Hi!

Started riding the North Downs and surrounding for about a year now. What I’ve been doing is downloading routes from Bikeradar etc and then following them on my Garmin 500.

So far I’ve found some lovely bridlepaths etc, but so far have only stumbled on Summer Lightning.

Last Friday I downloaded the WMB Surrey Hills route, and whilst they tell you about all the awesome singletrack they’ve ridden (BKB etc) all the route did was take use round the fire roads around Holmbury Hill and Pitch.

So, how do i find them, or is it all top secret!! 😉

There is tonnes of singletrack but you probably need someone to show you it. Hook up with a Nirvana ride (they are quite quick though) or Diary of a MTBer or the guys I ride with the MuddyMoles.

It’ll all be on strava now!

Start at peaslake and follow people who look like they know where they’re going

I’ve set off from Westcott a few times so. Nirvana ride would be a good idea perhaps? How fast is fast?

Ah, another use for Strava then!

When I started I used to get irritated by the we-could-tell-you-but….attitude towards trails. I worked them out by looking at YT but mainly just exploring on my own. In the end, I am glad about that because even though it took a lot longer to find trails (especially the good ones) it was ultimately quite satisfying.

My first trip was Holmbury because I reckoned that I could find Parklife/TR from YT. This was correct. Then stumbled on BKB and as a novice was a little surprised by the early roll-in and (in those days) the less sanitised surface. Then spent most of my time on Pitch and Winterfold just riding and looking for where tracks disappeared and following others (not always a good idea as I had some early adventures (mishaps!) on runs like J&J and double headed dog when my early technique wasn’t up to following others!). It took a while to get to know Leith and still have a v patchy knowledge of that.

But my advice is just go and have a potter. Keep your eyes peeled for tell-tale tracks, expect a few dead ends and surprises and just have fun. Alternatively FFW with a few guided rides such a Nirvana and the great ladies at Singletrack School among others.

Part of the fun is the exploring. If it was handed to you on a plate, you would get tired of it at some point. Next time you are on those bridleways, keep your eyes peeled to tracks disappearing into the bushes and follow them. There is excellent riding to be found up there. When I started riding there, I started with holmbury hill until I was familiar with it, then worked over pitch hill, then winterfold and occasionally leith hill. 5 years on, I am sure there is more to find. Good luck.

I bumped into skaifan and mate once! Just shows you what fun you can have in the Surrey Hills!

That was the monthly outing of the cotic/ skoda owners club. There’s only two of us.

Some of the trails are marked on openstreetmap/opencyclemap.

Looking at a map it’s fair to say the area (say Winterfold over to Leith – and even Boxhill/Ranmore) doesn’t look that big … but there really is so much to explore (and remember) that you could spend years up there and still not know it all.

The way I got started was to ride with others (back in ’02) and use my GPS to track various trails/play areas. I’d then aggregate these on some maps at home before heading back out and looping certain sections together. Over time it became easier to link say Leith with Redlands (because the latter was cool and ‘legal’ back in the day) … then Leith with Holmbury … then Holmbury with Peaslake … and so on.

One of the most satisfying aspects IMO is having the ‘knowledge’ to just head out and loop together a 3-4 hour ride without any faff.