A year ago I did the first part of the Southdowns Way from Winchester to Lancing (or maybe that was the second part and I’m doing it backwards?) – and it nearly killed me.   With it now being mid September, I thought time was running out to nearly kill myself again and do the second part (or is that the first part).     I felt that I could be a bit more prepared this time around.  For example, I knew the path was pretty well signposted and so no need for in depth map planning ahead of time,   I know now to double my time estimates, and I feel like I know the route between home and Eastbourne well (on road, maybe not off) – it seems more like a local ride.

I decided to go from Eastbourne and ride back home, catching the first train out.  Very much like I did before, and in doing so making the more unpredictable part (ie, the train journey!) the first part of the journey when I was still in the mood for such things.  Nothing was going to happen this weekend though, no trains would be running and a bus replacement service wasn’t going to accept a pushbike.

Not to worry, I thought I would spend this weekend making sure the Dawes mountain bike was ready for the trip.  Not much to do apart from making sure the tyres were ok and give things a quick check over.  I thought a quick ride up to the local trig point at Steep Down would be good to give it a quick ride out.

One of the problems with this bike is that is sometimes slips from first gear and the chain jams itself between the freewheel and wheel itself.   I’ve played with it many times to resolve, and just when I think I have, I change down gear and I am met with a crunch and the locked rear wheel.   It hasn’t done it for many miles, and so I had forgot all about it until I got to the first steep hill bit, changed down gear and crunch….   I wasn’t too worried, I was only 2 miles from home and when it did the same in the middle of nowhere before I did manage to get going again, after a bit of time and swearing.

Like before, I did finally get things free, having had to take the wheel out and be a bit rough with it.   It was reassuring that two other people on mountain bikes asked if all was ok as they passed, I gave them a thumbs up and they carried on.  Maybe it was a bit soon to determine that though, as I lined up the back wheel to put back in place it strangely no longer fit.   A closer look, it seemed my having to be “a bit rough with it” had bent the fragile derailleur hanger, the wheel would no longer fit into the damaged part.

I wasn’t worried, a walk home wouldn’t be nice but it was not am impossible task.  I was more worried about easy it had been to damage this part and if I were miles from anywhere (ie, next weekend) then I would be stuck with a bike that had a none turning rear wheel.    I was a bit annoyed too, I didn’t know if I would be able to replace this bit in time, I would still have the indexing to sort so that this problem didn’t happen again, and the wheel would not fit the bike which would make the walk home a bit more interesting.

Handy tip, that I normally life by having read many bike travel blogs, never leave home without cable ties.  I had left home without them and so the option of tying the loose derailleur to the frame of the bike and so letting me fit the wheel, was not an option.     I thought about using the quick link to break the chain  and refit it without the derailleur, but I couldn’t get it to break (I should had looked at YouTube, I’ve learnt how to do it now without tools).   I wondered if I should use the chain breaking tool on my multi-tool and then refit a new pin once I had got with of the derailleur; a bit over the top for being so close to home I thought.   In the end, I removed the bolt holding the rear rack on, put the derailleur in place and rebolted it, now holding both the rack and rather dodgy looking hanging derailleur.  The chain was able to move round, the wheel was back in place, it looked a bit strange, but I could peddle, all was good.  I could even use one or two gears I found out on my way home.

 

 

There is always a good reason to have many bikes, it means you have options when you need spare parts.  I used to use the same way of thinking with cars, I felt quite vulnerable when we went from four cars down to just one years ago!    When I got home, I removed a hanger from Tom’s bike, fitted to the Dawes, within minutes everything was sorted.   I re-indexed the gears, and ordered a new hanger off of Amazon for Tom’s bike.   I put the bikes to one side, ready for first thing in the morning when I would have another go.

 

 

The next day, I ignored the early morning alarm a couple of times before I eventually made it out of bed in time for the sun to still be quite low and a slight September chill still in the air.  With the route just being 10 miles, I expected to be back home in time for breakfast.  I wanted to have this trip to make sure the gears were back to normal and the indexing fine.   I expected sun, but it was all a bit misty where the sun had yet to rise enough to burn through.

 

 

 

After the steep climb to the Downs, the road came to an end and was replaced by a track.   It is a “restricted byway” at this point, which in theory means I shouldn’t be surprised to see a 4×4 making its way through, although I never have done.   This was the first test of the re-indexing and was where it all went wrong the day before.  This time, I scaled up and down (mostly down) the gears with no problems at all.  I battled between myself getting hot from all the climbing and the cold and wetness of the fog which was only getting thicker the higher I went.   The route would take me to a trig point at the top of the hill (Steep Down) which I had thought in the past was on a footpath but this time the map suggested it was a bridleway.  The signposts too confirmed this as I started a long slow climb up, normally you would see the trig point in the distance high up but this time it was an ever thickening fog.   The only thing to give me some feel of movement and direction was the faint outline outline of a jogger further up the hill slowly getting closer and clearer definition.  I got to the top and within no time the jogger caught me up and we chatted for a small bit.   This small point high up on the hill has been here since 1966 and is a “third order” type point, a point between more major points.

 

 

The jogger went back the way he came, down the hill to the college and back in time for breakfast.  I was setting for home (and breakfast) too, but I was going to carry on down the hill on the other super steep side.  Sitting well back on the bike, and controlling the breaks, I descended a lot faster than I did climb.  This took me quickly down to the on going cable laying work from the offshore windmills.    It looked all a bit deserted, and like I have noticed many times before, it could be a the clearance of a new road snaking itself across the Downs.

 

 

 

I spotted a break in the fog and the cloud and glanced the blue sky on the other side for a small minute.  I carried on with a mostly downwards slant as I rode high above the valley with Coombe Farm far below,  I stopped for a moment to talk to the sheep.  Looking down onside at the farm, the view over the other side for that of the River Adur snaking through the flat lands, shining madly from the sun as it burnt itself through the last bits of the morning mist.

 

 

After some more pretty steep descents, I got to Coombe church (tapsel gated) and onto tarmac road.  I was back at sea level and the sun was showing it was going to be quite a nice day.  It wasn’t long until I got home, had a shower, made coffee, and had breakfast.

 

 

Number of miles: 10

Number of sheep: lots

Number of trig points: 1

Number of destroyed bikes: 1

And then fixed again: 1