[Closed] Any decent off road riding near battle /Hastings /Bexhill?

Watching as I go down to Bexhill a few times a year.

Friston Forest isn't far for MTB, still not been myself. Lots of pleasant road/hybrid meandering through the little lanes between villages around Bexhill. If I take a bike it's usually a road bike and head down past Pevensey, Eastbourne to Beachy Head / Birling Gap then go inland and pick my way back through the lanes.

Friston is ace. Hugely underrated. Miles of lovely trails from fireroads, to twisty singletrack, to rough fast descents, to old school DH. Love it there.

Ah, that might be perfect ta, could easily pedal there or pick up the train to Berwick depending how knackered I am and, if I recall correctly which ever way I'm headed the better descents on that end the SDW were into Alfriston too.

Is it fairly easy to navigate round the forest?

I'm no expert on the Bexhill area for off-road, but you could easily jump on the train and get off at Polegate, then it's a short spin to Jevington and then you're into Friston. Obviously it's rideable from Bexhill too, but might be a bit of a drag on an MTB. Other option is stay on the train to Lewes or Glynde and then a nice XC ride over SDW and again via Friston for a bit of a play.

On the road there are some wonderful quiet routes you could take through the Weald, basically the area between Ninfield, Burwash, Herstmonceux and Heathfield.

Either way I'm sure you'll find some nice riding.

Friston via train will be best as mentioned above. Not much else. I built a load of trails in the Great Woods by Battle years back but were lost with logging and I've since moved away.

Bedgebury is fun for a blast and has some off piste but nothing technical and would require driving to

Friston is OK for finding the trails, a good majority start in the same location with a big fire road climb to the top. Each trail however then splits off into 2, which then splits into 2, which then splits into another 2 🤣

I was there a week ago, did 5 full runs and didn't ride the same trail twice, there's still trails there that you see exiting while riding up the climb and have no idea how to get to them!

Wouldn't normally link to trails etc but as this is a public website....very well done by one of the local riders from the local FB group http://www.sxmtbstmaps.co.uk/maps.html

Most start from "the seat" and head West

My local is Friston. I’m three 3-4 times a week and still finding new places!

Trailforks will help at Friston, it shows a few of the main trails that you can link. Flying daggers and Doris & Bert are personal favourites.

another vote for friston as my local woods. awesome place. park up the top on the main road lay-by and get a few laps of the old dh runs in!

Thank you for the pointers folks. Looks like Friston will be the plan assuming I can actually open my eyes on Saturday!

Cheers for the map link dlr. That should be perfect.

Train to Polegate, ride to Jevington, TR at the end of Jevington (Opposite Jiggs cottage/tea rooms) and enter Pentlands car park, go up the bridleway and at the bench at the top is the entrance to the trails.

That bridleway to the bench is a nice warm up too 😀

Be aware a couple of those maps aren't quite up to date, stumpy doesn't continue up further west, it turns into snow run and final descent. Apparently stumpy used to go into the walkers only area.

Going to head to Friston tomorrow. For the route back I see there's a few bw options off the weald way/SDW dropping down to Willingdon downside area. Any of them worth picking up?

Cheers for the pointers folks I let you know how I get on...

(oh and can anyone recommend a decent bottle shop in Eastbourne to grab a post ride beer or two?)

So most important things first. Bottle Grove in Eastbourne even let me bring my bike in to have a beer. Excellent range and not more than a few minutes from the train station. Prefect end to the ride.

As for the ride...

Got the train to Eastbourne,pedalled up to the SDW via Old Town/ Willingdon. The bw was a dog toilet near the houses ☹️ but cleared up a bit further in. Looked like there were a few trails in there if you went looking, the bw at 905585 was a straight up and down affair, but there's a turning at the bottom heads up past the golf club which I took outbound, planned to have a bit of a play on the way home but ended up straight down the main bw.

Onto the SDW, down to Jevington, up to the bench from there, I imagine that climb is not nice in the wet.

Took Stumpy into red snapper. Red snapper should be a lovely route but full of breaking bumps in the strangest places. This seemed to be a theme of Friston along with "surprise bits ...

I went up to flying daggers, the wrong way as I mistook the exit of flying daggers for a bw. Result was lots of sweary pedalling though brambles and nettles to get to the top. Flying daggers was good, lovely flow trail with a few "surprise bits".

Up the track to Stumpy into Doris and Bert which took much finding. Wrecking Rihanna was shorter than the map posted above suggests which shows a big loop round the bomb hole. It's not. Bottom half of that was excellent though.

Up from there, met two chaps who took me down what they called Burt Reynolds, mini me and 5:10 all very good, another "surprise bit" on what the above linked maps call crater run.

Back up Stumpy into round the rim and Dave nose best, made a left I shouldn't have, was good but dumped me onto a track opposite what once would have been a jump line by the looks. Back up to the crossing point of the track and Stumpy /round the rim (spotted another "surprise bit" before that). Picked up Stumpy again, down to snow run and final descent then headed back up made the mistake of following the signed route thinking it would be a more interesting ride up than the main track. It wasn't, it was at least shaded though but quite what possessed them to way mark some fairly evil kicks upward then reward that with wide tracks coming down I don't know.

Back to the bench then back the way I came to Jevington, I was clearly knackered given how wary I was on that descent, up the SDW, which I remember as a horrid climb at the end of a day, back down to Eastbourne and beer and train.

Been a cracking day, especially given the alternative was Wimbledon at volumes really only suitable for snoic warfare, so thanks for the suggestion.

Overall impression of Friston - Pedaly.

what mountain biking used to be, nice fun take it as you like trails, you need to go fast to get the most out of them but they won't punish beginners.
I get the impression the trail builders built braking bumps, there's no other explanation for them being in straight sections of trail where you're speed is all from pedaling.
Pedaly.

So the "surprise bits" make me think the local trail builders have a very cruel sense of humour.
On redsnapper there's a little roll down to the firstfire road, only given the speed you'll be carrying its not. A tail which until then would not be out of place of an easy trail centre blue ends up with a 2-3'drop to flat. Not great when you forgot to unlock your suspension...
On flying daggers it's a lovely twisty flow trail, nothing difficult except one sudden off camber steep double switch back, then back to lovely flowy trail.
On crater run, there's a bomb hole, exit fully occluded by a tree with a great big pole/tree in the middle of the exit.
The one I spotted pretty much opposite the main waymarked trail "exit" onto a forest track between the exit of Doris and Bert and where Stumpy crosses is a steep p roll in with a small drop and a flat Landing in the middle just big enough to grab your front wheel, only really it just looks like a roll into a bomb hole.

All in though great day, just my door ofthing (I'd have probably gone to take a look see at the old DH tracks if I wasn't riding solo, as it is they seemed a silly idea. 43k total, a sniff under 1200m of climbing though my legs aren't sure about that.

Oh it was bloody pedaly though.

Cheers all

Braking bumps are actually plough lines from when Friston was planted around the 1st world war.  The Forest was actually farmland until then but due to the agricultural run off polluting the Eastbourne drinking water (green and smelly) the water board bought the area and forested it to act as an aquifer purifier.  Rumour has it that the three bomb holes line and Morticia and Deliverance bomb holes were the Luftwaffe aiming for the water works but they could also be old flint mining pits.

Glad you enjoyed it, its running beautifully at the moment.

Braking bumps are actually plough lines from when Friston was planted around the 1st world war.

That makes sense of a good 50% of them!

Can't say I've ever noticed the 'braking bumps' apart from one 'mogul' section which is big furrows and was bouncing me off my pedals!

As above, most of the 'breking bumps' are not. Very clear if you look up the hillside when you're crossing them.
There are some savage bits that take you by surprise, but that's half the fun. Most of them went be an issue if you're not going that quick, but if you're at speed you should be able to handle them.
The old DH runs are still lovely. Definitely worth checking them out. Dropping into X Files woods from across the fire road then popping out into the rough chute is ace.

That place is brutal in the wet though. But also an absolute riot.