Cycle Surrey Hills routes
Posted: 23 Oct 2018, 9:25am
I did this 20 mile off-road circuit yesterday https://www.cyclinguk.org/route/cycling-uks-surrey-hills-loop thinking it would be an easy ride but to my surprise it was quite challenging (I had to walk down several steep technical descents). I normally avoid Surrey on my road bike because of the high motor traffic levels but the off-road riding and parts of the Surrey heathland are well worth exploring. I'm sorry I don't have any photos to show but Thursley Common Nature Reserve and Hankley Common are well worth a visit - sandy dunes covered with pine and oak and covered in gorse and other scrub and heath plants. Parts of it (probably due to the bright sunshine) looked like an off-road ride in Mallorca. The trails can be heavy going even with 2.3in tyres due to the sandy surface (it's supposed to be better after a bit of rain).
Then there's the Devils Punch Bowl - a very long climb with stunning views from the 271m summit. Previously a main road ran through here but it is now in a tunnel and the old road has been mostly returned to nature.
There are five shorter routes to ride (with .gpx files) https://www.surreyhills.org/discover-route/cycle-surrey-hills/
The routes are part of ‘Cycle Surrey Hills’ a project to encourage cycling in Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Anyone else ridden these?
Then there's the Devils Punch Bowl - a very long climb with stunning views from the 271m summit. Previously a main road ran through here but it is now in a tunnel and the old road has been mostly returned to nature.
There are five shorter routes to ride (with .gpx files) https://www.surreyhills.org/discover-route/cycle-surrey-hills/
The routes are part of ‘Cycle Surrey Hills’ a project to encourage cycling in Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Anyone else ridden these?