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"As for our trip - we had a good laugh doing this over a long weekend starting Friday 28th Sept and finishing on the Sunday. There were 3 of us (Neil, Graeme and Rob) - and on the final leg a 4th guy (Pat) joined in. We are all the wrong side of 40.
None of them are cyclist enthusiasts apart from me (Rob) who does road work with a Southampton club and did the odd race this year after a 16 year gap. Graeme does a little weekend MTB and Neil is fairly active, but does little cycling.

Bikes: I have a cheap Avalanche GT bike with cable disc brakes - its very heavy; Graeme has a Rock Hopper with hydraulic brakes. Not sure what Neil had a Mongoose with full suspension, but no disc brakes.

Neil had been planning the trip for several months, and although not too challenging for me (although the climbs and descents always get the heart racing), was quite an achievement for the others. The idea was we could complete it comfortably enough for pub food and beers, which worked out reasonably well.

The legs were:
Friday: Winchester (St Alfreds statue) to Cocking.
Saturday: Cocking to Clayton
Sunday: Clayton to Eastbourne

The weather was cloudy, then wet and misty, and on the final leg we had a bit of sunshine. Fortunately it was not cold. I think there were about 3 punctures, and my chain broke 3 times (my fault - a shimano chain where I didn't use the special link) - fortunately my Alien II multitool had a chain link extractor. Also Graeme's front gear changer fell apart on the first day, so we had to lock him in the middle ring which didn't seem to impair him too much.

Nobody had any spills of note , although I found some of the decents on wet chalky ruts (or big flint loose stuff) a bit hairy (my back disc brake wasn't working too well). There was also a big descent (I can't remember where) which was very grassy, but had an obscured ditch 3/4 of the way down running across. I bunny hopped it at the last moment and the other guys got over OK, but I bet it has caught some peoples front wheel.

In general I cycled most hills, while Neil walked most of them, and Graeme cycled a lot of them - in fact Graeme was awesome for a non-cyclist. The last leg was noticeably easier than the first two (a good thing because Pat had done next to no cycling preparation). Salt hill was frustrating because it is possible to cycle, but easy to come to a stop, especially in the damp. That decent into Cocking was pretty scary in the wet also.

When we started on Friday morning, the plan was to be guided by GPS, but the guys couldn't get it working. Fortunately I had bought the "Harveys" map and had a map holder, which got us through the directions for the next 3 days. You still had to have your wits about you, since its always so easy to miss a sign, despite everything. I wished I could memorise your website, but that is impossible, and printing it off and carrying it is impractical - however it was reassuring to recognise various locations from your website.

Our Friday pub stop was the "Five Bells" in Buriton which I can heartily recommend (we all had the Moule Marinere) with good beers. The Friday night stop in Cocking was the "Moonlight Cottage Tea Rooms" which was absolutely fantastic for hospitality - the (new) owners helped us clean up (we were very muddy), gave us a cup of tea and washed and dried our clothes. We also had dinner there, which was fortunate because the local pub was pretty poor. The price at the Moonlight Cottage Tea Rooms was good too. I would definitely go there again.

Our Saturday pub stop was in Washington - the "Frankland Arms" - the food was average but the sun came out while we ate in the garden which was nice. Saturday night we stayed at the "Jack and Jill" pub where the accomodation was very basic, but the evening food and breakfast were excellent. I probably drank too much alcohol that night.

On Sunday we stopped for lunch at Alfiston with some pasties from the shop and beers at the George pub, where we managed to persuade Pat (who joined us for the last leg) not to abandon (he was knackered). The final climbs overlooking Eastbourne gave us some great views in the sunshine. We met wifes and friends in Eastbourne and after cleaning up went home in the warmth of cars and vans.

I would like to do the ride again over 2 days, and also with more sunshine (on Friday and Saturday - many of the views were obscured by mist). I also need to buy a better mountain bike with working brakes, so that the descents aren't quite so scary."

Peter: I did the SDW in mid June (same weekend as the London -Brighton race). Fantastic. I've never cycled so far or hard in my life, and have the fondest of memories of stretching myself and a real buzz of achievement. I left Winchester first thing, traveling there by train, then overnight in an inn at Steyner. Finished off the next day - despite a double forward somersault and landing on my face mid morning ouch. No shaving for 3 weeks! Weather hailed, shone and rained. Bike survived just despite punctures and use of 3 (shoes?/boots

Ollie: we completed the ride a few months ago now over the 15^th/ 16^th of June. We stayed in the Trueleigh Hill YHA – which was pretty good with an old garage out the back to store you bike and large clean dorms – however the breakfast could have been bigger.

We set off first thing in the morning and made good time to Arundel dodging showers along the way. We stopped under the bridge across the river Arun as it tipped it down for a good 20mins, we then cracked on but finished riding from cocking to Petersfield on the road as we where all knackered - possibly something to do with too many beers the night before and too much lunch under the bridge in Arundel. Anyway over all it was a great success and something that we will defiantly do again.

I think overall we rode 50 miles including the ride from Shoreham station to the YHA"

Roy: we did the ride over 3 days, starting in Winchester, B&B in Cocking and stayed with my sister in Brighton. Overall, it was a bit harder than expected for my wife . Enjoyed it very much and had great weather. Found your site a great help and printed off a number of pages to take with us. Also bought the Harvey South Downs Way map, which used in conjunction with your notes makes getting lost impossible".

my husband and I cycled the SDW from Winchester to Eastbourne over the Bank Holiday weekend (3 May 08 weekend).

Thankfully the weather was on our side and we had sunshine the whole way. We got the train from London to Winchester on the Friday night and stayed in a lovely B&B in Chilcomb (about 20 mins ride from train station) which is right on the trail. It was called Complyns B&B and I would recommend it - great breakfast to start the day off.

Had lunch stop at the Five Bells in Buriton. Great pub. We then stopped at Graffam campsite on the Saturday night, again a great place to stay though a bit of a drop off the Downs. Added an extra 20 - 30 mins onto our journey the next morning as we had to climb back up onto the ridge. Cooked our own tea and then crashed out.

Sunday lunch stop was in Washington at the Frankland Arms. Food not too bad and easy to get back on to the trail. The Sunday night was spent in Pycombe camped on the front lawn of a B&B there!(he White House) Again great breakfast to start the day. Had dinner Sunday night in the pub there which was ok. We then rode to Eastbourne with a quick stop in Alfriston for pasties on the green by the river and caught the train back to London on the Monday afternoon.

1 puncture and problems with chain (too loose) so had to take link out. No crashes thankfully!

No real incidences along the way. We were carrying all our camping kit (light weight tent, sleeping bags, small stove etc) so that slowed us down a bit though wasn't a problem. I have a hard tail bike to put rack on the back and strapped things there. My husband has a full suspension bike so strapped the tent to the handlebars. After a few adjustments along the way it was fine and would happily do it again!

Overall a fabulous weekend, beautiful views and a wonderful sense of achievement when we sped down into Eastbourne.'

We did our 3rd 'SDW in a day' jaunt on Sat and I've done a write up for our club site here - http://www.egcc.net/display-items.asp?intTypeID=150&intItemID=390

I use a Camelbak Mule on these sorts of trips as I usually commute with a rucksack so don't have a prob with 'carrying' the weight.

We passed 3 chaps doing the route over three days and I do have to say I didn't envy them with their panniers.

We only had 5 visits from the puncture fairies but did have a chain break. Some other useful equipment for your list would be a chain tool and (most importantly) two pairs of chain powerlinks - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5300003847&N=SRAM%20Spare%20Connecting%20Pin

A bit of gaffa tape is always useful to have and can be stuck to something 'just in case'

Lights are also handy especially if you start hitting the wooded bits in the evening. We did the ride in Aug in 06 and the final wooded section to Jevington was getting really quite dark come 8pm. And of course you need lights for the run through the night time streets of Eastbourne ;-)

Timings wise we set off at 8:05, hit Whiteways/Amberley around 1 and Jack & Jill about 4:45. We've had friends meet us with food and drink there but unfortunately there aren't any convenient shops or eating establishments nearby. I'd probably suggest folk do a slight detour in to Lewes if they wanted a stop around tea time. Would make a decent break point before the climb up around Kingston.

Myself (Rob) and my friend Tom cycled the SDW over the weekend of 21/22 June. It was out first outing on the SDW and we cycled from Eastbourne to Winchester with a stopover and Tom's Uncle's on the Saturday night in Charlton (near Cocking). This meant the split of mileage was 65m for the first day and 35m for the second day with additional traveling between the SDW and Charlton.

*Day 1*
Got the train before 9 from London which got into Eastbourne at 10.13 am. Set off just before 10.30 am. It had been raining overnight but
cleared up by the time we started so the route was fairly dry but still cloudy. However this did not stop me from getting sunburnt! With no
strong winds we made good time before lunch meeting some other (very friendly) cyclists along the way. In particular one guy cycled with us
part of the way and gave us lots of information which was much appreciated0. Stopped for lunch at Devil's Dyke then pressed on for
Cocking. Weather took a turn for the worse at this point in the day which was compounded by the frequent punctures. The cyclocross tyres
were being literally shredded by the sharp flints which resulted in many a puncture. In fact during the two days we had 11 punctures between us!
After leaving the SDW for Charlton got lost in Charlton Forrest which was very frustrating but eventually made it to Tom's Uncles where
bed/dinner/beer awaited.

*Day 2*
After a leisurely start to the day we eventually got going just after midday thinking we had just a quick cycle through forestry trails to the
SDW followed by a fairly leisurely cycle of 35m to Winchester. Indeed the omens were good as the sun was blazing and our spirits high. The
wind was at times troublesome but not to bothersome. However there was noticeable deterioration in signage of the SDW E-W especially in
Hampshire which resulted in many diversions off the main route. With no O/S map and only the Harvey's SDW map which provides little clues if you stray off the marked route, more often than not the only choice was to turn around and retrace our steps to the point where the SDW was
recovered. This made the second day mileage more like 50m which on the whole was not too bad due to the gentler terrain and tarmac sections
leading up to Winchester. The sense of achievement having out photo taken under Alfred was immense.

*Other Info*
I was on a Specialised TriCross with Cinder X tyres while Tom was on a Gary Fisher Hoo koo e koo hard tail with Panaracer Fire Pros. The cross
bike held up fairly well and on the whole was a good ride. However some of the descents were slowed significantly from the desire not the spend
my old age with arthritis. The gearing was a bit lacking on some of the more technical hills which certainly put undue strain on the knees.
While the cross bike was fun I will probably take my hard tail or full sus for the next SDW trip. In terms of other equipment we had the usual
(and frequently required) puncture repair kit. Park tools super patch was our best friend. Would emphasise the need for duct tape to make
running repairs to any ripped side walls (which is 100% an issue given the flint). With regards food we both took Isotonic drinks, muesli bars,
Clif bars and some Gel packs (which tasted terrible!). We both used rucksacks with nothing on the bike other than bottles. Keeping overall
weight down is obviously key over a long ride like this, and neither of us suffered any discomfort from our rucksacks.

In terms of fitness we both commute to work, have been putting in some long rides in the weeks leading up to the trip, and laid off the beers
in the run up to the ride. Tom was certainly the fitter of the two of us which will have to be rectified for the next trip!

1. Bar bag: could not manage without ! phone, camera, glasses, map, food, small bottle water, etc.all to hand, and on BHF ride, the tokens etc. Mine is 'creek 2 peek'. It has zip pocket at front as well ( I use that for phone, glasses), carry handle. Most also have a clear plastic map holder to clip on top, but make sure OS map fits when folded as mine did not. Other makes Altura, Ortileb. Bracket fixes to handlebar, then clicks on. I also use a Altura rack bag which fits to a 'bar beam' which clamps to seat/saddle pin . But I find have to fix at slight angle as my thighs foul it when riding, not enough to rub, but just annoying.

2. Places to stay: Several people have asked about places to stay on route. Regret I have not been able to help, apart from YHA at Truleigh Hill. I have seen mention that place at Cocking is good.