Hi all, my partner and I have just bought a house in Holmwood, near Dorking to be in the Surrey Hills for cycling! We tried Dorking but couldn't find anywhere. A slight downer to this story is I work in London and will need to commute at least 4days a week. The journey looks pretty horrendous but manageable and worth it hopefully . Has anyone else done this? Any tips for routes? There's a direct train but Holmwood but quite slow. Thanks in advance.
Wow, been thinking about the same thing!
Get a moped to Redhill + quick train?
North or South Holmwood? You're not far from Dorking mainline if you can get there, the trains are generally better as there is the odd faster train to catch.
You could drive to Leatherhead in ten mins to give you more options, but overall you're in the rat race and you just have to get used to it!
South Holmwood or North Holmwood - that makes a big difference! North Holmwood is quite a lot easier to get to Dorking and the faster trains.
Same question RockApe63! Also OP where are you going to in London.
South Holmwood - so not quite as straightforward. Is the A24 to Dorking during rush hour a standstill? Thought I might buy a moped.
I work near Trafalgar Sq. so Victoria, Waterloo or Charing. The Holmwood train goes to Victoria, I can walk from there or get a folding bike.
As above norm would be to look at various commute routes and drive to a good station. You need to factor in traffic and parking options (inc costs) too. Riding to station could be an option and/or Brompton (edit: I see you are onto this !)
For example when lived North side of Guildford I drove to Woking (similar drive, shorter train journey, more trains, cheaper parking) when I moved to central Guildford I walked/drove to main Guildford station.
Good luck, Surrey is a fantastic county to live in and to combine leisure and work. Close to airports and Channel Tunnel etc
You can cycle to Dorking. Cross over the A24 onto Mill Lane, then Blackstock and Punchbowl Lane. Not sure how busy this is the morning. The A24 northbound to the Dorking Cock roundabout will be a pain unless you are on a moped.
You have certainly picked a nice place for MTB. Most rides are going to start with a big uphill so excellent for fitness too 🙂