London To Brighton Off Road

The day started at 4:30am, when the alarm went off.  I’d actually been kind of awake since 3am, but it was still disappointing to be getting up at ‘oh my god o’clock’.  Anyway, up I got, got dressed for the day, had a quick drink and prepared to set off.  The preparation basically was one final check that I had everything I needed in my Camelbak.  I did.  I knew I did, ‘cos it was bloody heavy, mainly due to about 5 litres of water / isotonic drinks being in it as well as food, tools, pumps, first aid kit and spare clothes, etc.  It was stupidly heavy, but I was going on the basis that if anything happened on the ride, it was better to be looking at it, than looking for it.  Anyway, it was time to leave to get the 5:12 train to London.

The train arrived in London at about 5:50, and it was clearly still night time.  Time for challenge number one.  Get to the start of the ride in Roehampton in time to meet the others.  My route seemed simple enough.  Head for Buckingham Palace, wiggle round the back of it, pick up Kings Road, Putney Bridge and then Roehampton University.  In the event, it wasn’t quite so easy as The Mall was closed for filming something (no idea what, but there were lots of ‘Bickers Action’ vans around, so probably some kind of car chase, but I wasn’t going to hang around to find out – I had people to meet).  Anyway, some cheeky pavement riding around The Mall resulted in me getting a bit lost and veering off course.  This was making me late.  Time to get back on track and crank up the speed a bit.  Eventually I found Kings Road and got to the start.  The GPS already had 12 miles on it by now.

Once I’d registered, I then waiting for Paul & the others. …and waited, and waited. Eventually Paul called.  It was bad news.  He had arrived, but was in the car park.  He had a slight problem.  His Lefty had exploded.  I ventured over to the car park to find him with bike inverted and his front wheel no longer connected to the steerer and a pile of assorted bearings and other internal ‘stuff’ on the floor.  It was decided that I’d set off with a couple of people he knew, Raymond, Mike & Dave and he’d go and try and get another bike and go with the rest of the guys.

We set off to the start and waited to be released

Once released it was into Richmond Park.  The morning sun was low in the sky and the deer population was out to see hundreds of foolish people dressed in silly clothes go past.  The deers & stags seemed completely unfazed as we rolled by.  Much of the beginning of the ride was unremarkable towpath passing through ‘if Sir has to ask, Sir can’t afford it’ parts of London.  Expensive riverside homes, expensive boats and rowing clubs featured aplenty.

Soon we were passing the old Brooklands Race Track and into open countryside at last.  We were also crossing the M25 and leaving London behind.  So far, it was easy going with just gentle slopes to climb.  The first test was to come near West Horsley where a very rooty climb awaited, together with lots of super slippery chalk.  There were lots of people dismounting and walking here, but perseverance meant it was all done in the saddle.   The climb was rewarded with a fast downhill, but unfortunately this was on a road.  About half way down we had to negotiate a heap of bikes and bodies as there had obviously been a meeting of bikes.  there was no blood on the road and plenty of people there, so we continued.  What we didn’t realise was that the scene of the carnage was where we should have turned right.  This meant a bit of an extra loop was added as we rejoined the route proper.  Whoops. Anyway, we were back on track and soon stumbled on a small sign which intriguingly said ‘Mini Death Bowl’  Raymond and I just had to investigate.  The ‘Mini Death Bowl’ was a concrete bowl about 8 metres in diameter sunk into the ground.  I have no idea what it’s purpose was when it was built, but we just had to have a go.  It was hilarious and soon had us completely disorientated and thoroughly dizzy.  Well worth a ‘spin’.  Shame just about everyone else missed it.

Back on track and balance nearly restored, was the first big descent.  This was to sort the men from the boys as there were some big rooty drop offs.  Most people were clambering down on foot, but we just threw caution to the wind and flew down it with huge grins.  A brake pad burning hard stop and hairpin at the bottom had us emerging at the bottom and into the next checkpoint.  A short ride from there into the village of Shere and it was a stop for lunch.  A slightly surreal experience followed as the LTBOR ride mingled with a big Surrey Cycle Club ride and and a film crew filming a Bollywood movie outside a church!

Lunch done and a very rude short sharp climb awaited.  This was the point that Mike started to have problems.  A bought of pneumonia earlier in the year was still having an effect on stamina.  Doubts about finishing were beginning to form in the back of people’s minds.  Some more downhill action followed and we soon caught up with a group in front of us negotiating a big gloopy puddle blocking the trail.  Dave tried going around it on a very slippery bank to the side.  Predictably he slid onto his side which meant a round of applause and much laughter. We then all simply rode through the mud / water, which wasn’t very deep anyway.

The next challenge was Winterfold wood which was a long climb up some single track, made slightly more difficult by other rides coming down it and more roots, but was easy enough not to be walked.  Once at the top a gentle descent on some double track linked up to a steep road descent where dozens of black streaks on the tarmac signalled a sharp left back into the woods and another fun descent.  At the bottom of this, a few wiggles on some rod a had us on the Downs Link, which we were to stay on for the next 30km.  This was good for Mike as it’s an old railway line, so no steep climbs, which gave him a chance to recover.  We were still doubtful about him being able to go the distance and there was talk about where he could bail out and get a train from.

The Downs Link enabled us to pick up speed and we were soon overtaking other riders.  Fortunately for Mike we arrived at a railway station – West Grinstead.  Unfortunately for Mike, all that is there is a platform and nothing else.  It’s derelict and part of the Downs Link now.  He’d have to keep on pedalling, which to his credit, he did.

the end of the Downs Link spat us out at Upper Beeding after some climbing on farm tracks.  Upper Beeding is at the foot of Beeding Hill, something we had been looking at from a distance for quite some time.  We knew what was coming, and weren’t really looking forward to it.  By now my Camelbak was a good deal lighter as most of the water had been drunk, but it was still extra weight as we turned into a chalk lane that basically just pointed straight up the hill.  There were no bends or deviations, just straight up.  Determined to ride the whole way from London to Brighton with no pushing, granny ring was engaged and we started to grind up the hill.  Just about everyone else seemed to be walking, but a slow steady grind had us crawling up, negotiating rocks and gulleys along the way.  After what seemed like an eternity, we made it.  Mike was still with us, but pushing.  We weren’t going to hold that against him as he’d done well to get this far.  At the end of the climb, we could see for miles.  We could also see another climb, but this one was gentle and along a road to the Youth Hostel at the top of Truleigh Hill.  Off we set, not far to go now.

Once at the top, the reward awaited.  A great run down into Southwick down the comically named Bushy Bottom and Thundersbarrow Hill.  It was a full on no braking allowed descent, screaming past the less confident riders.  Grins all round.

At the bottom, it was onto road and down towards the sea.  At the harbour we had what seemed like a lifetime to wait as locks did there thing to let some boats in and out, but once across the bridge, it was 5km along the sea front (not that we could see it for industrial buildings and mahoosive walls) to the finish where a round of applause awaited.  We’d done it, and it had been a good days riding.

Now all I had to do was get home.  Eventually I found the station and within an hour was back in London.  It really was quite disappointing that the train took such a short amount of time to get back after it took so long to get to Brighton.  A quick dash to the next station and another train shared with a lot of very drunk football fans had me back home and a short ride to food and bed.  As I emerged from the station, it started to rain.  We had been very, very lucky with perfect  weather, I even got slightly sunburnt under blue skies and white fluffy clouds.

My GPS was telling me I’d done 93 miles and after a quick feeding frenzy, it was time to sleep.

great write up and effort riding it all.

shame you did the descent on the road though – you missed a lovely roller coaster section of singletrack, but that mini deathbowl was great fun.

an excellent day.

p.s. my mate was on a singlespeed but still did the climb at the end 😯