Congratulations to Giles Corner

In Giles's Words

My first foray on the South Downs Way was aged 14 when I attempted to walk with a friend from Worthing to Winchester. We didn't succeed but it was an adventure, we tried again the following year, same outcome. So it felt significant when I completed the route in entirety East to West in the summer of 2023 with my pal Ben from VC Venta. I think it was shortly afterwards that I learnt about The Double. It seemed absurd when I first heard about it. At some point knowing that it existed as "a thing that people do" and realising that some of the great men of our cycling club VC Venta had completed it turned a concept into an idea, the itch became a scratch as they say. I was lucky enough to have a few months gardening leave this summer so had built a strong endurance base but felt like I hadn't really completed a marker challenge to hang my season upon. At some point I realised I'd been thinking about The Double so much I needed to do it otherwise I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else.

My setup: Specialized Crux 4, 1x GRX, tyres were a Bontrager Betasso 55mm up front with Specialized Tracer 50mm rear. 1x 750ml bottle on the frame for DIY beta fuel, 12L Salomon running vest with 2L camelbak. Lights were Exposure Maxx-D with Sirius on the helmet. Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt and Garmin Fenix 7 for nav/recording.

My Plan: Leave Winchester at 4am, ride the section I know the best in the dark then arrive at Cadence Upwaltham (67km in) in time for a morning coffee, stop roughly every 3hrs to refill water and make up another bottle of DIY beta fuel (carb drink), stash a food bag at Botolphs (100km in) that would serve as my "dinner" stop on the way back. I had a stretch target of 20hrs (16kph).

How it played out: First few hours went well although I didn't enjoy it that much at the time, it's a weird feeling being so early into a challenge like this without a fixed date, riding solo in the dark, to complete a challenge that very few people knew I was doing and probably even fewer understand. Dawn was a relief then shortly after I was on the top of Butser Hill looking down at a lot of Army vehicles and trying to understand what was going on. Turns out there was a Gurkha Charity trail run from QECP to Brighton starting at 6am. After sunrise with the trail busy with runners I began to enjoy the ride, had a quick stop for a dissapointing coffee at Cadence Upwaltham (my only stop to buy anything, I'd brought all my food with me). I was moving well but my back was hurting from the weight of all the food, I'd planned what to take in some detail but never ridden in this configuration until the ride (error!) so I decided to drop my "dinner bag" earlier on the outbound than originally planned, in my delirium I somehow decided that dropping it off earlier meant I needed to carry less food for the remaining middle section (error!). Fatigue started to creep in closing in on Eastbourne, neither of my power-banks were working (error?) so I couldn't listen to music and was worried about navigation and lights to finish, I had a flash of cramp in my legs and the South Westerly breeze was building...

I had my photo at the sign in Eastbourne then set off back up the hill, I enjoyed a little giggle to myself for how ridiculous this challenge is. The sun was shining and I'd enjoyed some of the smoother sections so I just tried to focus on riding towards those so I could enjoy them again. Progress westward was slow and I was bleeding time on the average, I'd accepted that 20hrs was gone but with the powerbank problem and food problem I was now worried about finishing at all. Around 3hrs before Upwaltham I ran out of food, it was getting dark and "it's only 30km, i'll be fine" quickly turned to "wtf am I doing, this is dangerous", I stopped a couple of times just to rest and felt quite dizzy. Those few hours got pretty dark. It took a lot of mental energy to keep going but I promised myself it would feel better once I'd had some food, and I had plenty at Upwaltham. Then I ONLY had 70km to go.

I was so relieved to get to Upwaltham and find my stashed food bag hadn't been moved, I think I might've cried. I nearly cried again when I realised the 70km remaining might take me 6hrs, but I broke it down and told myself I just had to get to QECP which was 30k away so 2-3hrs and I have a friend in Petersfield so if I really need to I can bail there. Riding fuelly-fueled again was an absolute delight, getting closer to Winchester everything was becoming more familiar and I was motivated to get as far as I could before batteries ran out on lights and navigation gadgets. Getting to QECP and Butser Hill was of significance for me as that's where I'd bailed from attempt #1 at walking the SDW when I was a teenager, I know the route pretty well from there and told myself it was basically downhill from the top of Butser (lies, but functional lies!). Light rain started as I closed in on Winchester and honestly I felt like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption, I was going to make it, and in under 24hrs. Then I'd never have to do it again.

What I'd change in my plan: MTB would be preferable in my opinion - which is what everyone had told me. I'd just got my crux and I was excited to test it on a big adventure, it's an incredible and versatile bike, I had no problem flying downhill and the 55mm Betasso saved me from a lot of close calls, it also climbs really well, particularly out of the saddle. I think the main difference would be on the flatter sections with uneven surface, on a MTB you can stay comfortably planted in the saddle where I had to choose between hammering it (too tiring), slowing down to find the rhythm of the bumps or riding out of the saddle (also tiring). I'd also take less weight on my back and less "real food", it was good to have variety but in future I think I'll switch to more liquid fueling.

Would I do it again: at the finish I said never again, but who knows. I'd like to ride it again and take time to enjoy it and stop for all of the photos I didn't take!