The day finally dawned after the long wait – the long ride to Brighton was upon us; but not without a few hiccups on the way.
Transport
Andy had hoped to leave his car in Brighton the night before, but with his new bike only ready at 4pm in Swindon, and a power failure in Haywards Heath delaying all trains, he returned to Clapham after 9pm, leaving little time for essential tinkering (removing reflectors, bells, even newer tyres, etc.!)
Sleep
The early night didn’t really happen (sometime after 11pm), and the sounds of Clapham nightlife, along with nervousness, conspired against much sound sleep.
Setting off to the start line
After a quick piece of toast, and final checks of bags, we set off at 6.30am and cycled the 4 miles to Roehampton University, joining another competitor for friendly banter on the way.
The centre was clearly signed, and we quickly registered. The three portaloos in the courtyard were tempting but locked, so sadly we were restricted to just 2 loos with no paper – not a good start BHF.
Tunde - at high speed!
Andy decided to tinker with his new bike; fortunately he was able to borrow a proper pump from mobile mechanics to replace the air lost from his suspension forks!
Tunde, Jon and Leo turned up shortly after, and we eventually mounted up and were allowed to leave in a batch at around 7.50am.
Thames out of London
During the first few miles, we set a blinding pace of around 15mph, reaching the first checkpoint (16 miles) in just over an hour – mind you the Sustrans no.4 path from Richmond Park to Weybridge was smooth and flat all the way. The route avoided most busy roads, threading through the edge of Byfleet before we were able to switch onto the first bridleways.
Byfleet to Shere
Crossing both the M25 and M3 by footbridge, we misunderstood one marker on Wisley Common, but quickly rejoined the route after only 1/4 mile or so – this proved to be the only misleading sign – a credit to the organisation team. More bridleways and paths took us to the A road crossing near West Clandon, just East of Guildford. Another credit to the orgainising team were the large number of volunteers manning the marshalling points, generally holding gates open or watching for traffic at busy roads. Our group of 5 kept together as best as we could, overtaking others where the opportunity rose, briefly stopping when required, then re-overtaking…
However, this was where the fun started. A long climb South from Blake’s Lane farm heading up into the North Downs was the first test of the day – an easier road section then lead into fairly easy singletrack, but slow due to other riders. Checking the map, I noticed the importance of the next road section, and told Andy and Jon. Reaching the road, we were shouted at by an arrogant roadie on another race, blasting through in the opposite direction – but I quickly joined, and blasted along the flat road section past two large groups totalling 20 or so riders – fortunately Andy took the hint!
Andy - after Beeding Hill climb
The downhill that followed, from Hollis Farm into Shere was outstanding, the best part of the day – I especially liked the encounter with the first non-direction sign – an exclamation mark! This gave a choice of routes (left into rocky gully, or right over blind rise, which I chose, then steep drop over roots) – but as we were approaching it at over 20mph, the decision had to be made quickly. The plan paid off, as we didn’t find any riders on the whole route – what a fantastic downhill lasting 3 minutes or so.
Near the bottom, there was a hairpin, steep drop, hairpin, then into a tunnel under the main road – slightly worrying as sunglasses rendered the ground pitch black – freewheel and hope for the best! Soon after we emerged into Shere, then regrouped and exchanged stories.
Shere
Jon, looking fresh as always
Finishing the North Downs
A brief climb from Shere, but there then followed a very long, but nicely shaded climb through Winterfold Wood. At some point Leo on the climb Leo had fallen, and suffered a slight graze to the arm, made worse by rolling on the ground in dog poo…but Jon helped clean his arm. Jon also proved his legendary climbing ability,, by managing to catch and pass me even with a long headstart – it wouldn’t be the last time. We regrouped at the top before navigating a road section over the hill, then onto another bridleway downhill – I let Andy take the lead this time, he soon disappeared ahead! A quick dog-leg on minor roads linked us onto the Downs Link.
Downs Link
Leo, on Beeding Hill
As we had not found water in Shere, by this point most of us were running low or out – which might explain the problems encountered. Leo had by this point fallen off, so on reaching Cranleigh, we ventured into M&S – mainly due to Andy’s chocolate cravings.
Shortly afterwards, we reached the Cranleigh sports centre, and found the water tap, to everyone’s relief. More energy bars, sachets of energy powder into water, and photo opportunities!
Having spoken to the wife on the phone, while idling for the rest to get started, I realised we didn’t have any footage of us actually riding the event – and for the keen sponsors who have managed to read this far I knew I’d have to remedy the situation. So with my trusty Nokia N95 in one hand, and the other steadying the bike, I tried out taking pictures on the move, first of Tunde (and he took some of me), then I rode up alongside Leo. Oh dear, maybe I should have made my intentions clearer – anyway, I locked bars, and went down – hard. Two nice deep holes in the left knee and other sundry abrasions were covered up with melonin, and fortunately Jon had a bandage, and Leo had safety pins.
You’ll be glad to know it didn’t stop me, and you can hopefully see the video footage above.
South Downs
We reached Bramber (63 miles) by around 3pm (I think), and had a 10 minute stop at the checkpoint (handily located at WC). The final challenge had been looming larger, as we had been approaching, but now the hour of reckoning was here. Due to the obvious differences in styles of riding, we agreed to meet at the top of the climb – Jon and Andy disappeared into a garage for water, while I tweaked a bolt to stop my saddle creaking, and Tunde headed on. I followed Tunde at a distance along the main road, then we turned off and headed up the main climb up Beeding Hill.
The climb was moderately steep, but at times loose and rocky, but also with the occasional drain cover to negotiate. But the main negative point was the relentless way the climb just seemed to go on and on and on. Strength and technique certainly played their part in reaching the top, but willpower and gritty determination were probably stronger factors. I passed Tunde first, ignoring other riders ahead, and kept my head down. The next rider I passed complimented me, and the next was Leo. I had thought he had stopped in the garage, but it was nice to see another familiar face at this point – spirit was starting to flag. In the back of my mind I had this inkling that it wouldn’t be long before I heard the familiar creak of Jon’s saddle, and sure enough he passed me 3/4 of the way up the climb – but by this point the end was in sight.
Victory, we made it to the car park, and slowly circled, trying to avoid the lactic buildup that slowed every previous restart after a pause while we waited for the others to reach us. A quick check of the map seemed to indicate that a lesser gradient road climb would take us to the highest point, before downhill all the way to the coast.
The view from Truleigh hill (200m)
We regrouped, then headed down the grassy slopes to the coast – into a headwind. After all that effort, the disappointment of having to pedal downhill (and a few slight ups) was upsetting.
Coast to Brighton
We negotiated the suburbs of Southwick, and crossed the harbour to join the coast road through Portslade-by-sea (a very dull road past industrial docks), drafting each other to save energy on the fast tarmac. Continuing on through Hove, we joined mixed pedestrian/cyclist paths along the seafront until we finally reached Brighton.
Finish
The Esplanade in Brighton was very busy with tourists, police officers, and pre-Labour conference hangers-on – slightly impeding progress, but the sight of the BHF banners spurred us on the the finish. A nice and unexpected surprise was the round of applause from the spectators for each and every rider. Checking in a final time, we received a t-shirt and medal at around 4.15pm.
We completed the course in around 8.5 hours – but my speedo gives slightly different figures – 6:14:29 (rolling time), average 12mph, top speed 34mph.
Until next year!
More photos available here
When you passed me I couldnt believe it but you met your match in Jon.
Rob, awesome write-up! Hopefully Leo will upload his photos soon as well.
Dunno about you guys but I nearly fell asleep on the train home! On the short half mile ride from Clapham back to my flat, I couldn’t sit in the saddle!