Moving to East Grinstead or Reigate – any decent biking, where is best?

Hi,

I was hoping for some advice form you guys; you tend to be good at that. I am having to move to the SE, I am trying to change careers and a couple of companies are willing to give me a go without re-training but it means either taking a job in East Grinstead or in London Bridge.

East Grinstead will be cheaper so therefore more money and ability to drive away every weekend for riding or adventures. However is there riding nearby for after work summer or night rides? Seems like the Surrey Hills is a bit of a mission for after work rides.

London Bridge will be expensive as hell but I thought I could live in Reigate as it is near the Surrey Hills. This seems better for riding perhaps though I will have to live off Jam sandwiches for a year.

If you know of good rides in the area advice would be helpful. I like techy riding, as tech as it gets to be honest, I know this might be pushing it a bit in the SE.

Thanks!

You could live in Horsham and drive to East Grimstead?

or Lewes?

Neither are that far really from the Surrey Hills. If smaller villages and peace and quiet suit you there are plenty of places outside Crawley/Gatwick that would give you a reasonable commute to East Grinstead (cycleable if you wanted) but only be a short hop to the SE corner of the Surrey Hills. Else it’s not a long drive at all if you don’t mind chucking the bike in the car.

Reigate is quite a pleasant place but a pain for train commuting – slow and not that frequent to Redhill then change. Have a look at http://commutefrom.com/ if you want ideas of other places that might make sense for a train commute.

PORC[/url] is compact but fun, and it’s an easy train or car ride down to the South Downs too for a bit of variety.

Yeah I could do, still means a lot of travel to go riding in the week.

Is there any riding around East Grinstead itself or just Surrey Hills, there seems to be a fair bit of outdoors in Ahsdown Forest but I can’t find anything about riding around there, no mention of sneaky singletrack trails.

Redhill will be much better for the train than Reigate, and cheaper.

Also check the upcoming train timetable changes as they are starting a major upgrade to London bridge.

If the London bridge updates weren’t happening them Woking/guildford is also an option for london bridge as the overland rail ticket also covers the Waterloo east to London bridge journey, although it is also only a 30 minute brisk walk along the embankment.

I live in Bletchingley, 20 mins to East Grinstead down the A22 and 35-40 mins to the surrey hills on the A25.

Easy Peasy

There’s also Bedgebury forest, Tilgate, South downs aren’t too far away and the North downs are on my doorstep (literally)

Ashdown forest is pretty much out of bounds for off road riding bar a couple of bridleways that get ripped to shreds by horses during the winter…

Hi, thanks. I don’t mind hopping in the car and driving with the bike, it always makes it a bit of a rush against daylight hours in summer but hey that’s life. I have been lucky by having lived in Bristol a long time where you can ride good trails down the gorge literally 5 mins from my house and from work. I also lived in Canada!

So maybe Redhill if I choose London. Or somewhere to the west of East Grinstead. I am not really a small village person but if you have riding buddies then I find I am happy and don’t mind the isolation of a village as I am too busy anyway!

I will check out the London Bridge works as well, thanks. Guildford is an option. It is a pretty long commute really as it is over an hr. I noticed that there is a direct train from Reigate which is why I thought of it but it is every hr, but yeah Redhill seems more sensible.

Real shame about no riding in Ashdown Forest. PORC would be a good option but maybe not enough of a pull factor to live over that side.

Also consider Crawley, probably cheaper than Redhill, only 10 minutes further out the trailine but I think overall faster in to London bridge as you have less stops. You can get to leith hill in 45mins by bike, largely on bridleways too.

What riddoch said.

I live in EG and you have to drive for at least an hour to find any decent MTBing. Even Bedgebury takes the best part of an hour.

If you like DH, there is PORC not far away, but it’s not great.

Likewise, Tilgate is the nearest xc, but that is about 10 miles away and average at best.

Woking to Waterloo is 30 mins with 14 trains an hour during peak hours, with my folding bike I was 1 hour to work in the city, living about a mile from the station.

Could also look at Brookwood, same train line to Waterloo and closer to the tunnel hill area for riding, assuming that the army don’t ban access…

I live in Reigate/Redhill. There are a number of informal riding groups that head out on weekday evenings and finish in decent pubs.
From doorstep riding is pretty good as the North Downs can be reached with no bother(and they offer a huge number of bridleways).
Leith, Holmbury and Pitch can be reached in about 25 minutes by car for more challenging trails.
London Bridge is going to all but close it doors to the Redhill line in the next few weeks while the platform alterations go on. Trains will be going to London Victoria or Blackfriars – worth checking the up to date travel information. This is p*ssing off the majority of the local commuting population.
Personally if I had free choice I would opt for Dorking. The commute (to Waterloo mainly) is a bit longer but the doorstep riding is so much better.

London Bridge is going to all but close it doors to the Redhill line in the next few weeks while the platform alterations go on. Trains will be going to London Victoria or Blackfriars – worth checking the up to date travel information. This is p*ssing off the majority of the local commuting population.

Meh, it’s two weeks over Christmas, not the end of the world.

Meh, bit worse than that I thought. http://www.surreymirror.co.uk/Uproar-changes-Redhill-London-Bridge-trains/story-22940634-detail/story.html

There’s always Epsom. Trains go straight to forking and beyond.
You can also ride from your door.

Meh, bit worse than that I thought

Aah, I take it back! I come from further South, and assumed it was merely the same closure over Christmas. That’s a bit shit, although it just means a change at East Croydon, which I do anyway.

Don’t drive to ride, come live in Dorking. We have Lidl, Waitrose, Cobbett’s and ride from home. Sorted.

Reigate has a nicer park though.

If you think that the new job will give you enough time to ride, i’d go for the Dorking – London Bridge option but Southern trains aren’t that great and it would be good hour commute each way everyday plus the ridiculous costs of rail travel.
Personally, i’d opt for the cheaper East Grinstead work option and live nearby to work to cut down on commuting time and maximise riding time. On the days that you choose to ride, commute to the trails.
I live in East Croydon and used to work in London. I now work in Croydon and save myself 1 1/2 hours a day. Whilst the off road stuff isn’t amazing, I have time to ride and the option to go afield on weekends.

I live in Riddlesdown on the East Grinstead/Oxted line, it’s near Purley not far from South Croydon so have the option of direct trains to LB from there too, I work near St Pauls and often ride to work from there up the A23, it’s about 15 miles each way. MTB wise there’s a fair bit out the door, plenty of hills around Oxted and Woldingham Ridge and North Downs Way all the way to Surrey Hills via Reigate and Box Hill, or if you fancy 30mins on the M25 to Dorking, or another 30 to Swinley Forest.

i’d go for the Dorking – London Bridge option but Southern trains aren’t that great

southwest trains no?

Southern to LB are busy at the mo due to LB station be totally revamped, won’t be finished for a while, excuse to get back on the bike.

Answer is to train into Waterloo and then get an airwheel to buzz along the embankment to London bridge…

I spent 5 years in Gossops Green in Crawley, 400 yards from Ifield station to commute to Redhill. Right between the north and south Downs, could be on Brighton beach in half an hour if I left home at 8am.

Wasn’t a bad place to live, some nicer places out nearer East Grinstead.

@rewski apologies, yes SW trains. Southern is the Redhill line.
Didn’t realise you were so local, we should organise a ride out.

Caterham here, you could quite happily pick anywhere along this section of the North Downs. There’s Limpsfield Chart if you take the Riddlesdown/Woldingham/Oxted line, plenty for evening blasts around Caterham and Woldingham and you can happily ride over to Reigate which gives you mostly off road access pretty much as far as Hindhead. Really, you’re spoilt for choice.

I could add, my GF lives in Reigate. If I was looking for somewhere in the area Redhill would probably be pretty high on my list. Some friends have just bought a place in Biggin Hill and tell me get a lot for your money, albeit that’s because there’s no rail access!

Hey – thanks for all the advice.
I was pretty set on the London Bridge option, because then at least when not riding I can have some beers after work, see people/do things and not feel as isolated as E Grinstead. I would rather live in Dorking/Reigate/Redhill/anywhere on the commuter belt close enough to riding that there is an active community of people out riding. That is a key thing. I feel like E Grinstead will have so few bikers about. That makes a huge difference. Part of why Bristol is so good is the number of bikers to ride with all the time.

However, the London Bridge job have no got back to me but the money is going to be low, making life very hard, 27k I think, plus I have to answer E Grinstead asap. 1 hr drive to riding after work is a really long way. But, I can’t remember who made the point, someone made the point that living there and not having a commute every day is a major plus point. I have flexitime so you basically can bank so much more time and then leave early and go for rides. Even if I leave London Bridge early it will still take maybe 1 15 – 1 hr 30 hours before I will be out in the hills living in Redhill or somewhere.

I will hold out a bit longer for the London Bridge job, more general life plus points it seems.

I have been offered a job on 7k more a year 9 miles SE of Derby, but I think that this really is the worst place in the UK to live and ride!

Thanks!

If it was me, i’d live in Crawley and cycle commute along the Forest Way to East Grinstead.

Crawley might be a bit of dump, but i’d take that in preference to the packed expensive commuter trains + tube. Its got Tilgate on the doorstep for *some* riding, and its not far to Surrey Hills/South Downs. The train line is 24hr to Three Bridges too, so you can still get into London.

I’d check prices before accepting the London Bridge option. Rents/Property prices, especially in South WEST London are very high.

Some of the guys I ride with come up from east grinstead way, so it’s doable. Whatever you choose I’m sure a message on here will put you in touch with some riding people! Emails in profile if you want some friendly trail guiding.

Also look at the rail costs, annual Woking to London terminals is 3k so that will eat into that salary.

Also that salary is not a lot for working in London, are the prospects much better than the east grinstead job to make it worthwhile in future.

If not I would really consider the east grinstead job instead and go for ‘quality of life’, and working in the city can make you feel like you are ‘living for the weekends’.

If the local riding looks so-so then consider a cross bike as these make things much more interesting, and save the Surrey hills riding for the weekend.

@rewski apologies, yes SW trains. Southern is the Redhill line.
Didn’t realise you were so local, we should organise a ride out.

Sounds good, I’d be up for that. Might even try and get some hard frosty trails tomorrow am.

Hi, I live in Crawley Down which is mid way between Crawley and East Grinstead, most of my riding is in Tilgate which is ridable from your front door and whilst not particularly techy it’s not bad at all if xc is your thing, and both Bedgebury and the Surrey hills are 40mins or so away. Housing wise East Grinstead will undoubtedly be cheaper than Reigate, but also check out some of the villages in the surrounding area if your not too fussed about being in a town.

Bazz, I’m in crawley too. Msg me if you fancy a ride?

Tilgate decent enough and there are shirt DH and jumps too. Worth way forest way out to forest row is a nice flat run on a CX nike with decent coffee at the Jazz pizza place at the end. Road riding is fantastic into ashdown.

Op, msg me if you want showing around.

YoGrant, i may just do that mate, although being a shift worker i mostly get out during the week as i have few weekends off and even fewer free from family commitments. The Worth/Forest way is good for a cx blast, have you been as far as Groombridge at all, there’s a nice tea shop there as well.

Which part of Crawley are you in?

Hi again,
I did a bunch of research and budgeting. I am going to take E. Grinstead and then drive off for riding when I need to. The cost of London Bridge job for a place to live plus trains is too much, it is doable but I could not save money for riding holidays and pay debts or buy general life stuff, was going to head to NZ for a month next winter so need a bit of money for that. I have worked out that I could do the job for one year and it gives me enough experience to get a lot of other jobs anywhere in the UK, so I shall just have to suck it up and ride E. Grinstead.
CX is an answer for making riding better, I struggle with the wrist a bit on road bikes, arthritus from blowing out every bone in the wrist in a crash once. Will just get into XC and get fit, it is not my natural inclination but you can’t be good at downhill without base endurance anyway so maybe this will be the endurance year!
Might message one of you when I move for some guiding of good trails 🙂
Thanks

Hi maxbee – welcome to Sussex.

I’m a friend of Bazz and I live in Crawley.

I quite often do a Worth Way blast from Crawley to Forest Way (Excellent coffee and bacon rolls) and occasionaly go as far as Hartfield. Was planning to go today, and continue to Groombridge for a change, but slept in after a very late night with friends.

I’d be glad to show you round Tilgate when you’re settled in – there’s quite a lot of XC/singletrack crammed into a small area (If you know where to look)
(There’s some short DH tracks too, but these are associated with the Ride Tilgate club, but this appears to have been disbanded)

In addition to this, as other have said, Surrey Hills, Bedgebury and North/South Downs are not very far away at all.

There is quite an active community of bikers in the area, so you shouldn’t have any issues finding somebody to ride with.

I’d like to give a thumbs up to the club that I ride with Sussex Muddy@rse who are a really friendly bunch. (Other clubs are available)

Bob

Redhill if you feel like coming a bit further north

Maxbee: CX is definitely the way to go around EG (it’s why I bought one). Let me know if you need showing around.

In terms of mtbing: I tend to do DH at weekends, so usually head to Rogate or Aston Hill.