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Anyone ridden the North Downs Way recently?
I'm plotting a three day route from Dorset (Poole) to the BiLs near Whitstable so was thinking of linking up with the NDW which starts in Farnham and goes via Canterbury where I can veer off to the North Kent coast instead of down to Dover.
I'm not really clear how hard going it is. Obviously bone dry at the moment which is presumably faster though might have some washboard rutted clay. Doing the whole lot would be around 210 miles in total / 70 miles a day but I could get a train to Winchester and chop off 45 miles. It'll be on the hardtail and carrying camping kit so not exactly speedy.
Found an old article by @stwhannah here - North Downs Way: Riding In The Shadow Of The Rat Race – Singletrack World Magazine but that suggests the route was still being developed so may have changed since 2018.
There's a biking route and a walking route, the biking route involves a bit more road to stay "legal". The Great British Escapade follows the North Downs way in the opposite direction, you'll be able to find that on strava or ridewithgps and reverse it.
I haven't been on it recently, but it's mostly hardpack, maybe a bit sandy over Guildford way. There are a few steep bits, but nothing horrific.
Another option is to do the SDW (not quite all the way), and go up the Cuckoo trail (boring old railway line), which follows the GBE route.
The box hill to Caterham stretch is pretty fast at the moment. I’d imagine ranmore to guildford similarly so but haven’t been that far that way for a while.
Going further east if you’re on the Pilgrim’s way I’d expect the wider stretches to also be pretty fast. If your route goes southabouts through limpsfield chart it can be pretty overgrown in places but again, haven’t been over for a while.
Rode it a few years ago when the definitive Rider's Route became official. The first bit across the Surrey Downs is tough going in places with some steep climbs and a few technical descents, the second half is generally a lot easier with flatter and faster going although there are a couple of very steep probably pushing ascents to cope with. Your hardtail will be perfect for it.
https://road.cc/content/feature/cycling-new-north-downs-way-riders-route-by-bike-298267
Parts of the first third (e.g. around St Martha's Church) are on sandy soil which is very dry and loose at the moment and will slow you down.
Once you get out of the Surrey hills it becomes more of a gravel route and speed increases.
The biggest change to the route since 2018 is that it goes under Sevenoaks rather than above it. I did the original route which went above, which had too much road, so it's good that it's been updated.
Surrey Hills local and I did the NDW in the Summer of 2024 over a couple of days with a big 2nd day Caterham area to Dover (105mi, 9k ft climbing). Its sort of a tale of 2 halves where through to Sevenoaks area a hardtail (I did it on a short travel FS 29er) makes sense but then its like you could do with swapping over to a gravel bike and the ride gets easier the further you go (unlike the SDW). I was familiar with most of the paths from Farnham to Caterham anyway (some sandy bits at the moment in Puttenham area but nothing too bad. The official route takes the sandy bw to south side of St Martha when you be better heading straight up to the church and then coming down through the woods). I enjoyed it although my one gripe is the nasty climb up at Boxley then back down a mile or so later just before Detling, just daft. After Detling though its fast going with no major hills (although the short sharp climb towards Dover castle stung a bit right at the end)
Thanks all, useful advice and good tip on the slow sandy bits - pretty used to that down here in the Purbeck Hills particularly at the moment.
Seem to be a distinct lack of campsites though but I'll research that tomorrow. Doesn't seem the sort of area for a stealthy overnight wild camp.
