Brighton

AndyOgy

I just accidentally hijacked somebody elses thread when the subject of Brighton cropped up. Whenever I go mountain biking I normally access the South Downs either by riding up Dyke Road Avenue or by the bridleway just after Elm Grove becomes Wilson Avenue.

Anyone know of any other good traffic free routes out of the city? I'd be particularly interested to hear from anyone who has ridden the Downs Link route. Been tempted to try it a few times but was interested to know how well it is signposted, or will I need to splash out on the relevant OS maps?

SpinningJenny

I don't know of any yet - but then it's not been that long since the cycling bug has bitten me!

But - you can probably help me (if that's OK). Would I need a full on MTB to do some of the routes you suggest, or would something like a cyclocross bike suffice? I've currently got a hybrid (meh! but she has been faithful to me!) and am weighing up what to get next....

As for Lewes Road... hmm... :evil:

AndyOgy

Hi Jenny
The bikes that I rode when I first got into mountain biking were a lot like some modern hybrids anyway. I've still got a 1991 Trek 6000 which has covered many off road miles, despite a complete lack of suspension, narrow bars and tyre clearance that doesn't really allow more than 2" tyres.
Although, having said that, off-road riding is a lot more fun now that I've finally got something a bit newer.
So long as your hybrid isn't one of the ultra light, skinny tyred types then you have got quite a lot of fairly tame single track around here. But if you've got the option of getting a full on mountain bike then I can't recommend it enough. You don't need an absolutely top of the range bike, even something like a Specialized Hardrock will cope with most of the bridleways round here.
I guess you saw the other thread where nameinuse and me were talking about the cycle route going up to Devils Dyke. Nameinuse reckoned that anything other than a skinny tyred road bike should be alright going up there. I'm planning to check it out in the next few days so i'll let you know what I think.

shredhead

If you go to the NE corner of Hove Park and diagonally across the mini roundabout there's the entrance to 3 cornered Copse aka Dog Shit Alley. It leads up to the roundabout at the top of Dyke Road Avenue. Its a bridlepath. I used to live in Hanover so the Woodingdean route was the quickest way out. Otherwise you've got the Undercliff to Saltdean then up to Telscombe Tye. Up Ditchling Road - at the top of the climb you can cycle on the grass verge. Takes you to Old Boat Corner at SW corner of Stanmer Park. There's also a bridleway from the back of Bevendean and from the A27 junction near Patcham. Look and you shall find.

SpinningJenny

AndyOgy wrote:

But if you've got the option of getting a full on mountain bike then I can't recommend it enough. You don't need an absolutely top of the range bike, even something like a Specialized Hardrock will cope with most of the bridleways round here.

Oh hell. That's another bike I need! What a shame...

What you said about the older MTBs being like the current hybrids - I was only thinking that this morning when I saw a guy blatting down the road on an unspecfied but definitely old MTB!

Thanks for your info - I did see the other thread... so thought I'd pounce! And I've just received some lovely shiny maps from sustrans only last night... Can't wait for the weekend!

SpinningJenny

shredhead wrote:

If you go to the NE corner of Hove Park and diagonally across the mini roundabout there's the entrance to 3 cornered Copse aka Dog shoot Alley. It leads up to the roundabout at the top of Dyke Road Avenue. Its a bridlepath. I used to live in Hanover so the Woodingdean route was the quickest way out. Otherwise you've got the Undercliff to Saltdean then up to Telscombe Tye. Up Ditchling Road - at the top of the climb you can cycle on the grass verge. Takes you to Old Boat Corner at SW corner of Stanmer Park. There's also a bridleway from the back of Bevendean and from the A27 junction near Patcham. Look and you shall find.

Hmm - I like the sound of that one - I cycled as far as you can on the Undercliff this weekend, around about 8am and it was great - a bit grey, but the sea air was glorious! I really hope the weather's good this weekend!

AndyOgy

I just found out that there's a cyclist who writes for the Argus. He publishes a new route every month, usually starting from somewhere in Brighton. I was just looking at this particular route:

http://www.theargus.co.uk/whatson/cycli ... ottoms_up/

He gives a good description of each route and states whether it's suitable for hybrids or not. I particularly like the above route as it finishes at the top of Elm Grove. It means that, wherever you live in Brighton, most of the last part of your ride will be downhill. He also says that this one is suitable for hybrids, provided that you're careful one one particular descent.

SpinningJenny

Excellent - thank you!

Mr Sworld

Thanks for that, I never normally read the Argus as it's a load of toss!

Below is another good site for Brighton Bike Routes:

http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/253/region/5392/city/18820

AndyOgy

Mr Sworld wrote:

Thanks for that, I never normally read the Argus as it's a load of toss!

Below is another good site for Brighton Bike Routes:

http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/253/region/5392/city/18820

That made me laugh, I actually have a passionate hatred for the Argus. At least that website allows us to benefit from the one good thing that the Argus does, without it putting any money in their pockets.

Cheers for the other link. I've got a road bike too and there's some interesting routes there.

Spinning Jenny - Do you reckon you'll take the plunge and get a mountain bike then? I can strongly recommend Rayment Cycles if you do. I got 2 bikes from them last year and the set up on both was fantastic.

SpinningJenny

AndyOgy wrote:

Mr Sworld wrote:

Thanks for that, I never normally read the Argus as it's a load of toss!

Below is another good site for Brighton Bike Routes:

http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/253/region/5392/city/18820

That made me laugh, I actually have a passionate hatred for the Argus. At least that website allows us to benefit from the one good thing that the Argus does, without it putting any money in their pockets.

Cheers for the other link. I've got a road bike too and there's some interesting routes there.

Spinning Jenny - Do you reckon you'll take the plunge and get a mountain bike then? I can strongly recommend Rayment Cycles if you do. I got 2 bikes from them last year and the set up on both was fantastic.

Yep - I'm no great fan of the Argooose eitther - it's a typical local paper and reminds me of the Birmingham Mail, the local paper of my youth and which I had to go and buy each evening from the corner shop after school (scarred for life with that task, and laying the coal fire each night!).

Now that I seem to be armed with the revelation that there are lots of tracks and trails to attack not too far away from my little home, I'm seriously considering the MTB route. Rayment is up the road from me too, so I may well investigate! Thank you for the recommendation!

Mr Sworld

Perhaps we could consider a joint Brighton MTB ride? I know it'll get me out on the trails a little more often! :P

AndyOgy

Sounds good to me. I've been finding it a bit difficult getting motivated just recently, since losing my job. When I was working, I'd always try and fit in a ride whenever I could. But now, I always end up thinking 'ah, I'll just go out tomorrow'.

Did anyone else notice that the weather forecast went for about 3 weeks telling us that we were going to get rain the next day, and the rain never came? That kept me off the bike for a while as I figured that I'd just wait a day or two for the rain to clear.

AndyOgy

shredhead wrote:

If you go to the NE corner of Hove Park and diagonally across the mini roundabout there's the entrance to 3 cornered Copse aka Dog shoot Alley. It leads up to the roundabout at the top of Dyke Road Avenue. Its a bridlepath. I used to live in Hanover so the Woodingdean route was the quickest way out. Otherwise you've got the Undercliff to Saltdean then up to Telscombe Tye. Up Ditchling Road - at the top of the climb you can cycle on the grass verge. Takes you to Old Boat Corner at SW corner of Stanmer Park. There's also a bridleway from the back of Bevendean and from the A27 junction near Patcham. Look and you shall find.

Oh yeah, I did come across a seriously fast piece of bridleway near the A27 near Patcham. I'd ridden up through Stanmer Park, crossed Ditchling Beacon Road and found this bridleway. At the end of it, I turned right and rode up to the Chattri. It was one of the best rides I've had this year. Can't believe that I used to drive past that bridleway pretty much every day for the last 5 years and never noticed that it was there.

SpinningJenny

Mr Sworld wrote:

Perhaps we could consider a joint Brighton MTB ride? I know it'll get me out on the trails a little more often! :P

I'll have to get me an MTB first :P

But that sounds like a great idea!

RockyHopperShow

Andy, Re:the Downs Link trail, I have ridden the southern part from Christ's Hospital to my home town - Shoreham. It is pretty well signposted from CH railway station (you pick up the trail adjacent to the school gate) It is pretty straightforward and there is a good bike shop at Southwater should you need/forgotten something. There are a few watering holes to be found:
Bax Castle - Two Mile Ash
Bridge house Inn, Copsale
The Partridge, Partridge Green
various pubs in Henfield (the Cat & Canary being almost on the trail)
The Red Lion, Shoreham by Sea (a lovely pub to end the ride before heading to the station back to Brighton)

The vast majority of this route is flat and rideable on any sturdy bike unless it is muddy when you would probably need nobbly tyres. You cross roads at Southwater, Copsale and Henfield, and come off the trackbed north of Steyning to follow Kings Barn Road to Bramber Castle. There you pick up the rest of the off-road trail at the roundabout of the Steyning by-pass, and then cross the river bridge north of the cement works. It is a lovely undemanding ride. Enjoy.

SpinningJenny

Heads up people - I now have a bike - see my signature

Just need to get a bit of practice in once I take delivery next week and woohoo!!

AndyOgy

Thanks for the info Rockyhopper.

And congratulations on the purchase SpinningJenny. The Rockhopper is an excellent choice of bike, I've been delighted with mine.

BikeRadar Brighton ride coming up soon then?

SpinningJenny

AndyOgy wrote:

BikeRadar Brighton ride coming up soon then?

Absolutely! Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Rayment Cycles (please tell me it was you!) - they were brilliant. And very local.... 7 minutes walk away!

AndyOgy

SpinningJenny wrote:

AndyOgy wrote:

BikeRadar Brighton ride coming up soon then?

Absolutely! Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Rayment Cycles (please tell me it was you!) - they were brilliant. And very local.... 7 minutes walk away!

Yup, it was me. Glad they looked after you, I've been using them for nearly 20 years now. Even when I was a kid with no money, they always had the time to give me free advice.

How about a ride the weekend after this one, Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully the weather will have cleared up a bit by then.

I broke my internet at home and I'm having to use the computers at Jubilee Library at the moment so my replies may take a while.

SpinningJenny

I reckon I could do 7th June (Saturdays are out just now). How about we get some more peeps to join in?!

BTW - I love that 'I broke my internet'... errr, how? Downloading too many pics of shiny bikes to look at? Or ripping the socket off the wall?

Rayment - v friendly

Enjoy the library - I have to say, when we moved to Brighton last year, that library stunned me - a huge space - a tiny amount of books... not like in my yoof!

amt27

Wow loads of Brighton people

I ride up to the Devils Dyke through Hove Park, Hangleton then up the cycle network route, most of my rides include a loop over to Ditchling Beacon, Sussex Uni, Stanmer, Patcham, then Devils Dyke again and back

somes times I go over to Truleigh Hill and down into Southwick then back to Brighton along the see front,

I did the Downs Link Path as part of the BHF London To Brighton off road event last year, its fairly flat (disused rail track), fairly boring in my opinion, but depends what you want from your ride,

there are a few forums/groups for riders in the area http://brightonmtb.org/ and http://sussexmuddyarse.wordpress.com/

SpinningJenny

Hello there!

Thanks for the links to the local forums/groups - isn't tinternet great !

I understand what you're saying about the Downs Link Path - maybe useful for the morning after a *late* night or when dragging unsuspecting visitors out and about!

AndyOgy

Hey Spinning Jenny. Got your messsage and thought that I'd reply in the forum so that any other Brighton peeps who wanna join in for a ride can make themselves known.

I think that the 7th is good for me but it other people are up for it and can't make the 7th then my current unemployment means that I can be pretty flexible.

And yes, I'm back in the dreaded Jubilee Library. Tiscali broke my internet and didn't seem in any hurry to fix it so I cancelled the contract. Wont be back online again until the 9th June with another provider. I've just bought myself one of those USB 3G dongles but I live in a basement flat so don't hold much hope for it working.

Just in case anybody reading this doesn't want to flick back and read all the previous posts - Anybody in Brighton who is up for an off road ride to christen the new steed of SpinningJenny, let themselves be known. The more, the merrier.

SpinningJenny

cool - i just wanted to grab your attention and save you scrolling through all th posts

bit daunted at the prospect of hundreds of people turning up to watch me make a fool of myself now :shock:

oh well, it won't be the first time!

good luck with your dongle... i think that's not too inappropriate, is it?!

RockyHopperShow

Work permitting I could be up for this, just let me know where and when and I will do all I can to turn up on my Boardman. Probably a 50/50 chance of me making it.
Bill

SpinningJenny

excellent... andy, routes please?

AndyOgy

Cool. So two and a half people so far.

I've got a route in mind which takes in a little of everything. Starting in Stanmer Park, going up and across the Beacon road. Then up past the Chattri to join the South Downs Way where we will head in the direction of Lewes. There's a bridleway that crosses the A27 and leads to one final climb which will bring us to Woodingdean, then it's all downhill (with a chioice of Elm Grove or Bear Road) down to Lewes Road.

It's about 25ish miles and is mostly easy riding. However, there is one (very short) climb that I haven't managed, yet. I know that it can be done but I've only attempted it 4 times so far. The first couple of times were early in the year and a combination of my fitness (lack of) and muddy ground brought me to a halt. The other couple of times, I had a front mech problem which stopped me getting the granny gear. Fifth times a charm eh?

Everyone else, spread the word. It'll be great to see Brighton represented in a bigger way on this forum.

russ_gillespie

Hiya,

I live up elm grove in brighton and ride about twice a week if I can. Usually on a saturday with a couple of friends, and then mid week with people from work. I also ride to work everyday but that's not far since I work on north street

I'm not sure I can make the 7th but I'm definately interested in riding with you guys, and I'm sure my two riding buddies will too. I just bought a specialized pitch which I'm getting to grips with, I'm finding it surprisingly good on the XC riding as well as the rougher stuff.

The rides we do usually consist of stanmer park trails, the beacon & south downs way etc. We normally start at stanmer or woodingdean falmer road car park. We're thinking of going to Firle Beacon soon for a ride to Firston Forest and back.

Cheers
Russ

SpinningJenny

Oh good - more potential victims! It would be good to see more Brighton (& Hove ) people on here - and also to meet up with some real people in the flesh! Most of my friends think I'm mad - including my OH who is supportive but is just not up for getting hot, sweaty and exhausted on a bike (but I will try my persuasive skills again soon...).

Andy - thanks for the route suggestion. I'm off to consult my map.

Do you have a preferred time to start? I'm an early bird if that's what you prefer, except I have to feed our friends' cats first thing...

AndyOgy

Hey Russ. I've heard really good things about the Specialized Pitch. I had hoped to get myself the Pitch Pro a while back but I lost my job and had to spend the money on boring stuff like living expenses. You live really near me so we may well have cycled past each other at some point.
I did a loop starting at Stanmer Park on Saturday. It seemed like there was some organised ride doing the same route as me, but in the opposite direction. I've never seen so many MTB'ers on the South Downs.
But yeah, I'd be up for a ride at some point. Let me know when's good for you.

And to SpinningJenny and anyone else who's up for the ride on Sunday. I was thinking about a 10am'ish start at Stanmer Park if that's alright? But, like I say, I can be fairly flexible.
Good luck with trying to persuede hubby to get out on a bike. I know what you mean about people thinking we're nuts. Most of my friends can't even be bothered to walk up Elm Grove, let alone spending a few hours riding down hills, just to ride up hills a moment later.

On a sligtly different note - I've also got a road bike which I got for commuting on (again, just before being made redundant), so if anyone here is also into road riding and knows of any good (preferably traffic free) routes, I'd be up for that too.