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I am sorry if there have been numerous threads about similar things before and im sure there has but ive searched a little and found little.
I am moving to London next month and will be sorting myself out with a Hartail SS to mooch around the puny hills near london. So what is it like for cheeky bits of singletrack within the city and outskirts and which places can i easily take a train to for something a little more hilly. Im from up north and currently living in the alps so i am not expecting too much, will be downgrading from a trek scratch (soon for sale people) to a Genesis IO hopefully
North Downs, South Downs, Berkshire (Swinley)
Whereabouts in London are you as it can take an hour to get from one side to another!
Have a Look at Aston Hill in Wendover for some cracking technical downhill. Short but fast,steep and nasty. They also have an xc loop and the surrounding woods are great.
Also have a look at Southern Trail rides for some fine cross country events, next one is in a couple of weeks and offers 65k of Chiltern Hills starting in Princes Risborough. They also offer 100k's.
Both of these little gems should keep you occupied and may surprise you, the South isn't as soft as you might imagine.
Epping's pretty good, especially with summer coming.
Get a train to Dorking or nearby and out into the Surrey Hills for the best riding around London though.
Some great stuff there and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Main destinations are
Surrey Hills to S - train from W/loo or Victoria to Dorking about 45 mins
Swinley to W - train from W/loo to Bracknell about 1 hr
Tunnel Hill to SE - train from W/loo to Woking about 30 mins
Epping Forest to NE by tube
Not much cheeky in London itself, but good fun for some late evening urban exploring
check the London Calling thread in the Bike Radar "rides" forum for company &/or lifts 🙂
When I used to live 'Sarf' of the river I found some OK cheeky trails in Dulwich, Crystal Palace, the other side of Greenwich and there was a designated cycle route between them. Further south in Croydon there is a big park which strictly speaking was out of bounds for cyclists (but not equestrians?!) but was always full of mtbers back in the day. When I was north of the river there was some trails to be had around Ally Pally and of course Epping for the weekend.
Chilterns, anywhere between Dunstable and Goring - plenty of singletrack and all train accessable.
Aston Hill is great but a bit expensive if you're not riding regularly enough to bother getting the membership imo.