Howdy folks, coming down the Downs Link on Saturday, hopefully dodging the “light showers”.

I was planing to pick up the SDW near Shoreham, and turn down into Brighton. Maybe after Devils Dyke, maybe earlier, maybe coming through Stanmer Park?

Anyone got any favourite routes off the SDW into Brighton? It would be good to make the most of the climbing with a fun run down.

Cheers!

a fun run down could include a bit of Stanmer singletrack but you’d have a 3 or 4 mile flat run into Brighton after.

Other alternative is to turn right at Truleigh Hill (where the radio masts are) it’s a reasonable descent from there – not singletrack as such but quite fast.

so from shoreham there’s a monster of a climb to get up to ditchling beacon, so depending how you feel you might want to just slink along brighton seafront. That said..

the nicest ways (imo) will be through stamner park. Take the last right hand turn before the beacon, and there’s a track through some fields that passes a gate, weaves a little, then after a couple of miles turns sharp left up a short hill to cross the ditchling road. On the far side of that road there’s a bunch of trails you can take, some of which will end up at the bottom of stamner park, some of which will cross a field into the south section of stamner park and finish at the bottom of there. You can link into wild park if you want and take a decent in there. From the bottom of either park its easy roll down lewes road into the center of town

Ned

we did it the other week.
Make sure you stop at Patridge Green for lunch at “The Patridge”
great burgers and the partridge ale is fabbo.

then trundle down to Shoreham (we looked at the hill up to the tops, its massive) so went to another great Darkstar brewery pub in Shoreham (duke of Wellington) then a swim in the sea, short ride along the front to Moroccos for gelato. final beer at the Evening star pub by brighton station. then train back to dorking.

brill day out. hic.

Come off SDW at Devils Dyke then downhill into Dyke Road past all the posh houses into Brighton Train St/Town Centre/Sea Front.

Or Pyecombe then A23.

The trundle along the seafront is an option I won’t be revealing to my gf unless I need to, or I fancy it! Expectation management! 😉

I’ll look up the Partridge, Nick, we might stop in depending on what time it is when we pass. If it wees down in the morning and we leave a bit later, we could be coming though there at lunchtime. Will certainly remember Moroccos though!

Coming down just after Truleigh Hill sounds like an option. Although it might feel a bit like we’ve slogged up a big hill just for the sake of it (ummmm…) I wouldn’t mind going a bit further along, to make it feel more like a part of the day, rather than needless self-flagellation after an otherwise pleasantly hill-free ride! does that make any sense at all?

I’d rather come down on some fun singletrack/double track rather than a road, bit more reward for the effort. cheers 5lab, I’ll have a look at your suggestion!

that bit off Truleigh hill (it’ll be just before as you’re riding it – turn right just before the row of houses near the YHA place) – it’s a double track descent that brings you out at Southwick.

Heading further along to the Beacon you can go just past it and turn right – it takes you into the top end of Stanmer woods. There’s a 3 or 4 difficult climbs between truleigh and Ditchling Beacon though – it’s one of the more rapidly up and down sections of the SDW.

there is a sign on the link when you hit the village. couple of grotty looking pubs before this.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4565745

that’d be my chosen route, but pretty hard to find unless you know your way around. There’s a road climb in that, and a short climb up a fireroad in stamner park, but otherwise it’s pretty flowey singletrack the whole way

5lab, I’ll have a look when I get home, I know Stanmer Park a little bit from the Big Dog a couple of years ago. gf should know it very well, as she was in the only first place ladies team!

ah yeah – a lot of those trails are on the big-dog so if you recognise where you are you’ll be fine

Cheers for the advice and the maps. We ended up getting far drunker than planned on Friday evening, and left Guildford at 1:30 rather than 10:00. We stopped for lunch at the Weston’s Farm shop, and again for a nap in the sunshine about half an hour later.

We were due at a friends for dinner and, pushed for time, ended up trundling down the Devils Dyke Road. Not too sorry to miss out on a boom gnarly descent, it was quite pleasant freewheeling and enjoying the view!

Next time…