Cycling the South Downs Way 2016

Cycling the South Downs Way  2016     

August 2016

The route of the South Down`s Way. Most people start at Winchester and
walk or cycle east finishing at Eastbourne

I had wanted to cycle the South Downs Way for two years. I had never really seen much of the South Downs and wanted to cycle the whole length from Winchester to Eastbourne. The trail was off-road and suitable for mountain bikes. I had a hybrid which is a half mountain, half road bike. To complicate things about a year ago I had electrified it so it was totally unsuitable for such a ride. In addition, I intended to carry panniers with luggage on the back which made the bike weigh a ton.

The SDW (South Down`s Way ) is approximately 100 miles in length and is probably the longest single cycle trail in the country and considered tough. Some of the hills are very steep with uneven paths with a patchwork of tree routes and loose stones. I knew I was going to have to push the bike at times and might have falls and crashes.

On Saturday 27th August 2016 I travelled to Southampton on the ferry from East Cowes and started my journey to Winchester. I had planned the route on the computer and transferred it to my GPS. This enabled me to stick to the quieter roads or so I thought. It was a Bank Holiday and the traffic was horrendous. I only made a couple of mistakes and arrived in Winchester in a couple of hours. I found a coffee shop and made a call for accommodation. Found a room in Tower Street run by Jo. Everything seems expensive after the Island even the coffee £4 a cup and the room cost me fifty pounds. It was nothing special, no TV or food. In the evening I wandered around Winchester and found the start of the trail by the River Itchen. Also, I viewed the bronze statue of King Alfred who was King of Wessex and helped bring peace to England and integrate the Viking invaders.

Usually, when you reach Winchester the statue of King Alfred
can be seen. He was King of the Anglo Saxons and successfully fought off the Vikings over 2000 years ago. The Statue was erected
just over 100 years ago.

I experienced a comfortable night and on Sunday started my ride. I began near the river Itchen and although I had the course on my GPS, it was so well signposted that I just followed the signs.

The start of the ride next to the River Itchen in Winchester

The weather was cool and cloudy and even on this first leg, I pushed my bike at times. It rained a bit at intervals but later the sun came out. I was not too worried about the weather as it was an improving picture.

The route was well signposted all the way

There were some pretty villages and I stopped in Exton and took some photographs.

The pretty village on Exton the South Downs

 After about 20 miles I came to the Sustainability Centre where I decided to camp for the first night. The lady in charge showed me around and she agreed to the charge my bike battery and GPS. She kept them overnight but in the morning they were fully charged.

The campsite at the Sustainability Centre

Left the campsite about 9.30 am and it was my aim to reach Amberley by late afternoon. Only 30 miles away but when your average speed is only 5 mph it means over 7 hours of cycling and would be the half waypoint. The ground seemed even rougher than the first day and some of the climbs seem steeper, but the sun shone. The countryside looked beautiful in the sunshine.

There were beautiful views from the South Downs

There were many cyclists around, mainly mountain bikers but I saw no one with full panniers like me. The low point of the day was that I lost my book 'The South Downs Way' which I had bought in Winchester and had cost me £14. It had fallen off the back of the bike as I had placed it under a strap, thinking it would be secure and easy to access. Not the end of the world but annoying but it had a list of accommodation with phone numbers.

 I stopped at Elizabeth Country Park and had some tea in the cafe. There was some confusion they as to which path to take as there were so many trails, so I was directed to the SDW by a lady in the cafe. Arrived at Amberley at about 6pm and started to look for a free camp field that I had read about. Of course, none of the locals had heard of it, except one man who directed me to Lower Stoke and the Bridge Inn that was not far along the road. I found the site but it was for only Caravan Club members only, but there was no one in the field so I erected the tent, but had an odd feeling someone would challenge me. They didn't so I got more confident. Later I went to the Bridge Inn and asked for my battery to be charged. I was told they would do it if I bought a drink. Unfortunately, as it was Sunday they were closing at 9pm so I only got half a charge. That meant  I would have to be very careful the next day and peddle even harder. I found the ground extra hard that night and couldn't get comfortable, but I must have slept a little.

That night the ground felt very hard

Got up early and packed everything on the bike. The grass was very wet but the sun was shining and I knew it was going to be a warm day. Left and cycled along the road and stopped at the Bridge Inn and topped up with water. I was disappointed I hadn't got a fully charged battery but soon after starting felt better and just decided to use the battery carefully. There were steep descents that had to be gingerly ridden as the surfaces had been made difficult by heavy farm machinery churning up the surface. I had to push the bike up the steep assents and sometimes had to switch the engine on to help push the bike. Going was slow on more than 4mph, just above walking pace. Passed near villages like Washington, where I topped up with more water. Discovered I had lost one of my water bottles. I thought how unsuitable my heavy electric bike was for this ride, especially when youngsters on mountain bikes passed me at speed. Good mountain bikers can do the journey in one day. Think walkers must take six or seven days. The signposting for the SDW way is excellent but somehow I took the wrong path. I was cycling along a dyke top and the path was getting narrower. I decided to push the bike down the steep slope of the dyke as I could see the correct path. Suddenly I lost control of the bike and dropped it and was propelled forward with such speed I nearly took off headfirst and finished up in a bush. I was shocked but was not hurt and continued my journey.

some of the Neolithic ancient burial mounds seen on the South Downs.

Arrived at Devils Dyke and later Pyecombe where I decided to look for bed and breakfast. Knocked on a couple of doors but no joy but the second landlady made a phone call to her friend in the next village of Poynings who had a vacancy. I was tired but cycled there where Mike was waiting to greet me and showed me to my room. The night in the B&B was luxury after my two nights of camping. A roof, fully charged batteries, mattress and room and excellent English breakfast made a good start to my last day. Still had 30 miles to go to reach Eastbourne. I cycled back to Pyecombe and found my way back onto the SDW stopping on the way at a garage to put a little air into my back tyre. I had been feeling a few stones on the wheel rim. Back on the trail, I started my 30 miles. On tarmac thirty miles is less than three hours but on the track, it would take all day. Some of the slopes were horrendous and I could only push with the help of the motor to start me rolling. Once at the top of a long slope there was a period of ridge riding where I could relax and enjoy the magnificent views. I wondered how this landscape was formed and could only assume through millions of years of wind, rain and earth movements acting on the sedimentary rocks, mainly chalk clays and sands. Everywhere was flintstones. These are always found with chalk. They are quartzite and the broken pebbles are sharp. They are used as a building material. Many of the cottages in the area are faced with flint pebbles. The neolithic man used flint as their tools. I was always concerned my tyres would be ripped to pieces, but it never happened and I didn`t even get a puncture, despite the heavyweight of my bike.

There were several water taps where drinking bottles could be topped up.

 From the top of the Downs saw the Village of Kingston near Lewes and stopped in Alfriston for a while before the final nine miles into Eastbourne. It was 7.30 pm when I reached the railway station in Eastbourne. I bought a ticket for Portsmouth Harbour Station put my bike on the next train to Brighton, then changed trains for Portsmouth and eventually caught the car ferry back to the Isle of Wight. The adventure was over and I had enjoyed the trip and from now on I will always appreciate tarmac. It had taken me four days and I had recorded 125.3 miles since leaving the Island. The cycling time was 22:21 hours, which is 5.6 mph.

'If it wasn't for cars we would not have tarmac'

 unusual quote for a cyclist

                                          The End