GB Divide 2023

I have rewritten this bit so many times!
So I am just going to chuck some bullet points down:

Day 1

• Just cruising, felt really good, holding my legs back, was mainly riding in 4/5th but was as high as 3rd.
• Really windy, switching from bright sun shine to heavy rain all day.
• Hit a massive hidden pot hole in a puddle (which would lead to me scratching).
• Noticed the tyre had gone down at first stop for food 155km in and sealant had kept tyre from going flat.
• Just before the start of the South Downs way stopped to pump up the tire and it seemed to hold okay.
• Going onto the SDW gust of wind blew my glasses off, I tried to catch them fell on the bike, full weight on handlebars, snapped by the brake lever (half way through).
• Continued riding until it got dark but didn’t feel comfortable with broken bars.
  
  Day 2
• Slept for 8 hours was in no rush to get up and ride with broken bars.
• Decided to ride on and find repairs further up the trail.
• Felt sick all morning, stopped a number of times and just sat waiting for sickness to pass.
• Bars were okay on the uphills but the cracking sound from the carbon was very disconcerting on the downhills.
• Rear tyre started to go down every hour or so, decided to put tube in but punctured straight away.
• Couldn’t find any issue with the tyre, sealant was all gone now, ran out of inner tubes.
• Rider stopped to offer help (not in the GBD) I bought a 29er tube off him for my 650b 47mm wheel!
• Put it in stayed up for a bit, than stopped for a burger at a van and bought a 700x50mm tube off another random rider.
• Pump up rear tyre, repeat every 20 mins.
• Bumped into James from Squirt, he gave me a packet of sealant. Seemed to do the job.
• Gears started playing up, going out of index, left James and decided to head 8 miles off course to Chichester for repairs.
• Arrived in Chichester, shops all closed, booked into Park hotels, decided on a plan for day 3 reset and push on.
  
  Day 3
• Been stopped for over 14 hours already and went in search of bike repairs.
• Halfords didn’t have any bars at all, tyre holding pressure and seems fixed, headed to 99 Bikes.
• 99 Bikes were amazing, had just 1 set of bars in stock, narrow but went with them anyway to get back under way.
  
• Left my bike to be sorted, went into town to eat sausage rolls and get my phone dried out, talk to statue and buy some more reading glasses I had some how lost!
• Returned to 99 bikes, bike almost finished, great service, repacked my bike, hit the trails again at 12:30.
• Long 8 mile climb back to meet the trail (where I left) Felt amazing, chatted to man picking berries (he gave me some).
  
• Joined the trail at Cadence cafe and straight into a brutal off road climb, really feeling good. Tyre starts going flat by the top!
• The tyre continued to go flat at increasingly short intervals starting around every 30 mins to  every 5 minutes by the end.
  
• Got to Winchester its now after hours all the shops were closed. 55km to CP1…I can push on and make it.
  
• No I can’t! Its now getting dark, either I camp or…stuff the tyre with grass.
• I start stuffing the tyre with grass, trickier than I thought, what is the correct grass to volume pressure for a 47mm tyre?
• Whatever it is I couldn’t get enough in to make it ridable and still get the tyre back on.
• Its now dark and nowhere suitable to camp, I walk down into the nearest town to see what my options are.
• There was nothing there, post office that was closed, its now 23:00 and I am mentally tired.
• Decided to continue on the route but now walking to a possible bike shop 5 miles further along.
• At a junction I stopped to let a car go through, the window winds down, questioning me as to what I was doing.
  
• I explained, he thought I was mad, he son also cycled, so offer me a lift, I didn’t need asking twice.
  
• And that’s it I scratched, I tried to take my front wheel out to get it in the car but couldn’t figure it out! I was trying to undo the wrong side, my brain was frazzled from all the constant issues.

Conclusion

I met so many great people who helped me along the way, although things didn't go to plan, I would do it again tomorrow.
Now I am back the mechanical issue are quite easy to solve with the right equipement. The tyre had 4 punctures, 2 the sealant had sealed, and 2 smaller holes either side of the tyre at the point of impact near the rim (which the sealant didn't reach). Its just one of those things, I will carry more sealant next time.
The handlebars, I have had a few comments about them being carbon, yes they were. I think if they were aluminium they would have just broken but the bars held on (and never completly broke) for another 110km on the South Down way. Yes I took it easier than if there were not broken but still they did an amazing job.
The gear problem from the end of day 2 turns out to be the B screw because I took the rear wheel off so many times it allowed the B screw to wind out which brought the top jockey wheel too close to the cassette. Again easy fix on a bike stand but not something obvious on th etrail when you are tired.