Suzi's Cycle Challenge May 8th-10th 2009

2009-04-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

On May 8th 2009 I will be leaving Brighton Rugby club at 7.30am by coach to Winchester for the start of a 3 day South Downs Way Cycle Challenge raising money for the Argus Appeal. We finish at Beachy Head, Eastbourne around 3.30pm on Sunday 10th (my birthday). The total distance is 105 miles (35miles a day) with a total of 12,600ft of ascent! supposedly reaching our destination each day around 4pm. It doesn't end there, we then have to put up tents! or get a man to do it me thinks! Apparently the ratio of men to women on this challenge is greater in their favour, - I wonder why?

I only normally cycle every now again so I decided training should start as soon as possible at the end of February and now cycle 2-3 times a week. My fitness and stamina are pretty good now along with my leg muscles. The hilly country roads around Bolney are not as daunting now and it's amazing how much you discover about where you live when you are not racing past it in a car.

Thank you for looking and your support, Suzi x

P.s. Don't forget to keep following my blog as I am adding new posts all the time. See Brighton to Eastbourne!

Eastbourne - Hove

2009-04-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

Fantastic views. Lewes is just to the left.

I left home at 7.40am today to meet up with John and catch a train to Eastbourne. Todays challenge Eastbourne - Hove. It was set to be another glorious sunny day. Before we got on to the South Downs Way we had to cycle from Eastbourne train station to somewhere near Beachy Head. Anyway it was uphill all the way, not without a few stops to catch our breath. We got to Alfriston in good time at 11.45 even before the pub was open! We sat in the garden and enjoyed a bit of a feast to keep us going for the still long ride ahead. No alcohol for me though, that must be a first! This is the route to the top of the downs from Alfriston. Long, steep and very rutted. Oh joy...... I have to admit that we cycled a bit of it and then decided on a full stomach it would be better to walk this one.

Getting close to Ditchling Beacon. Just want to get home now! John & I always make sure we close all the gates properly....... There are a lot of them and we sort of have a process of opening and closing, mainly John opens (as he is mostly always there first) and I shut. What a team!

We arrived back in Hove at 6pm. Definitely not wanting to do it all again tomorrow!

Clayton - Eastbourne 5.5 hours!

2009-04-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Where are we headed! That way up the hill.

We left Clayton at 1.45

The afternoon did not start well. Having fixed a puncture (well I thought I had fixed it) before leaving home, only to find that the tyre was going flat again by the time I had driven to Clayton. Poor John (friend & cycling buddy) had to sort it out for me. Then an hour into the ride he had one too. Well at least the sun was shining.

The views were spectacular. It seems a long way away.... the cliffs near Lewes

Getting a bit closer... Crossing the river Ouse. Half way there at Easebourne.

Lots of spring babes

We took our only real break to eat chocolate flapjacks but had to push on to get to Eastbourne before dark! It was 4ish now and 6.5 miles to Alfriston.

I thought you said we were half way!?

Jevington church

Horrible ride from Alfriston to Jevington and beyond. We were tired. Arrived Eastbourne 7.15pm starving. John's girlfriend Michelle met us with the car and took us for a well deserved curry. Never mind the calories. We had burnt hundreds of them. Arrived back home at 10.30.

The Downs Link with Georgina - This is more like it!

2009-04-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

Wish the South Downs Way was like the Downs Link! Its flat! following the old train line all the way to Shoreham.

We discovered the Old Station at West Grinstead off the A272.

Devils Dyke heading East

2009-04-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

A buckled wheel! The bumps finally took their toll...

A Storm Brewing at Chanctonbury

2009-03-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Did we get wet?

Shelter in an old barn. Even the sheep went running for shelter.

Can you see a rainbow?

Villages of Warninglid, Slaugham & Staplefield

2009-03-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

This has become one of my regular 1 hour rides, particularly when the weather is looking a bit unpredictable. My goal is to try and do it without stopping. Easy, one would expect after having been in training for the last 8 weeks! However, not so. There is a long hill very near to the start which leaves me gasping for breath and tires me before the ride has really begun. I managed it today only stopping twice out of necessity and a couple of times for photos.

I am nicknaming this ride "Scary wood ride" after hearing on the news the other night that Broxmead Lane woods, Bolney (1/2 mile from home) was the setting of a dead body with head & hands removed, unknown victim, case now reopened after 18 years. It is on the last leg of the ride. After taking a picture of a entrance into the wood I was determined to cycle up the steep gradient without stopping. I was spooked and my mobile phone was beeping to tell me the battery was running out.....

Wineham & Twineham

2009-03-23T03:40:00.000-07:00

Another local ride, this time around the quiet lanes and bridleways of farmland. Very idyllic. I saw dear and rabbits.

Hove - Saltdean

2009-03-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

This was a leisurely ride, compared to the off roadness of the Downs, along the seafront from Hove to Peacehaven. My new bike made easy work of it but the wind in our faces (going there) made the ride not too effortless. I even braved my new cycling shorts. And what a reward at the end of it Cream Tea at a quaint devonlike bistro at 10am in the morning. Hey we were going to burn off the calories on the way back anyway!

The End of the path

Devils Dyke to Chanctonbury Ring

2009-03-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

2pm at the top of the dyke was quite a blustery start and I was glad I had not donned my shorts for the occasion. Our goal today was Chanctonbury Ring which we estimated would take us 2hrs to do the 9 miles. 18.5 miles return trip so not quite the full 35 a day we will be doing on the actual challenge! This was one of the hills we had to ascend on our way (always having to stop for a few minutes at the top to catch breath and let legs recover.

Finally we arrived 2hrs later at Chanctonbury Ring! The views were spectacular and the sun was shining. Our reward a chocolate coated flapjack, yeah!

Then for the trek home....
This hill does not look that bad in this photo but we did not manage to cycle much of it. Well we were tired and it ws very rutted and stony. Maybe in a few weeks!

Some sheep. Next week maybe lambs.

Oops, finger on the lens

Arrived back at The Dyke at 5.50pm just as sun was setting.

Training South Downs Way

2009-03-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

A cold but gloriously sunny and cloud free morning saw us venture up to the top of the Dyke. The weather was also perfect for the kitesurfers too!

Surveying what lay ahead...

View from the top of Truleigh Hill. This is hardgoing for the novice biker but we are now managing it witout stopping!

The track was a bit sploshy as the ice started to melt. Dirty bikes and bodies were the order of the day. I even had mud in my hair.

More views from the top of yet another hill!

The home stretch!

South Downs Way Sat 28th February

2009-03-01T03:15:00.000-08:00

We started at the Jack & Jill windmills at Clayton on an overcast and chilly morning, but were soon warming up on our ascent up the rocky chalk path to the first of many fields we would cross and gates we would have to open, and close along the pathway. I can't believe that despite having lived in Sussex for the last 10 years I have never been to this glorious place.

This is John (my team mate) on the first of the many gates. Some of them were kindly held open for us by walkers and other cyclists who had got there first. We did our fair share of that too!

The views were fantastic, despite the cloud level. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera so had to make do with mobile phone snaps. But when I return here I will post some better pictures.

And just around the corner this is what we found, there must have been about 30 gorgeous ponies.

Me having reached Mount Harry where we took a break. This is far as we dared go today fearing that the next stretch was all down hill into Lewes and we would not have the energy to cycle back up! This will be done another day.....