We did it!!!

Man what a rush! I have completed a 5 month journey from February to June, the quest to complete the 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne in one day.

And I have done it.

Lets start from the beginning - what I can remember of it anyway.

Got some amazing news during the week, I was quite concerned at the fact I would have to try to complete this on my own. Nothing like a bit of company to help out. So the bike god sent me Damo!
















Damo is a XC whippet and needed a good training ride, so he contacted me during the week to tell me that he was going to do the ride as well!

Amy dropped me off the start at about 0530, and I farted about a bit and was horrified that there was about 200 people who had been on carbs and energy bars and one working toilet - nice start to the day.
















Damo pitched up and at the 6AM start off we went, but it was quite woody and foggy at the start and neither Damo or I were particularly familiar with this end of the SDW.
















Consequently we were cautious for the 1st 20 mile leg to 1st Checkpoint at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park to avoid wrong turns. I would like to explore QECP at somepoint as it looks like there are some good trails, anyway, we stopped and had a chat with a XC whippet who was having a fag, and he was still lightning quick!
















As you can imagine, over a 100 mile ride things kind of blend into a blur from here; but we laughed at people going the wrong way and going down massive hills only to ride back up them. Also the huge number of punctures people were getting - one guy had 2 on the way from the B&B to the start, but in the end we left the woody end and began to recognise things, we had reached Bignor Hill, the most westerly point of my training runs.
















This was a pleasant feeling, but also I knew that I had two fierce hills in Amberley Mount and Cardiac to come.
This is an elevation profile showing the size of the hills in the 1st 3rd

Once we hit the open downs and the fog lifted the Sun came out - My god it was hot yesterday, and balancing the weight of water vs hydration became a major consideration.
















At we blazed through 35 miles at Cocking (tee hee) as I needed to meet Amy at Devils Dyke by 230PM for my lunch but by the time I had walked up Amberley it became apparent that I wouldn't get there in time.
















Change of plan and I met Amy at Botolphs Checkpoint and wolfed down some pasta and refilled with additonal shot bloks as I was now on 6 Per Hour. Time for a quick hello to the kids and off again up Truleigh Hill and on to the 65 mile point at Devils Dyke where I was supposed to meet Dan, my paceman for the last 35 miles.

The 2nd 3rd gets slightly worse!
















He found a puncture so we would eventually met him at Pycombe Golf Course, and it was great to see him as by now I was in a pretty dark place. I know myself pretty well, and I had mentally prepared myself to have to dig deep and grind out the 30 or so miles between Botolphs and Itford. These are the hard mile where energy is low and you are are not close enough to the finish to get excited, and i was getting a little concerned at this point as cut off for the Itford checkpoint was 630PM and I had about 2 1/2 hrs to cover some serious miles. But meeting Dan at Pycombe, nicking his banana and laughing at his lycra shorts and sun visor strangely lifted my spirits and we got there in 2hrs.
















Damo was taking some family time at Ditching and caught us up at Itford, leaving about 45 mins after we did. show off.

We were 16 miles from the fisnish at this point, but just what you need after this is to go from sea level to 651 feet 3 times in 12 miles - this pain is the Firle Beacon/Bostal Hill combo into Alfriston, Windover Hill and Jevington. I had tales of these 3 killer climbs, but I was prepared for them, and Dan was a great source of encouragement as he had only ridden about 15 miles.
















At this point I started to become quite stunned at the number of people who tried to wing 100 miles. I was talking to a guy who had driven down from Yorkshire who was really struggling at Southease. He had a bad back, sore knees and he had left his car in Whiteways car park which locked at 9PM, (this was at about 6).

Also stopped counting at 27 punctures - I estimate that at least 10% of the riders had punctures - Stans might be a pain in the arse but it works. The Dark Phoenix Steed cruised it, and after 84 miles the fact you can just point it downhill and it does the rest was well appreciated.

Also - some people were taking it way to seriously, especially the prick herein known as "Mr All The Gear But No Idea" who muscled past me on a single trail in his matching kit and bike whilst muttering something about my pace. Pity I saw him at Itford loading his bike into his car bandaged up and a taco'd front wheel, obviously his pace was a little hot for him. Cock.

Anyway - everyone told me about Firle and Jevington - but Windover Hill was absolutely brutal! Definately the worst climb of the lot and by now my Shot Block intake was 1 pack per hill, and I had 1 pack left for Jevington.

By now our "Paceman" Dan was feeling the pace a little, and 2 months of the bike highlighted a small fitness deficiancy. Bless him. Anyway we all cleared Jevington hill, and at the crest....
















Eastbourne

Damo took over and tried to get us into Eastbourne in 12hrs riding time, but we got lost and I finished in 13hrs 15 mins riding time. The kids and Amy were waiting and they ran over for hugs as I collapsed on the grass - a real emotional moment for me, and I collected my medal. Even though he didn't enter I got one for Damo as well, but Dan will get his next year.
















Thanks to everyone for the support I have had - this has been a great journey for me, but what now?

Well, there is this thing called the South Downs Double - Winchester to Eastbourne and back again...200 Miles.....24 hrs......


Maybe........?

Stan is an arse

Mein Got in Himmel!! The day is nearly here, Saturday at 0530 I will be at the beginning of the end of this journey.

In reality if I had just handed over £1,500 to the British Heart Foundation I would have saved myself 5 months of shit. But I wouldn’t have a seriously fine Steederinho as I do now, the Specialized Pitch Dark Phoenix, I would be ratting around on the original Steed which was not a patch on this bike.

Also I wouldn’t have friends. Now every Tuesday, work commitments permitting, I blast around the Downs for a couple of hrs and the sink a couple of Guinness in the Thomas a’beckett pub. We discuss the evenings ride and relive the crashes and getting lost in seriously spooky Clapham Woods (there is something wrong with that place), and the number of punctures that Deadly gets. And Deadly Dave gets load of punctures, sometimes 2 a ride. Which leads me onto the penultimate subject of Richards Crazy Idea…..punctures.

There is a puncture god, his name is Stan and he is a vengeful god who is poised to strike at the moments you are most vulnerable.

Such as when you are 50 miles from home, he’ll throw a flint shard through your tyre and make you walk, or mid winter in the freezing rain burst both front and rear tubes and make you forget to pack the spare, thus ensuring a trailside puncture repair with numb fingers. Bastard.

He also smites mercilessly those who mock the afflicted, such as me, (and clearly Deadly Dave also). I like a good laugh, and sometimes there is nothing funnier than someone’s tyre exploding, but I stifle through fear of the Puncture God…Stan. No Stan has bestowed on mankind a way for a chosen few (who have a spare £50) to have their cake and eat it – the “Stans No Tubes Conversion Kit”

What this kit basically does is remove the need for an inner tube, as it is the piercing or splitting of this that causes punctures. Tyres are much tougher and less prone to piercing, and by using a tyre sealant called “Stan’s Juice”, you have a very effective puncture resistance. It is however a sod to fit, a story i will save for another time and guess what happened the 1st time out?

Yep – sidewall of the tyre split and I got a puncture.

Damn you puncture god.

But now we are fixed with new tyre and ting, Steed is raring to go, and I am as ready as I will ever get. I have a secondary cause now, as the BHF is important but didn’t really push my buttons, I am also raising money for my daughter’s school, Laurels 1st School Worthing in support of their appeal to raise funds for outdoor play apparatus. The most recent Ofsted report highlighted that they were a bunch of weaklings and needed to build upper body strength, and I think a decent set of Monkey Bars is a must for any Junior School.

I have broken the route into 5 legs of 20miles and each will need to be completed in 3 hrs;

1. 20 = 3hrs
2. 40 = 6hrs
3. 60 = 9hrs
4. 80 = 12hrs
5. 100 = 15hrs

I am anticipating legs 3 & 4 to be the hardest, as they are the mile I will have to grind those out and find a way to keep smiling. I’ll take a video diary and record my thoughts and feelings at the end of these legs.

So, there it is, the next blog will be your humble narrator commenting on the success or failure of this epic adventure.

One thing is for certain….it will be emotional.

3 weeks to go dudes! 3 weeks!

My good god what a ride! Fantastic swoopy singletrack and glorious endless downhill runs. Wake up Crawford, I rode out for a full on training ride today – 70 miles, just me, Dark Phoenix Steed and Amy’s IPod, as I have lost mine.

Training recently has taken a blow, as my customers have, quite rightly, demanded my time more so I am spending more weekdays away from home. Consequently I am missing Amy and the kids, and having to take a whole day at the weekend to train is taking its toll on my dear wife.

She is with them 6 days out of 7, and I can barely manage 1.

Still only 3 weeks to go until the big day, and to be truthful, your humble narrator can’t wait until it is over. Every cycle I do is measured, and analysed for speed and distance. I worry about farting around on jumps and heading over to Whiteways singletrack because I should be putting the XC (cross country) mileage in, but I enjoy singletrack and jumps, I don’t much enjoy XC. Not anymore, and especially not after today.

After summoning what little energy I had this morning to get out of bed, and after procrastinating, breakfast, some more procrastinating and realising had no spare inner tubes – I set off for the mission of doing as close to 70 miles as I could. Why 70? Well it’s 70% of the overall distance, and I am pretty convinced that I can find the extra 30% from adrenaline and general pigheadedness, which, I might add I have in great abundance, just ask Amy. In fact ask anyone or talk to my kids for 2 minutes and you’ll see that it runs deep in the Crawford-Small line.

Anyway, I passed by Quest bike shop to pick up some tubes and pissed myself and the slack jawed teens ogling the new Saturday girl. Who is very nice and suggested that on a long cycle I may want to try some Clif Orange Shot Bloks. Why not I thought, give em a whirl.

After further procrastination I finally left tar macadam for dirt and headed for the SDW, a few slight detours and little bit of getting lost I got to the SDW about 10AM and put my head down. I found it quite difficult to get the old Quadracep pistons going, it takes me about a 10 miles to get going but soon I was churning out the miles aiming for about 35 before I turned around and headed back.

It was pretty uneventful on the 35 miles out from Worthing, I was pleasantly surprised that Amy’s IPod didn’t churn out the expected endless stream of Pop shite. Instead I was treated to some Stevie Wonder, The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Foo’s…all good high BPM stuff. OK there was the occasional Take That tune, but I was in a good mood. Funny thing; when I got home I congratulated Amy on her musical selection, she replied;

“I have Chemical Brothers on my Ipod?”

You lost the cool points love.

Anyway, I hit an almighty wall at 35 miles dead on, my legs just ground to a halt. Even a full pack of Jelly Babies could stir them into life, I just ran out of energy. I was surprised, because usually I, like the true Stallion that I am, can go on for hours.

What was I to do? God bless new Saturday Girl – the Shot Bloks to the rescue!!! 75mg of caffine and some Electrolyte and the Quad pistons were back. And pretty bloody powerful to! So we shot of towards home, and this is where it gets interesting (or not depending on your point of view).

Ramblers top tip. When walking on the South Downs please remember to spread yourselves out across the entire trail at every opportunity. This will ensure confrontation, especially with the knackered but caffine fuelled hyper MTB’er who wants to get past.

Honestly, this steeeuuuupid bint just wouldn’t move, despite my best “Excuse me, do you mind if I get past?” I was raised to be polite, even to bints. I assumed that she was actually deaf, so I thought that I’ll get a bit closer and try again. She hears me this time and steps INTO the bike pushing me up against a fence, causing a slight elbow injury.

She compounds this with a big mistake. Obstinacy. Slight tangent here but I generally don’t get on with our older generation, as I find them pompous and rude. Its like when you hit 60 you suddenly change from moderate to hardline, from Democrat to Republican, from a sound bloke into a total arse.

Anyway, she says “you should have a bell?”, now from anyone aged 59 or under an apology would be delivered and an insincere enquiry as to my condition. No, not this old bag, it’s now my fault that she walked into me.

Being all caffine charged I considered going all Mike Tyson and knocking her out, but settled for “No I don’t have a bell, but do you not have a brain? You stupid cow”.

That would do.

The rest of the ride went ok, and I returned weary after 7 odd hrs of sheer tedium. Riding XC on your tod is very boring.

Sacrifice and discovery

Ouch, bastard ouch - my Quadraceps Or thighs to you are killing me.

I have "support" from the boys at Sussex MTB, which basically means them dragging me up 2000ft of hills every time we ride. I'm not knocking it, with 8 weeks to go I am supremely confident that I can complete 65 miles of this event.

65 miles is the natural break point in the event at Devils Dyke jsut north of Brighton, and it is here that I expect to reach at around 4PM on the day. Here will hopefully be Amy and the kids to cheer on Daddy and replenish him with Ribena, Nature Valley Maple Syrup Granola bars, Jelly Babies and Haribo Tangfastics.

However it is also here that I will face the biggest challenge;



I will have cycled 65miles, my legs WILL be shot and I will be stumbling like a newborn gazelle
I will have cycled 65miles, my arse WILL be sore and I will be walking like a Rhino's ho

Temptation will be saying.... "Rich mate, you have cycled 65miles, your not in great shape, your legs are heavy, your arse hurt and those hills are BIG!! Maybe we should just get in L'oeuf bleu sportif and go and have a bath..........."

NO!



I am destined to complete this run, and greatness will be mine - this is my biggest single physical challenge of the last 10yrs, I have sacrificed time with my family, guitars, sweat, and probably some tears soon as well. My nuts have suffered much chafing, I have crashed into trees, bramble, other bikes, ferns and hedgerows.

But what a journey so far! I have rediscovered my love of tinkering with mechanics, and pretty much rebuilt El steederino from a 2007 Marin Hawk Hill SE into a 2009 Specialised Pitch "Pimp", with Carbon Fibre, Magnesium and Billet Aluminum bits.



I no longer smoke
I am a piss quick - my booze intake has plummetted!
I have rediscovered my jawline, my waist and Quadraceps - I haven't been in this kind of shape for a good while.

I have also met friends - Its my birthday barbee next weekend and for the 1st time I actually have friends I have met here coming over. And purely a result of a decision I made to cycle 100 miles has improved my life immeasurably................

Karma clearly agrees that this is the right thing for your humble narrator to do at this time of his life. But the deal is that it I must raise £1000 for the BHF, not big numbers - but £10 per mile is worth the effort.

8 weeks to go.....what else will happen?

Its been a while and I'm Sorry

My god it's been ages since it last wrote - and yes true believers I am back. The sheer deluge of emails, letters and teenage girls crying on my doorstep begging me to resume became unbearable.

Where have I been and what have I been doing I hear you cry? Well simply image that my since we last spoke, I have been on numerous Bond like adventures and we will pick up my mild mannered alter ego at around Easter time.

April 3rd, 0530, Worthing. - Mountain Biking in Wales!!

How exciting it was, the story begins at Crossbush McDonalds, known locally as The Angry Fanny, where the convoy of Sussex MTB escape children and wives to become Superheroes for 4 days. Accountants, Plasterers, Salesmen, Techies no more - we were gods!!

A swift blast in the Citroen Picasso (L'Oeuf Bleu Sportif), down the M4 later and we arrived at Cwmcarn MTB Playground, and rode up a very big hill, jumped off loads of stuff and then rode down it very fast. That is basically it for 4 days, we just did that, with varying degrees of severity on climb, jumps or downhill.

I have also got rid off the nasty habit I had of dragging my rear brake. That is where you constantly have the brake on as a comfort blanket, when you should just roll with it. How did I do it?

The brake stopped working!!!! Tippytoeing gingerly downhill on front brake only, nearly crashing as I was too slow at Cwmcarn I thought "screw it, how bad can it hurt?" I let the brakes off..................I can honestly say that in 4 days I learnt so much, simply by watching the other riders, where they brake, body positioning etc.

The sad thing is that I have reached the end of the road with parts of El Steederinho. The performance in Wales was admirable - and we were not shamed in climbs or downhills - but my god my arse hurt like a mofo! I have decommissioned the frame and front fork of El Steederinho, and replaced with a full suspension Specialized Pitch Comp. It is still The Steed, but pimped up, kinda like Dark Phoenix is still Jean Grey but with extreme PMS.

April 18th, Swinley Forest

The new improved "Dark Phoenix with PMS" El Steederinho and I took to the trails for the shakedown ride and oh my god!! It is phenomenal! As with "Jean Grey Steed", the only standard parts on this are the frame, shocks handlebars and seatpost. The rest is pimped up, top of the range shit.

The Dark Phoenix is just better handling, faster, more stable, more comfortable, better climbing, better downhill and better on the flat.

And it jumps!!!

So that is where I am up to....... had the biggest crash of my life with The Phoenix - hurtling downhill I caught the wider bars on a branch and the front wheel slipped out. I was in the air long enough to see the bike slide under me and think "This is gonna hurt".

I am having soo much fun, but i had better get back to the serious side of this journey and get some serious miles in.

Until next time

Rock on.

Spring - a collection

An apology

Greetings true believers! I owe you an apology - it has been brought to my attention that to donate through JustGiving.com you have to enter your credit/debit card details. I didn't know this and I am a little pissed off about it, as that is a donation and surely goes against the whole idea of sponsorship?

I am sure there is some reason, but I am disgruntled - sponsorship is about someone getting off their arse and using it as a motivating factor in achieving something. If all of the money is already raised why bother? Its almost as bad as Chugging!!!

So, I would ask if you want to donate, please send me an email to chardo709@hotmail.com with the amount that you will pay on my successful conclusion. Once I have completed the ride I will hunt you down like dogs and extract the cash from you, just like the "Disco Against Drugs" event at school. Except this time I won't buy a £10 draw with the sponsorship money, what an Irony.

If younhave already donated, thanks for your trust and support - if you haven't, please do!!