Ride ideas - offroad, south(ish). 100 miles ish

[breamster]

Hi,

Usually I get to sneak off of family duties for one or two weekends a year to Afan. This year I fancy doing something different.

I'm looking for a long ride over two days of 100 miles+ with the vast majority being easy offroad in the south (ish).

The plan would be to b&b or even bivvy bag for one or two nights.

The obvious option is the South Downs but I met a couple of riders last year who said that when they rode the Downs they spent a significant proportion of their time walking up un-rideable hills. Is this correct? As I have knackered hips and knees walking is not great but riding is fine (?!).

The icing on the cake would be to find a gpx file to follow with my Garmin.

Any ideas?

[richardxjr]

If you've not yet ridden it then I have to recommend the South Downs Way. People recommend the Harveys map for this.

I'd go against the usual advice and in your shoes I recommend riding East to West but you'd need to do that at short notice as it's usually against the prevailing wind. Wait for an Easterly or South Easterly wind.

This way it starts hilly and then gets (a bit) flatter. And the ups are generally less steep - you certainly avoid some of the really steep bits. Geared and fueled correctly it's all rideable. I think the worst hill is the very first one out of Eastbourne. But there's a lovely alpine road running parallel which I will shamelessly use if single speeding.

Either that or the Ridgeway. A bit shorter and a fair bit less hilly, it's not so well suited to a 2 dayer imho, unless you do the Double. Which makes logistics nice and easy, returning to your start point. Either way, use the route off the Ridgeway Double website as much of the official Ridgeway is not rideable bridleway.

Both routes are mud over chalk. They are hideous at the moment. Summer will be fine, as long as there's been at least a week of dry weather before you set off.

[Daveyraveygravey]

I would say the South Downs Way is brilliant, but it is hard. Over 10,000 feet of climbing in 100 miles; there are 10 major climbs from memory. The worst is the 9th near Alfriston, nearly broke me but I managed to pedal all the way up. This is 8 years ago mind you! Conditions can very greatly, if it has been dry then the ground will be rock hard and dusty, if it has been wet it could vary from slightly damp to almost unrideable in places, and wet chalk is very treacherous. Steyning would be a good place to stop if you don't fancy bivvy bagging, it's about half way along, close to the actual Downs Way, a few pubs and cafes and bnbs. I did it on an old hard tail, it was just about ok but I think if I tried it again I'd want a full susser.

There's another route, the Ridgeway which is about 100 miles and I think is in the Chilterns. Would have to look it up to be sure.

[J886ATV]

The Downslink from Guildford to Shoreham is 40 miles & is an easy day if you wanted to cherry pick some of the South Downs Way but didn't want to do it all

[SoliD]

South Downs Way, if you're a semi proficient rider 90% of the climbs are rideable either direction, just a few where the gradient/surface makes it a real struggle. Either way is good, I prefer west to east as it means I can jump out of bed have some breakfast and head off although I cut the first section out from winchester and ride from the old meon railway line. The half from amberley to eastbourne is much the tougher of the two, but a thoroughly great day either way.

[Celtic Dragon]

Theres The rRdgeway as well, a few here have done it on gravel bikes and its on my summer list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ridgeway

When combined with the Icknield way, it virtually takes you from Thetford in Norfolk to Stonehenge and not that hilly (1/2 the height of the SDW)

[Daveyraveygravey]

J886ATV said:

The Downslink from Guildford to Shoreham is 40 miles & is an easy day if you wanted to cherry pick some of the South Downs Way but didn't want to do it all

I've done the Downslink a few times, it isn't very exciting. There's one hill of note, but it's easy compared to any of the SDW ones. A lot of the route is in railway cuttings so you get a bit of tunnel vision. It crosses the SDW near the southern end so you could start at Guildford head south on the Downslink then turn left to Brighton or right towards Winchester and maybe get a train back or work out an off road route back to Guildford. Opencyclemap is good for looking up suitable trails

[yellowjack]

Have a wee look on Google for "The Shipwrights Way".

https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle/great-rides-full-f...
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/shipwrigh...

Mixed reviews, to say the least. But I fancy having a crack at it in drier weather later in the year, as it's a relatively short ride to the start from home for me.

https://www.walkingclub.org.uk/long-distance-path/...
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10585666

I haven't looked closely myself yet, but these two sites may well yield a useful GPS (GPX) route file.

You could maybe link it up with one or two other long distance routes, SDW/NDW/Downs Link, to make a circular route of it. Starts officially at Alice Holt Forest Park (or Bentley Station if arriving by rail) and heads to Portsmouth, passing through Queen Elizabeth Country Park which includes a 6 km Blue MTB trail and a 7 km Red route... https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryparks/q...

As I've not ridden it, I obviously won't make any recommendations, but I've passed the signs at the beginning of the route a few times now and it's always attracted my interest. Just got to free up some time to give it a good go now...

[yellowjack]

Have a couple more links too...

https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/cycling/cycling-...
https://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/cycling/cycling-...

[richardxjr]

SDW goes through QECP too so could do that route then, east along SDW to Steyning then back up Downslink
.

[Daveyraveygravey]

richardxjr said:

SDW goes through QECP too so could do that route then, east along SDW to Steyning then back up Downslink
.

That's a good shout, plus if you want to avoid the steep climb out of Amberley and Washington, you can head south at Amberley along the river then east through the Angmering Park Estate, and on towards Findon/Steyning. It's not flat, but it takes two major climbs out.

Let me know where you want to start and finish and I could plot a route to give you an idea. Was Guildford mentioned just because of the Downslink?!

[breamster]

Hi,

Apologies for the late reply - sadly life gets in the way of interesting stuff!!

I think I am going to man up and do both! I'll set a date to ride the SDW albeit over two days and also take a look at the Ridgeway later on in the year.

I hadn't heard of the Ridgeway before and it's not too far from me.

As always PH has come up with some useful suggestions!

Thanks again.