Hi all,
I’m heading for the first time to Surrey Hills and need some advice from the locals.

I’m going with a friend that is new to mountain biking (and I’m new to that area). We plan on getting by train to Dorking, rent the bikes there and head to Surrey Hills for a 2-3h not too technical and easy to follow ride.
Any suggestions?

Hopefully this will be the first of many rides there!

Thanks.

All the usual stuff around Leith Hill I’d say

Tricky as if you don’t know the area, you can lose a lot of time on navigation. Id say head out from dorking on route 22, head south before Abinger on BW that comes out at Volunteer pub, head up to holmbury summit, do barry knows best, head in to pealake for nibbles, head back to holmbury summit and do yoghurt pots & telegraph row, then head up to leith hill tower and do summer lightening full length, then use Wolverns lane to get back to westcott, on to Dorking. Might take longer than 2-3hours if you’re not familiar though.

Chat with folk on bikes if you see them for other harder to find trails.

Conversely, just get guided by Flowtastic 🙂

Hi,
Thanks for the replies! A local rider has offered to show us around, we’ll start from Pedalandspoke shop.
It’s quite a long journey by train to Gomshall, but sure it will be worth it!

The train ride from Dorks to Gomshall is pretty, regard it as part of the ride. In fact everything past Leatherhead is nice, if you’re coming that way. Have a good one, Surrey Hills is a gem.

Loved the place!
The guy was a bit crazy (in the good sense), he took us through quite difficult downhills, but I just walked them without problem, all in all plenty of fun.
I was thinking of bringing my Felt DD 30 from Spain, but after riding yesterday around the area Im not sure if it will be enough bike.

Problem with Gomshall is that train frequency to London is quite low, so you might end up having to wait 2h for a train.
Next time we’ll start from Dorking.

Next time we’ll start from Dorking.

Another option is to head up to Box Hill (eg via Zigs Zags) and take in a mix of XC miles and a few well known trails, eg China Pig, Headley Heath, Ranmore, Abinger and back to Dorking.

Strava is great for stitching trails together into a loop you can follow (via the app on your phone). Loads of trails searchable online …

Ok, thanks. I’m an xc rider, so the more xc miles the better. For what I saw yesterday it seemed everyone was with long travel full suspension bikes, dh protections etc. More like freeriders than xc, is that the norm?

is that the norm?

Over the last 10 yrs the area has been invaded by more and more Stormtroopers on fat rigs. Not needed for most trails. There are, however, some pretty steep/sketchy sections that I personally would prefer to be over-biked on. Pitch Hill has a few of these. Loads of other technical stuff as well though.

If you want xc head up onto the north downs from Dorking and then towards newlands corner, then over to st marthas, then blackheath, then farley heath, then through winterfold over to peaslake direction, then head over to leith hill and down summer lightening to the a25 and have a chilled ride along the road back to dorking. It’s about 55-60k but an awesome ride with loads of good views.

Although that will take more time than you have so probably just best heading up to the northdowns ride along to newlands corner and back.

Evans’ North Downs Ride-it is this weekend.

https://www.evanscycles.com/evans-cycles-north-downs-off-road-entry-25th-june-2016-EV264212

You’ll be able to find a GPX/Strava online with no worries.

Wiggle do a similar ride which starts from the almost the town centre – should be able to find a GPX for that too.

For what I saw yesterday it seemed everyone was with long travel full suspension bikes, dh protections etc. More like freeriders than xc, is that the norm?

no. trail bikes are the norm, it sounds more like your rider just preferred the more gnarly side of things.

& don’t judge Surrey Hills riding by the bikes you see at Walking Bottom car park. most people parking there, intuitively, are not local riders.

I was thinking of bringing my Felt DD 30 from Spain, but after riding yesterday around the area Im not sure if it will be enough bike.

a hardtail is enough bike for Surrey Hills if that’s what you like riding, unless you really want to do the jump lines and super steeps.

try the Saturday morning ride, 0930, Westcott Green, Westcott. (A couple of miles along the A25 west of Dorking) It varies but usually has a bit of everything. You can ride off road north south or west from Westcott.

& if XC is your bag, you won’t be disappointed riding here.

I’m going to give the morning ride a try, thanks.
I love fully rigid and SS, although SS isn’t an option for me in Surrey Hills.

Several of us ride SS in the winter, some rigid too. There’s very little a reasonable rider on an SS can’t get up around here. Climbs can be long, or steep, but not usually both.