View the full Gallery of this ride here..
This ride starts at the top of Bear Road, around 2-300 yards past the cemetary which is on the left as you're going up.
As stated on the Gallery page for the ride, parking *should* be fairly easy, in one of the roads off Bear Road, or further down the road itself.
Join the path (on the left hand side of the road as you're riding up it) which goes alongside stables / fields with horses in, and continue until it forks in to two. The left hand fork has a sign saying "Private Road".
Take the right hand fork, and ride alongside the houses (on your right) and some fields (on your left). The path opens up after a while - stay next to the fence on your left, and ride all the way till a road crosses the path.
Cross the road, and continue up the path, going round the gate and up the left hand fork. The path is pretty obvious; follow it up to the mast, and continue past it.
Follow the trail as it curves. Go through a gate, and up the hill, then follow it down again, still staying on the same path. There is a clump of trees; you can either ride to the left or the right of these; both ways lead out to the same gate. On one occasion I was going way too fast on the right hand path, went over a hump and the ground disappeared! This was one of the occasions where I honestly believe the full suspension on my Dawg saved me - I was totally unprepared for the ground dropping away, thinking it was part of the path, and the action of the suspension as I landed (!) really helped with my control!
Go through the gate, and follow the path to the right, going away from the fence. Head for a clump of trees, which ends up being to the left of the path.
Continue on, and go through the next gate when you get to it. About 20 yards on, there is another fork in the trail, with the left hand going down a steep, rutted and rocky path, and the right going up a smooth, albeit uphill, path.. do we wanna take that one? Nah! Take the left hand path and follow it all the way to the bottom. I have nearly lost it going down here before.. be careful!
At the bottom, the trail curves slightly to the right, and then left. The surface was very rutted here on this ride, and slightly damp, but not soggy. Follow the path down to the next gate.
After the gate, you go through some trees; continue straight ahead on the path. When you come out from here, you're on what can only be described as a driveway - you're now actually (I think) in the hamlet of Swanborough. Follow the "drive" all the way to the bottom, avoiding any small children / animals that cross your path on the way.
At the bottom of the road, turn left, and ride along, on the road, past Kingston, until you get to the bridge which goes over the A27.
Follow the road as it curves around to the right, and then the left. When you get to the roundabout, turn left, and follow the road down, past a park / playing field on the right hand side.
Stay on the same road as it curves around to the right, and when you look straight ahead, you'll see the road starting to go quite steeply uphill. Next to the road, is a footpath - this is a much safer option for cyclists.. at this point, I'm not sure if I should be telling people to dismount, but I didn't.
At the top of the path you come out on to a crossroads - go straight ahead, past the prison. Continue up the road, passing a hospital on your left. The name escapes me, but it acts as the emergency dentists for the Brighton area.
Stay on the road, going straight ahead, past another park. The road starts going uphill at this point. Follow it up to the top, where the road turns in to a dual carriageway, and a turning goes off to your left. Go up this path, and through the gate to the right of it.
Follow the path all the way up through the trees for about a mile (I guess..). At the top, if you're quiet, you might see rabbits munching away before they see you and scatter.
Go through the gate, and then through the smaller gate about 20 yards away. Foillow the trail up through the trees, and turn left at the top, following the path alongside bushes. Go through the next gate, and follow the path / the line of the fence round to the left.
Basically from here it's more or less a completely straight line all the way up to Ditchling Beacon.
You go up / down about three hills, past various large clumps of trees on your right, until you get to another gate. This has signs for Bridleways pointing in several directions, and also two signs for the South Downs Way; one going to your left (you'd take this route if you were heading towards Eastbourne), and one straight ahead; take the one straight ahead, and follow the chalky path all the way to the Beacon.
|