Are you sure Harvey
Average Epping ride climbs about 500ft per 10 miles.... this 1000ft per 10 miles and we all know how much you love climbing 
Anyway
yes will do it again, maybe this year depending on the weather but probably not until next spring / summer.... it's not really a route that benefits from being wet 
Funnily enough I do ( for some strange reason ) fancy the whole 175 miles as a long term goal
I have a vague plan to ride further from the van each time I go... this time 17.5 miles.... next time 25 miles. I'll also do it from both ends to learn the route.
Learnt a couple of things from my first go....
Need a Garmin I think, stopping to look at the phone uses up a lot of time and breaks your rhythm.
Really you need to know the route without a map I think so working my way up to the complete route should help.
Eating is important
.... I was doing pretty well and aiming to get to the top of the climb in the middle of the trace when I just got too hungry. Stopped ate lunch and carried on but I'd lost the enthusiasm ( was aiming to total 40 miles ) so turned back 
30 mins later I felt better .... lesson learnt
milk282
