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I have 4 days off next week and have always wanted to ride the SDW.
I can travel down and B&B in Winchester on Day 1, then ride it over the next two days but how do I get back to my car? Is there a train service available?
The other idea is to ride the whole SDW day 1 B&B overnight then ride back day 2. Would that be areally tough ride?
Any other suggestions?
BB
It's likely to be pretty claggy in places so personally (and at my level of fitness) I wouldn't recommend going for a one-day each way attempt especially given the shortish days we still have.
My folks rode it about a decade ago and they managed to train back to Southampton (where I lived at the time) without a problem coming back from Eastbourne I think, which involved cutting off a little bit at the end. It's a pretty slow service (stops just about every station) but workable.
The train company you need to check out from Eastbourne/Brighton end is Southern.
When you get to Southampton (Central or Parkway) you can then easily get a South West Trains service up to Winchester as that's the main line into London.
You probably want to make sure you have some means of getting the worst of the mud off your bike and you (or at least covered up) before you get on the train.
One other thing I would suggest is NOT TO leave your car on top of Cheesefoot Head for two days.
HTH
Kev
Hmm, doing the SDW in Mar/Apr is proper risky. Like GD says, the chances of clag are magnified somewhat, plus some of the chalky/flinty bits can become really sketchy. There's very little cover so if it rains, there's no escape. Any if it's windy (which it can be, especially on some of the ridgy parts) then you could be expending a whole lot more energy.
FME I'd make my decision based on the weather. If it's dry then go for it, but if it's wet (immed before or during) then I'd reconsider.
Frankly if the weather's pants I'd side with spacemonkey and give the South Downs a skip altogether and go somewhere more all weather friendly.
Even Queen Elizabeth Park is a claggy slimy mess in places at the moment and it's not just that I'm bitter about my idiotic decision to take a bike with clag prone tyres there on Sunday afternoon and ending up with 2.5" 5lb slick tyres on the climbs.
having done the sdw, I'd not feel like getting on the bike and returning the next day (even 9 months later). A lot of folk are fitter than me though, so you might manage it. As above, tough when slippry
Yes, it will be tediously slow and sticky this time of year. July's nice...
If you do ride it, you can probably take a train back to Winchester in a couple of hours (perhaps changing at Southampton for example).
Have any of you lot been up there lately? It's drying out nicely. Go for it BB.
"My folks rode it about a decade ago" so did I Garage, so did I.