there is no (or ‘not necesarily a’) fire road climb at the start. you come out the main visitor centre carpark, ride along the carpark road past the picnic area for a few hundered yards then as you come to the parking ticket machines the hard trail starts with a brisk climb on a track to the left through a fence.
qe was one of my main riding areas for many years, starting out in the days pre-bike trails there. i re-rode it quite a lot the summer before last when i was up that way again regularly for a few months. imho it is a vastly wasted resource, and i beg to differ with convert but there is loads of riding away from the flagged stuff – and thats just on the one hill. if you venture further afield there is even more. a great time to ride is early evening, i found it empty and the park rangers don’t seem to work after 5pm.
the route you can get a pdf for here is pretty fun, and if you’ve never seen outside the park will give you an insight.
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/cycling/cycling-route-finder/cycling-qecp.htm