Devil's Dyke to Ditchling Beacon bike ride

We went mountain biking today, in what I call a Brighton & Hove circular bike ride via Devil's Dyke and Ditchling Beacon via South Downs Way. Joining us were Maureen and her partner Regis (who is on a weekend visit from France). My front tyre suffered a flatt on the way to Devil's Dyke and the 1st rear gear did not work (making climbing hills a f***ing chore). We started at 9.50am and finished as 3.55pm. I am so bloody knackered (today's 24 miles was in addition to 20km I walked on Wednesday) so I am going to have a bloody long nap.


(c) M.Berg

Our South Downs Way bike ride part began at the Devil's Dyke Railway Trail near Hangleton Way:



Devil's Dyke:











Treating ourselves to the popular ice cream van at Ditchling Beacon car park:



Wonderful weather today as evident in the landscape view from the Beacon:



Our cycle route:

Elevation data:

Pictures of dirty bikes

We went mountaing biking today on the South Downs Way. Weather was simply stunning with the sun out the whole time and not a single speck of cloud in the way. Did roughly 22 miles, about 12 miles which were off-road. Elevation data as provided by Memory Map.













Technorati tags: South Downs Way MTB Cycling

New Year winter cycling

It was a rare mild day today. The sun was out. The temperature was moderate. The wind wasn't strong. So we headed out to the South Downs Way after a hasty breakfast. It wasn't easy this New Year's ride. Weeks of rain meant that the already difficult enough (in winter) to ride bridleway, is now clogged with grit and wet chalky muck. Picture above taken at the aptly named Waterpit Hill.

Technorati tags: South Downs Way MTB Cycling

Depressing weather

Damn, just when you thought that the temperate has improved in your favour (8-10C) the bloody wind picks up again and soon enough the rain arrives. Did about 12 miles of cycling on the road today before heading back due to the rain. Dreadful and depressing times ahead. On the other hand I found the HummVee shorts great. The Teflon treated nylon material kept most of my skin dry. It isn't completely water resistant but still dries quick. And although thin and light the shorts works well in keeping my knees warm. I guess those guys up north in Scotland knows what they are doing when they designed it.

Technorati tags: Endura

Stanmer Down bike ride again + Casino Royale thingy

Went to Ditchling Beacon again today. Great weather (up till mid afternoon). There was also a cycling competition down at Stanmer Park through the hilly hills - using road bikes with knobbly tires. Weird. I am glad that there were many other ordinary MTBers out today as well.







Met Marcus and Sybille at the Beacon. They biked from Lewes. Marcus has a fab new bike, a Canyon (Internet only German frame builder) Nerve XC full-susser. Looks fantastic and the kits that came with it were pretty decent. Highlights includes Manitou branded front and rear fork, Shimano XT rear and front mech, Deore shifters and cranks etc. You can't find sub £1000 FS bikes in the UK with that sort of components. Doesn't change that my dream bike is still either a Kona Kula Primo or Specialized Stuntjumper Pro though. ;)

Also watched Casino Royale. Summary: Above average film (though a bit too long) but a bad Bond film nonetheless. Okay, the film is supposed to explore the origins of James Bond. But somehow Daniel Craig's edgy version of James Bond came out as unlikeable thug. And the villains were such whimps - lame! Bring back Pierce is all I can say. Savvy, cool, smooth, clever and a gentleman were all I ever associate with the modern Bond. Now I have to include thuggish, smug, prat, childish etc. to it while deleting many of the many positive aspects usually associated with Britain's top fictional spy.

Go Happy Feet.

Technorati tags: Stanmer Brighton Ditchling Beacon MTB Bike Ride James Bond Casino Royale

Stanmer Down trail map

Having a blogger's block, so I thought of a way to keep my blog updated without resorting to some sort of diatribe. Haha.



Here is a map of a loop that we love to ride during weekends when we are too lazy to go somewhere else but just want to get on the saddle. We usually ride the extra 3.5 miles from Jenni's place to the starting point outside University of Sussex, but it is also accessible by train (Falmer Station). If you are driving, there are car parks at Stanmer Park and Ditchling Beacon (top right corner).


Screenshots based on maps reproduced from Ordnance Survey 1: 25,000 mapping © Crown copyright. All rights reserved.

The track, at nine miles, is fairly short and simple - though there are plenty of ascents and scenic views over the Weald to look forward to. If this isn't enough, you can always continue westwards of Ditchling Beacon towards Devil's Dyke and do another loop there. ;)



In other news, a mate lent me Feels by Animal Collective. I copied the tracks to my portable DAP but soon forgot about it. I was listening to the Gyakuten Saiban Orchestra album yesterday and dozed off midway (I was in a coach). It reached the end and started playing the first folder it found, which was Animal Collective. I woke up and found tracks after tracks simply amazing. Not sure how to describe it so I thought I would pinch some of Amazon UK's review: "Feels is a big, daring collection with recurring themes of psychedelia, folk-rock, prog-rock, jazz, and modern classical composition." This is just fantastic stuff.

Technorati tags: MTB Mountain Biking Bike Trail South Downs South Downs Way Stanmer Down Falmer Ditchling Beacon Animal Collective

MTB BIke Ride: Eastbourne to the Long Man of Wilmington (and back again) via South Downs Way

We went down to Eastbourne today for a bike ride today. As usual we got up late!

After making sure we are packed, We took to train from Brighton station and reached Eastbourne at 12.30pm. Once there we had to navigate our way out of centre Eastbourne and get onto the foot of the South Downs. We cycled from the station to the official starting point (or finishing end depending on your point of view) of the national trail South Downs Way (the trail is apparently almost unchanged from those used thousands of years ago by Stone Age men). There is another trail for walkers from the promenade through Beachy Head, but it is used mainly by walkers.

The trail begins at the foot near Paradise Plantation (next to the Royal Eastbourne Golf Club). Getting there is tricky and we wasted plenty of time getting lost. The easiest way (but not the shortest) is taking Meads Road. This will connect to Beachy Head Road. You would need to turn left into Carlisle Road, heading straight before turning left into Link Road. It is roughly 1 1/2 mile from the station. Anyway we immediately started our ascent up the hill. It was fucking windy. I won't go into extreme details on where to turn and stuff (get an OS map!), but you will have to cross A259, where the SDW goes through the Eastbourne Downs Golf Club. About 1 1/2 hours after we left Eastbourne Station we descended on the rocky bridleway into the medieval village of Jevington, just east of Friston Forest.

Here we took a breather, before getting lost again. We cycled about 1/2 mile north of Jevington Road looking for the SDW marker, before common sense prevailed, allowing me to check a compas. We double back and finally found the marker just 50 yards away from where we came entered Jevington! To save you time, the road is called Church Lane and is 200 yards long, passing St Andrew's Church parish before connecting back on the SDW. 1/2 hour later we finally arrived at the famous chalk figure Long Man of Wilmington (you will have to divert out of the SDW). Supposedly censored by insecure Victorian-Christians, the Long Man is apparently the depection of an Anglo-Saxon pagan god. At 227 feet tall, the carving is the largest human representation in Europe, and second in the world. You won't be able to see the Long Man as you will be above it though. In order to see it properly you will have to cycle straight on the SDW, passing the reservoir, then turning right onto the Wealdway and heading back east.

We continued west on the SDW for about a mile, but because it was late (about 4pm) and we didn't want to head to Alfriston due to the requirment to take the dangerous A259 to Seaford (there wasn't any time left), we decided to head back towards Eastbourne under the increasingly super windy and darkening conditions. We finally reached Eastbourne at 5.30pm, after riding a total of 14.5 miles off-road and 6 miles on road (2 miles in Brighton).

The start:





A demonstration of the almost murderous wind condition at Eastbourne Downs Golf Club.










Autumn!:







Evil looking sheeps:



The fantastic views of the valley near Windover Hill:







Above the Wilmington Giant:





Technorati tags: MTB Bike Ride Cycling Mountain Biking Bike Trail South Downs South Downs Way Eastbourne Jevington Long Man Wilmington Giant

Eastbourne to Brighton

With winter fast approaching, we hope to be able to finally tackle at least one epic ride (24-36 miles) through the South Downs Way this weekend or the next (ideally suited close to my birthday), depending on the weather. I have three proposed end, all suitably nearby Brighton. It all hinges on how well we do, how fast we can manage, how much time is wasted taking pointless pictures for this blog, how reliable is Southern to Eastbourne, the start of the trail, my lack of map reading skill, and more importantly, whether we can stubbornly crawl out of bed (the reason how last weekend's short ride was due to that!). See, I am already making excuses! Devil's Dyke is pushing it, but I do think Ditchling Beacon is a reasonable target if we make an effort.

Map above by Ordnance Survey, scale: 10km to grid box

Technorati tags: MTB XC Bike Ride Cycling Mountain Biking Bike Trail South Downs South Downs Way National Trail Eastbourne East Sussex Brighton

MTB Bike Ride: Seven Sisters and Friston Forest

We went cycling at Friston Forest yesterday. The forest contains numerous opportunities to tackle large climbs (50-100 meter of death defying steepness). We took the train to Seaford and arrived at about 2pm. We didn't have much light left (we should have started in the morning) hence the decision to only do a loop of Friston Forest.



For anyone thinking of getting down to Friston Forest, head down to the promenade from Seaford station and cycle eastwards, then turn left into Cliff Grons (National Cycle Network 2). Cycle straight up onto Corsica Road, before turning left into Southdown Road. Next, turn into Chyngton Road/Chyngton Way and cycle up to until the end of the road (about 1/2 mile). There is a golf course on the right. Turn left into Chyngton Lane, a rough byway, until you reach the narrow A259. Continue eastwards on the A259. Take care as the A259 is very fast downhill road and is extremely busy due to be the only connecting main road from Eastbourne to Brighton in this section of Seaford. You will eventually reach the single lane Exceat Bridge, where you can enjoy a lovely view of Cuckmere River. Continue down the road until you reach a tourist information centre. Seven Sisters Country Park is opposite the road, but this isn't where you want to go (there isn’t a bridleway there). Turn left into National Cycle Network 2 and cycle onwards until you see a sign into Westdean, a small village on the south west corner of Friston Forest. There you can chose whichever route you want to. Friston Forest is also populated with waymarkers for technical singletrack riders.

If you would prefer not to head into Friston Forest just yet you could continue upwards about 1 ½ miles where you can visit the small village of Alfriston. There you can make your way westward towards the South Downs Way, where a massive climb to Firle Beacon (705 feet) awaits you, 2 miles from Alfriston. If you bike eastwards (instead of heading towards Firle Beacon) onto the South Downs Way, you will be able to enjoy the view of the famous Long Man of Wilmington.

As I mentioned earlier due to the lack of time we decided to do a quick loop around Friston Forest where we headed east before turning north towards Jevington. Then we cycled westwards before crossing into a bridleway that took us into Lullington Heath National Nature Reserve. Due to the lack of an OS map (we really should just get one) we got a little bit lost until we met a couple who pointed us in the right direction (they got lost too earlier!). I also forgot that we had a compass! Friston Forest seems to be a place where getting lost is a little too easy due to the lack of proper markers on the national trail and bridleways, judging from another cyclist we met on the way home. He forgot his OS map and got lost in the forest too.

Anyway we continued west towards the small village of Litlington before cycling south on the same National Cycle Network 2 we took earlier back to Seaford.

What you need: OS Explorer 123 (Eastbourne and Beachy Head)

There is also a cycle hire nearby Seven Sisters Country Park.

Now for some pictures!

The view of Hawks Brow and Seaford Head from the promenade:



Cuckmere River:



Exceat Bridge:



Westdean:



A flat left towards Javington, or a climb right towards Friston? We went right:





The view downwards after a fucking hard climb:





Rocky bridleway into Litlington:



Litlington:



Sun setting over Seaford:



Technorati tags: Seaford Friston Forest MTB XC Bike Ride Cycling Mountain Biking Bike Trail Singletrack South Downs South Downs Way Seven Sisters Exceat Alfriston Friston Long Man East Sussex Beachy Head