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I am trying to sort out a weekend of mountain biking with my brother and the South Downs are probably the best location between the two of us.
Can anyone recommend some accommodation for probably a Friday and Saturday night that would allow us to do a good 3 to 4 hour XC ride on the Saturday and Sunday?
Which part of the south downs. They are 100 miles long
There’s a youth hostel near Shoreham, right on the SDW, if that’s more what you were thinking.
There’s also a pub I’ve stayed in before in Petersfield, which is pretty bike friendly. About 2 miles off the SSW.
Thanks @lardman.
@andyg1966 - doesn't really matter because I am travelling from Bristol and he will be coming down from Oxted.
Amberly ?
Doesnt everyone stop at Amberly...
This time of year? Just meet on the Surrey Hills.
Looking for March - April next year. With some good riding and time to catch up over a beer in the evening
Rode from Winchester and stayed in the white horse at storrington once. It was quite nice. Couple of good pubs, restaurants and a bike shop.
I would say that the western half of the SDW has more interesting biking than the eastern half
Chilterns.
The Hampshire Hog is just off the Southdowns, it sits just above QECP and at the bottom of Butser hill and is easily accessible from the A3
With the way the Southdowns gets this time of year id be more inclined to head to Surrey Hills though
What Njee & escrs said. Far better riding in the current conditions.
This time of year the nicer bits of the South Downs are very slippy, and not a nice surface to fall on.
I was riding there a couple weeks ago, there were people crashing riding uphill.
Like people are saying Holmbury hill etc are far more fun.
Looking for March – April next year. With some good riding and time to catch up over a beer in the evening
Read a bit more of the thread, eh chaps!!
Well..if you're looking for somewhere on the South Downs and choose Worthing, i'd be happy to show you around a bit...
DrP
The Southdowns Bunkhouse https://www.southdownsbunkhouse.co.uk/ looks lovely and is well located - UK Cycling Events used to run MTB sportives from Amberley so there are great routes from there. Personally, I'd avoid heading East on the SDW unless you like big climbs as your warm-up is Amberley Mount: one of the toughest climbs on the SDW!
Houghton Forest (Whiteways) is a great place to ride and is only 2k West from Houghton Village... though most of it is closed right now as they are clearing trees. Hopefully it will all be open by March-April. There are plenty of locals who can show you round - you could try the MTB Fanatics FB group, for example.
The YH is at Truleigh Hill... I'm not sure what the riding is like there other than out-and-back on the SDW.
Thanks for the suggestions chaps (and the offer DrP!)
Both the youth hostels on the route are great and you'll likely meet with other riders there which is cool.
From truleigh yha you could do a big route over to Stanmer one day and another route over to cissbury ring and steyning dh tracks on the other.