Red Bull Timelaps is a very unique event. 'The longest one day race in the world' at 25 hours, Windsor Great Park becomes a veritable cycling festival for the end of daylight savings time. The mad, bad and dangerous to know of the London cycling scene gather to punish themselves on the one day that everyone else in the country is 'enjoying the extra hour in bed'. Anyone who says cyclists aren't crazy need only head to Windsor when the clocks go back!

One Dirty Wknd team took part in the inaugural Red Bull Timelaps last year, and they actually did pretty well. Our team of 4 - Patrick, David, Fraser and Jake - finished in around 12th and had an absolute blast. Fast forward 12 months, and we were again pulling up to Liz's backyard at 7am. This time with fives teams instead of one! That's 20 members who had answered the call, apparently not put off by tales of last year's sleep deprivation. We had 5 gazebos, at least 8 tents (one got used) 15 track pumps, 3 turbos, 2 camp stoves, 32 tubs of pasta, 407 Clif Bars and about 3.5 kilos of chamois cream. We also had a videographer (Adam) and a photographer (Patrick). Pro conti teams probably have less kit for a week long stage race!

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A closed road sportive is a rare thing in the UK, and something that should be celebrated. The West Sussex downs are a beautiful place to ride a bike, and on Sunday 23rd September 15,000 amateur cyclists will be taking on the 100 mile route. But what is the route actually like? Well, last Sunday, a small group of Dirty Wknd cyclists got the train down to Sussex to find out. Hopefully the below tips will help you to prepare for Velo South:

It's A Bit Bumpy!

With 'just' 1300 metres (4500 ft) of climbing on the route, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's not that hilly. And it's not, at least most of us will have done hillier rides in the past, and over 100 miles 1.3k isn't too bad a profile. However, the kicker is where the hills fall on the Velo South route. Like most of the Downs, the terrain is rolling, so the climbing isn't confined to a set number of peaks that you can mentally prepare for. 

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Wind! The ultimate enemy of the cyclist. There isn't much worse than battling away into a headwind, pedalling through cement and getting nowhere. Or when you ride past a gap in a hedge and get blindsided by a hurricane - best case it'll wake you up with a jolt, worst case you could end up on the other side of the road!

So how do you ride safely in the wind? Surely it's the wind, right, how are you supposed to prepare for wind? But there are ways to not only be safer in the wind, but also to be faster and expending less energy. With high winds forecast for this weekend's Velo South & L'Etape London events, this guide will hopefully make your ride more enjoyable (and keep you upright!)

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