As the night begins to eat in to the last remnants of daylight, lights flickering into life on the horizon and the clouds, gradually thinning, revealing a near full moon, the third MaXx Exposure begins. Conditions on the South Downs are excellent, dry and reasonably mild, with no hint of rain on the forecast.

“,This the first time you’ve ridden this event?”, a chap on a Whyte E5 asks me. We’ve ridden most of the first 20-miles of the ride together. “I rode it two years ago,” I reply. “I also swore that I’d never ride it again…” He laughs.

But here I am: somewhere along the South Downs Way. At 6.20pm on Saturday evening, in a car park atop the cliffs of Eastbourne, I and 50 other cyclists have set off on the 75-mile jaunt from the start to Queen Elizabeth Country Park, near Petersfield. Finish times will range from a scary fast 7hrs 28mins to nearly 14hours.

Here at bikemagic, we’re keen on embracing technology. So when a chap called Neil proposed we track my ride with a GPS tracking device that he’d built, we leapt at the idea. Neil Newell recently rode the South Downs Way Double, one of only a handful of people reported to have done so, and built this device for that purpose.

So, 20miles in to the ride, and my every turn, pedal stroke and pause for food is being sent live to a Google map on this site, taking my humble struggle against the route to a global audience. And knowing there’s nowhere to hide, with an audience upon my virtual shoulders, I make a fast start, reaching deep into my not-so-youthful-anymore energy reserves.

The ride, mostly, went rather well. I punctured before the first of three checkpoints, eerily in the exact some spot as two years ago. Kneeling down on the cold hard soil beside the path, ripping out the slashed innertube and stuffing in a new one, I take a moment to wonder what, assuming anyone’s watching this live, is thinking as my tracking pauses somewhere along the SDW. Tyre pumped up, I get back on track. I would puncture again later in the ride, but thankfully I’m not having the same luck as the Whyte rider mentioned earlier – he suffered a staggering nine punctures…

I’m not entirely familiar with the South Downs, and it always surprises me just how much climbing there is. And how steep it all is. It doesn’t take long before the constant climbing begins to take its toll on my increasingly-weary legs. Thankfully the ride is punctuated by three well-equipped checkpoints. There seems to be a battle going on between all the people who have given up their Saturday night to support the event, with the riders clearly the beneficiary. I’m not sure the beer I was handed at the 45-mile checkpoint was the greatest idea ever devised, but it sure tasted good.

The second half of the route is less eventful, and the trail is considerably flatter this side of the halfway checkpoint, a relief to weary legs. The fog has been quite a problem on the higher mounds of the SDW, and descending at speed is dicey. And in the deeps and lowlands the cold is seeping through my three layers. I’ve never enjoyed climbing so much before, for its warming effects on the body. The going is so tough now that riders are grouping together for a bit of companionship, to help get through the darkness.

This is what makes the ride so enjoyable. It’s far from being a race, and people are just in it to finish and the camaraderie gives a huge push when you’re flagging. The event is tremendously well organised by the Trail Break team, ably assisted by a group of volunteers from local bike shops Quest and Downland Bikes.

“I’m really pleased with the event, its one of the most tiring we run but also one of the most fun. It’s exactly what we set out to achieve”, says Phil from Trailbreak. “There’s a real magic in night riding and we feel the South downs offers the best route out there – vast starlit hilltops, twisting gullied descents, and a real feeling of remoteness. Riding all this to burst into the madness and bright lights of the often eccentric check points makes the event unique and something that everyone should do at least once – more than once and I think you have to consider weather you have been infected by the event’s madness.”

Thanks go to Rory Hitchens for talking me into doing this ride again, and giving me the chance to test the new Exposure lights (first impressions soon). Also to Martin, Phil and all the Trail Break guys, to Neil for lending us the GPS tracking hardware and his support throughout the whole event (he even stayed awake till I finished). SIS for the energy products, Continental for the Mountain King tyres which were supremely fast (review soon). And lastly, to everyone who watched, however little of it, my progress on the Google map.

Plans are already in place for next year, and a date has been set, 27 September 2008 – make sure to put it in your diaries. The full MaXx ride, due to its nature, will remain a low-key event, which is very much part of its appeal. The 25-mile Mini Maxx event was a success, and Trailbreak hope to expand this part of the weekend for those who don’t feel they can face the full challenge – more details on that soon.

And we mustn’t forget the five lucky BM comp winners. We’ll be hearing about how they got on in a article very soon.

For those who sadly couldn’t tune into the ride as it happened, here’s the chance to re-live it, with added points of interest. Enjoy.