[Closed] Road route following SDW?

I did this as far as Brighton a long long time ago - probably 30 years :shudders:

I remember there were some busy bits then, including riding on the A27 in a few places. I don't think you could find a quiet route now without a lot of long and wiggly detours. Would make 150 to 200 miles I reckon.

A272 / A283 would be most obvious but I wouldn't fancy riding those at all.

Personally, broadly speaking I would go:

Warnford

West Meon

East Meon

Buriton

South Harting

Treyford

Cocking

Heyshott

Graffham

Watersfield

Storrington

Steyning

Fulking

Pyecombe

Plumpton

Lewes

Southease

Newhaven

Friston

Eastbourne

Certainly all of that route from Winchester to Storrington is nice: I’ve tested those roads a lot 🙂 (NB there are good village shop cafes at West Meon and Graffham.) Between Storrington and Lewes you have to choose either slightly busier roads or more distance; and TBH I don’t know the roads east of Newhaven, maybe there’s a better route at that end.

Cheers Bez.

Been riding quite a bit from South Harting through Graffham and back to Arundel recently that got me thinking about this ride.

I will try and plot a route on something like ride with GPS if there are no readily available routes.

From Plumpton I would go

Cooksbridge

Barcombe

Ringmer

Laughton

Ripe

Berwick

Litlington

Exceat

East Dean and then onto Eastbourne via Beachy Head

That's a nicer route than via Newhaven and Seaford.

Cheers Avdave2.

Agree with Avdave2 (I live in Lewes), though I'd slightly prefer to go Berwick - Hailsham - Jevington.  Mostly as I hate the climb up from Exceat as the road is so busy there.

Mostly as I hate the climb up from Exceat as the road is so busy there.

That's a good point, it can be very busy at certain times. The Jevington road is a good ride. Make sure when you do the final ride into Eastbourne you take the hairpin bend route.

I'd be interested to see how far that works out as when you plot it. Will certainly be an epic!

I've just sat down to plot this route, using the list of places above, as a rough guide.

Getting out of Winchester and heading East is a bit of a mission, if you want to avoid busy roads and the rougher cycle tracks, isn't it?

I'm sure I'll work it out eventually, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

If heading out of Winchester, head north slightly up the Easton Road - just after Tesco you can follow a cycle track that crosses over the M3 and takes you into little lane that head to Easton and along the Itchen Valley to Ovington - turning south until you hit the A272, turn right and then pick-up the Wheely Down road, Warnford, Old Winchester Hill and along the top - you can either drop down to East Meon / Buriton, or stay along the top past Sustainability Centre and track south of QECP.

As a fan of climbing, I'd head past Cheesefoot Head from Winchester; drop down into Exton to climb White Way; descend Wheely Down to then climb Old Winchester Hill; past Sustainability Centre to then descend Mercury Drop; up Harvesting Lane (maybe divert to Butser Hill summit); then head to South Harting to climb Turkey Island... And then into unfamiliar territory for me.

Ah, that helps, thanks - I'd worked out the Easton lane bit, but missed the right turn at Ovington. The way to South Harting is fairly obvious, and the rest is fairly familiar to me.

Will fine tune things when I get back to the PC.

Personally I’d take the cycle path south out of Winchester to Hockley, then head into Twyford and turn left, go past the old brickworks and then turn right for Owslebury, then head north east and turn right for Wheely Down just before you reach the 272.

No way I would use that route up there ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ . Those hills 10 miles in to a 100 miler would do me in , and I dont have an issue with hills.

There are  far more faster , easier more pleasant ways to get out from Winchester heading east without adding 1000ft and a 20%  hill in the process . Actually the first few miles would not be good , but from Easton its lanes all the way . The raod that runs along the foot of the south downs  Heyshott, Cocking area is gravelly and in poor condition but is ( was ) ridable in the summer on 25c slicks

This does sound like a grand ride though , would like a gpx / mapmyride file if anyone is so  inclined

Over the last ~17 months, I've become a huge fan of cycling categorised hills and I appreciate that others may have very different views, especially on a long ride.

I've only done one 100+ mile ride to date, back at the end of May, with ~9000 feet of climbing. It was an epic day, with the drama of a puncture early on that nearly made me scrap the day's plan.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1595555040

There are definitely ways of getting from Winchester to South Harting with less climbing than I wrote yesterday, that roughly follow the SDW by road. For example...

A272 Cheesefoot

Past Milburys pub, turn off to Beacon Hill summit and descend White Way

Cross A32 and climb Stock's Lane, turn left and go up Teglease to Old Winchester plateau

Past Sustainability Centre, down Mercury, into Oxenbourne Lane that becomes Ramsdean Lane

Go through Buriton on North Lane(?), then at junction at top turn right onto B2146 and then follow it to South Harting

It's a far easier/flatter route, but at the cost of missing the classic cat4 hills in that area.

No way I would use that route up there ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Which one?

There are definitely ways of getting from Winchester to South Harting with less climbing than I wrote yesterday, that roughly follow the SDW by road. For example…

A272 Cheesefoot...

Ah - but how to get to the A272, without going along busy roads? (and the A272 looks quite busy, too)

My current incarnation is running at 116 miles - a bit more fine tuning required, though.

I've found that A272 stretch OK outside rush hours, the ~6 times I've ridden around Cheesefoot Head.

Alternatively, leave Winchester via Morestead Rd, it's quieter than the A272 (but a little busy around rush hours).You can then either use Longwood or Salt Lane to get to the Miburys crossroads, or simply follow the undulating Morestead/Bellmore/Stakes Rd, past the base of Beacon Hill Lane and then descend into Stock's Lane (or go through Meonstoke and up New Rd to Old Winchester plateau).

There's lovely lanes around Upham, including the resurfaced Longwood Dean Lane and the more rugged but road bike rideable Bigpath Lane... It all comes down to how close you want to follow SDW by road.

Getting there, bit by bit.
Thanks to n0b0dy0ftheg0at and his Morestead lane suggestion, I've got it down to 109 miles.
Still tweaking the eastern end, mind.

This is the route I'd use, having ridden all the roads until Newhaven, then I'm in uncharted territory.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28912810

Thanks Bez, some interesting options, there.

The roads from Lewes to Newhaven and exceat to Friston are very familiar to me, but are far too "squeaky bum" to even contemplate on a bike. Will stick to North of the A27 until Polegate, thank you very much.

Ah, I think I’ve only done the Lewes-Newhaven road late at night for the ferry 🙂

Would be interested to see the best route beyond Lewes on a map.

Thread resurrection! Did this ride happen in the end?

∆ Didn't work out for me at the time I was planning to do it, due to family logistics, but is still on my list to do in 2019.

Did this instead that I assume is broadly comparable though, which was a tough ride in the cold and wet.

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/UWn5i2jwIT