatory selfie was taken. Then, headphones in and I was off. The temperature was perfect. And, there was little wind this time. Surprisingly, there were people! And, a trove of animals - some I would have preferred to avoid and some good.
There were about seven or eight fields where there were bulls in the fields. Not a problem during the day – the bulls are visible, I'm visible and there is no surprise about seeing each other because they're used to seeing people at that time. It’s an entirely different scenario at 2 o'clock in the morning! Some breeds I saw (at the very last minute) are just black. So, I'd be barrelling down a hill, focused on the line I was taking and thinking all’s good only to have these chunky black silhouettes suddenly everywhere around you… There were also a few long-horn bulls in one field. But, beyond mutual observation (less vigilant on their part), there was nothing else to report, thankfully.
When attempting the South Downs Way Double you are faced with some truly stunning vistas.
I saw an uncountable number of badgers (I did keep track to begin with, but with the mental priority being cycling, I soon gave up and just sang along to music). Also, lots of deer. Both, roe and fallow deer. Around dawn, I startled a pair of Roe deer. They ran North, away from the path. They ran up a hill planted with waist-high wheat towards the horizon. As they ran over the horizon, they became silhouetted in the early dawn sky! Such an amazing sight.
I was happy with my progress from Ditchling Beacon to Winchester and covered the 70 miles in 8 hours, 5 minutes. I had a 25-minute turn around in front of King Alfred's statue. And then, I was away. Even before I arrived in Winchester in the early morning, I could tell that it was going to be a hot day.
On the return trip to the Ditchling Beacon, the temperature and humidity steadily rose. Conversely, being exposed and baked in the sun, my energy plummeted. From 11:00 am through to 16:00 it became progressively more difficult to pedal. And, I lost time. There are two hills that stand out in the haze of my memories of that day that proved particularly ruinous. The first one could be called The Peak Climb on Strava. It's a rutted, grassy climb that's 0.92 miles long at 9%. After 130-miles, it's a tough climb. Even pushing the bike is difficult. The second hill was Truleigh Hill - it's a 660-foot climb. It starts out between 10-12% for just under a mile before levelling out to a 5% climb for almost another mile. In total, it took me 45 minutes to cover less than two miles!
I stopped at the only shop I know of that is close to the South Downs Way. There's a petrol station about 100 meters south of the path in Pycombe. Arriving at approximately 17:00 meant that I had covered 70-miles in 8.5 hours - not bad and not too much time lost given the heat and how I felt.
I know I got food – I restocked for the second loop and got food to enjoy then. This veritable feast was comprised of a sandwich, a Magnum, a Fanta and a Snickers. I know this because I have the receipt and some non-lucid recollections. There was no such thing as enjoying the food, it was simply devoured fast, with no appreciation for it!
After the restorative energy top-up and with the cooling evening, I was off. I was finally beginning to feel better. The legs worked and were happy to spin. More fields with more bulls, but they remained unprovoked.
I did make a wrong turn to come off the South Downs Way and cross the A27. Where I should have gone south, I continued heading east. The missed turn happened while whizzing down a hill, of course - it always does. When I retraced back to the turn, the sign to turn was clear and obvious. Not anything I needed that far into the ride.
Crossing over the A27 to the south side of the road, I was disheartened. I could look to my left and see where I should be going. But, the route and Garmin were both telling me to head west, up a long ridge called Swanborough Bowl. It’s horrible - long, mostly high-resistance grass climbing. I hit another low here. The climb is just over a mile long and varies between 6-8%. At the same time, some chap out on a short, evening spin caught me up (not hard) for a cheery chatter (the cheeriness was decidedly one-sided). He did kindly wait for me and held some gates. Thank you.
After that climb was behind me, the path wound its way back towards the east. And, I carried on happily enough. Of course, by this point fatigue was really kicking in, but I was still happy to continue. Much like the sunrise, the sunset was also beautiful to behold, I felt privileged to be out in a natural setting and to be a part of it. Then the sun went down and the lights were turned back on again. An unwelcome reminder that the day and my window of completion were steadily diminishing.
The one and only person I was happy to speak with across the day was at the very end. It was dark and some distance from the roadway, so I was somewhat spooked to come across someone casually dressed and with no lights ambling in the opposite direction. But, they were coming from the direction I was heading, so maybe they had good news of what was ahead. And they did. Eastbourne was only a couple of kms further on the trail! Then, they proceeded to tell me about the glow worms which were out in particularly strong numbers that night. I dunno, I didn’t care. I was just happy to not be spinning or thinking about the ride for 5 minutes.
After some un-coordinated navigation, I got into Eastbourne. And, finally to the café that marks the start of the South Downs Way in Eastbourne. It was 23:00 and I had over 20 miles to cover to get back to the start. It was clear I wasn’t going to make the Sout Downs Way Double cut off time of 24-hours. This I had been aware of since maybe that wrong turn starting the second loop.
I had a few choices:
- I could continue cycling back to the Ditchling Beacon to complete the 200-miles - even if it wasn't in 24-hours
- Look at trains or taxi’s.
I didn’t much mind another 30 miles and thought it’d be awesome to have the 200 under my belt. But, the ride isn’t straightforward. And I thought about the wrong turns I’d likely take (even with mapping, it’s not easy to do!), two treacherous descents and the bulls (sensing a phobia? I think it’s legit). I estimated it would be around 03:00 or 04:00 when I finally arrived at the Beacongradients and then I had a 5-mile ride to get home.
While updating everyone on where I was, a friend asked if I wanted him to drive a 60-mile round trip at 23:00 to come and collect me. What a legend. I owe him innumerable cakes. I accepted. And, promptly curled up on a park bench at the foot of the hill with my hydration pack as pillow and handlebars jammed into my side as my burglar alarm and had a nap.
Summary & What's Next?
The South Downs is a cornucopia of beauty – from seeing animals in their natural habitats just living their lives to those immediate views right in-front of beautiful hills, to the holistic view – those vistas that sweep the horizon for miles and miles.
It is some challenge, though, covering 200 miles in a single day. But, what makes it tough, aside from riding 200 miles in 24-hours or less, are the regular sections that creep up into the mid-20% vertices (hairy when descending in the middle of the night). Then there's the regular, longer strips of glue-like grass and the millions of gates (in reality only about 200).
And so, this is where I find myself. Two attempts on the South Downs Way Double made, 320+ miles covered over 43-hours, yet no closer to completing the challenge.
What’s next? Another go? Accept defeat? The latter sounds easier. But, I think I prefer the former.
So, it's back to the drawing board. Looking at where I can make gains to achieve the target and put theory into practice. If you have done a similar off-roading challenge, are a coach or nutritionist and have suggestions, I welcome them!
Otherwise, follow me on Instagram and Strava and keep watching this space until I get it right!