For three days during September of 2020, my new normal was riding a bike, morning, noon and night—with nothing else to think about but where to get some food, water and sleep. Gone was the regular daily routine of work and home responsibilities and instead it was simple, all I had to do was ride a bike. That can’t be too difficult. Right?
I was in good company with 40 riders all leaving Canterbury taking part in The Great British Escapade North Downs and South Downs Way Escapade. A 300 mile, mainly off-road, unsupported ultra-distance race in the southeast of England. Given that this was my first attempt at something like this it was always going to be a steep learning curve but also a massive adventure.
The race format was simple, leave Canterbury on Thursday at 17:00 and return back, having covered 300 miles and around 8000 metres of climbing, no later than Sunday 17:00. Three days of a new normal.
For this little adventure my ride was the appropriately named Cotic Escapade with a 1x38 11/40 GRX groupset, Terravail Rutland 42c tyres, Son dynamo hub and Supernova E3 Pro lights with a full complement of Restrap bags to house all the gear that I decided to lug around. All-in-all it weighed 20 kilograms! As a newbie to this type of event I soon learnt that I had overpacked, by quite some margin!
Day 1 — Thurday, September 17
Bike: 73 miles, 4900 vertical ft
Time: 17:00–01:30
The adventure begins
Starting from Bridge, just outside of Canterbury, we immediately got onto the North Downs Way covering a mix of chalk and flint trails through woodland before reaching the panoramic views over Wye. The North Downs Way is one of the UK’s established long distance paths, covering 153 miles. It starts from Dover then crosses the Kent Downs and the Sussex Hills to finish in Farnham.
The race route takes in most of the official trail with suitable alternatives where it was not practical to be riding a bike. This generally involved steep gravely descents followed by steep gravely ascents on some interesting byways and bridle paths! It soon became apparent that this was a theme of the race - up, down, up and repeat.
The first, en-route, resupply stop presented itself near Blue Bell Hill some 45 miles from the start. By now, we had settled into our first night of riding with fresh legs and plenty of enthusiasm. For the most part, the riding was solitary with the occasional glimpse of a flashing red light ahead on the trail. The field had spread out and I had adopted a midfield position with riders in front and riders behind.
There had been a lot of talk about what to do on the first night. Ride all the way through the night to Check Point 1 at the 100 mile mark or bed down and get some sleep. By 01:00 I’d covered 60 miles and chose to get a few hours sleep knowing that I could cover the remaining 40 miles to Check Point 1 by the cut off time of 10:00 the next morning. Having made this choice I had to find a suitable place to make camp.
It amazing how inhospitable everything looks in the dark with only torch light to guide you but I settled on a flat spot just before Star Hill, near Sevenoaks, in a recently harvested field. I quickly assembled my bivvie and got my head down for four hours of sleep only to be woken up absolutely freezing. My first rookie mistake was not finding somewhere to sleep that would be out of the wind. The brisk north easterly wind blowing across an open field made for a cold few hours even with my two season sleeping bag.
Day 2 — Friday, September 18
Bike: 85 miles, 6850 vertical ft
Time: 05:30–21:00
My new normal
Day two and there was but one thing on the agenda — ride my bike for as long as I could to get well into the South Downs. This was now my new normal. The simplicity of the day’s agenda was refreshing, however, executing it was going to be interesting.
Check Point 1, at 100 miles, was near Dorking. I arrived at 09:15, just before the official 10:00 cut off time. By now, there were no other riders in sight. Many had ridden through the night and others, like me, stopped and got a few hours sleep.
It had become clear that the terrain was going to be challenging. The route continually dropped down the slopes of the North Downs only then to take you right back up to the top again on byways, bridle paths and just about every other type of path. My inappropriate gear selection meant that there was a lot of hike-a-biking going on; I just couldn’t get on top of the gears. With the North Downs topping out at 200 metres the climbs were not long, just steep.
So far I’d been following the North Downs Way from Canterbury and still had plenty of it to go before heading south at Farnham to join up with the South Downs Way. Having followed the exploits of other riders in multi-day races I tried to follow their advice “keep the faffing down to a minimum and keep moving”. I was moving forward but unfortunately not very fast.
The western end of the North Downs is very sandy. Who knew? I didn’t. By now, with over 100 miles in the legs and with a bike loaded up with far too much kit, sand was the last thing I needed. Walking stretches of the route had become a little too frequent as I found my 1x38 11/40 gearing just wasn’t enough for the inclines and load I was carrying. While a gravel bike was great for the faster, flatter stretches of the route a mountain bike would have definitely come in handy for the lumpy bits!
Mid-afternoon on day two somewhere south of Farnham was where my next rookie mistake would start to haunt me — dehydration. Nausea had set in and it was getting harder and harder to get food inside me. I didn’t realise quite what a problem this would turn into until later in the ride. I was carrying enough food to feed an army but just couldn’t stomach eating any of it. I tried my best to eat little and often but had not been able to get much food inside me throughout the day. Given that I was most likely burning five to six thousand calories a day it did not bode well.
The South Downs
Late Friday afternoon I hit the beginning of the South Downs Ways. After having ridden, but mostly walked, up a 20% incline the South Downs Way finally presented itself in the late afternoon sunshine. I had been riding for 24 hours with around 4–5 hours of sleep and 120 miles under my wheels. I had hoped to be on the South Downs a little earlier in the day but while my pace was steady, it was not fast!
Knowing that nightfall was just around the corner I wanted to see how far I could ride that evening before needing to stop for the day. By the time I decided to stop, near Amberley, on day two I had covered 160 miles — over half way! A gateway into a horse field was my chosen spot for a night’s rest. Having made the mistake of being exposed in the wind on the first night I made sure that I was better sheltered this time which made for a much more restful night’s sleep. With the psychological boost of knowing I was past halfway I treated myself with eight hours of much needed sleep. All the while I was trying to get some food and water in me knowing that there was still plenty of riding to go.
Day 3 — Saturday, September 19
Bike: 80 miles, 7450 vertical ft
Time: 04:30–21:00
A tough day
Feeling refreshed from a good eight hours sleep I managed to get some breakfast on board and gathered up all my gear to start riding at 04:30 from Amberley. A dark climb out of town soon gave way to a glorious sunrise developing in front of me as I was riding east with the sight of the South Downs unfolding. Dotted around were a few tents from other riders, a timely reminder that I was actually in a race.
Again, my day’s agenda was simple — ride my bike all day. With 140 miles to the finish, and given my pace of the past 24 hours, it was clear that I would be sleeping out for another night. My aim for the day was to get to Bewl Water by Saturday evening, 80 miles away, leaving 60 miles to complete on Sunday. What could possibly go wrong?
Sunrise on a clear day with the South Downs stretched out in front as far as the eye could see. This had all the makings of a great day on the bike. As it turns out, it was one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on a bike.
I knew I was only really racing myself. My pace was not getting any faster and the relentlessness of the South Downs was taking its toll. The long chalk and grassy descents were amazing but you knew that they came at a cost of having to then ride up an equally long chalk and grassy climb. Like the North Downs, the South Downs are not that high at just over 200 metres in elevation but continually dropping down to sea level to then climb back up again made for some tough riding.
By now, I was seriously behind the hydration and nutrition curve. The first signs showed themselves when after trying to swallow a morsel of food it came straight back up again while riding. That was new! I just couldn’t keep any food down and resorted to diluting food in water so that I could try to drink it instead. Even drinking water alone was getting to be a struggle to stomach so some alternatives were experimented with at the Sussex Coffee Truck that had pitched up at the top of Ditchling Beacon along the South Downs Way.
I had been periodically checking the live tracking on Map My Tracks to see who else might be nearby. By mid-morning on Saturday everyone was back out on their bikes and making steady progress. Many of the riders ahead had already cleared the South Downs and were on the home straight.
Back on the South Downs I’d been joined by Barry who had caught up, and passed me. He was clearly riding faster than me and I had only found myself in front of him by having chosen to sleep less the night before. Our encounter was brief but, for me, a very welcome distraction from the day’s task. It turned out that getting to Bewl Water was also Barry’s goal for the day along with some other riders who found themselves covering the South Downs on Saturday.
Water supply on the South Downs is notoriously scarce but there are a few spots that provide fresh water for the thousands of hikers and mountain bikers that regularly use the way. Knowing that I was very dehydrated I was trying to get as much water inside me as possible but by now even the taste of water was making me feel nauseous. That sickly feeling would stay with me for the rest of the day.
By 14:00 on Saturday I had reached the far end of the South Downs and was in Alfriston. With 200 miles completed I opted to stop at a cafe to try and eat some real food. It was at this point that the dark thoughts of scratching from the race started to enter my mind. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself wondering why I thought that this was a good idea. No doubt that food was desperately needed and a beetroot and goats’ cheese salad sounded like it might do the trick. However, my body was getting very picky about what it would allow me to eat and in the end I only managed to eat a small amount of the goats’ cheese. It was something at least.
With a small amount of food on board, a short 20 minute power nap and some motivational messages from my family my head was back in the game. The end of the South Downs was in sight but before that there was the small matter of two more ascents to tackle. As was now the norm, it involved some hike-a-bike! On any other day the inclines would not have been a problem but fatigue was well and truly upon me.
While I was looking forward to getting off the Downs there was no doubt that the views throughout the day had been stunning. Made all the better by the great conditions. With the race taking place in September the weather could have been very challenging. In the end, we had three days of blanket sunshine and dry trails. Perfect in fact.
With the last climb up at Jevington done it was onto the next phase of the race. From the south coast near Eastbourne the route took us inland away from the chalky trails and onto a mix of bike paths and road sections heading towards Heathfield.
Having been riding on gravel, chalk and flint for the past 24 hours it was a welcome relief to be riding on asphalt and smooth paths. I was still trying to manage the dehydration problem and by night fall on Saturday I found myself around 30 miles short of my goal to get to Bewl Water. With my lights on and the pedals still turning I was getting there slowly!
It was around this time that I thought I might treat myself and see if I could book myself into a pub near Bewl Water to enjoy the luxury of a bed. I called ahead but there was no answer. I carried on riding regardless and arrived at the pub at 20:00 only to find out that due to COVID-19 they were not able to accommodate anyone. So back to plan A and from there it was a short ride to the edge of Bewl Water to find a suitable place to make camp. By 21:00 I was all wrapped up in my sleeping bag and flat out asleep within seconds.
Day 4 — Sunday, September 19
Bike: 60 miles, 3350 vertical ft
Time: 02:30–10:00
The end in sight
I had not set my alarm clock the night before and was trusting my body to wake up when it wanted to. It turns out that was at 02:30 on Sunday morning after a solid five hours sleep. Knowing that I would not get back off to sleep I thought it was time to take on what the day had in store for me. It started well. I managed to get a full breakfast inside me before setting off. Having had nothing of substance to eat the night before this was great.
The routine was set — ride my bike again, but this time the end was in sight. Sixty miles away was the finish back in Canterbury where we had all started a few days earlier. From Bewl Water the route would mainly be on quite rural roads until we got within 30 miles of the finish when the North Downs had to be tackled once again.
Every incline over a six percent gradient resulted in a hike-a-bike. As it happens, walking was not that much easier when trying to push a 20 kilogram bike up a hill but it was the lesser of two evils. Having started riding early that morning it took a few hours before I started to see the light of day. I hit the foot of the North Downs at 07:00 Sunday morning and being back on my local trails I could visualise the rest of the ride to the finish. It was time to get this done.
I can always tell how tired I might be when I stop taking photos while out riding. There are not many photos of the last 20 miles of the ride which is a reflection of how I was feeling but I was getting closer to the finish. I started to think of the first meal that I would want to eat after finishing the ride — it turns out my body was telling me it wanted fried mushrooms!
Crossing the finish line
At 09:56 Sunday morning I crossed the finish line in my first unsupported bike race in a time of 2d 16h 56m, just short of 65 hours, in fourteenth place. To put that into perspective the winner, Neil Lauder, completed the 300 mile course in 29 hours! Less than half my time. Chapeau!
Looking back, there is a lot to take away from this ride. Having battled nausea for half of the race there is definitely room for improvement in my hydration management. Dehydration was the root cause of the nausea and in turn that led to me not eating anywhere near enough food. By the end of the ride I had lost two kilograms in weight all down to dehydration!
It was also an eye-opener on just how little gear you actually need. I catered for just about every eventuality I could think of but that resulted in me lugging around redundant gear that weighed me down. No doubt, in another event some of that gear might have been useful but for a 2/3 day event in the south east of England with plenty resupply options I’ve learnt that it’s possible to travel quite light.
Another rookie mistake was me thinking that my 1x38 11/40 set up was going to be enough to get me over the climbs. It was not enough!
Asked at the finished,
‘So would you do it again?’
To that I swiftly replied,
‘No, I would not’.
But ask me that again now and the answer is a big fat,
‘YES, I would’.
The riding was tough but the simplicity of the routine was compelling and I’m looking forward to being able to put my new found knowledge to the test in the next adventure.
Many thanks go to Kevin Francis and his team for organising the Great British Escapade North and South Downs Escapade and putting on a Covid-safe event at a time when everyone was looking for an alternative to what has become normal. Roll on 2021 and the hope that more events like this can be put back on the calendar.
P.S. The fried mushrooms were fantastic!
P.P.S. Ride details on Map My Tracks. Photos on Instagram.
