The routes section of the site contains a description of each route; the full, captioned gallery of this ride is here; clicking each image there will open a larger version of the image.
This ride starts at Devils’ Dyke, and follows the South Downs Way past Truleigh Hill and the River Adur, up to Chanctonbury Ring, down to Cissbury Ring, back to the Adur, and back to Devils’ Dyke.
From the Devils’ Dyke pub, head towards the fence which runs parallel to the road, and climb over the sty.
Follow the path past the small fortification, over a large mound (be careful for people / other riders / dogs here). Continue for a few hundred yards to the gate, and go through. I lifted my bike over and climbed over the larger gate to avoid getting caked in mud so early.
Continue along the path. It starts going downhill quite soon – at the bottom, there is a gap in the fence, and a network of possible paths to take. Be careful here – the paths are rutted. I normally keep to the left here – it seems the smoothest path.
Go up this short hill, and down the next one. The surface on this path has lots of rocks / shale; losing it down here would be very painful, so keep your wits about you!
The next uphill is a lot longer than the last – fun coming down, but not so much up ; )
Only one more down, and one more up now until Truleigh Hill – after that, it’s quite a long downhill session.
At Truleigh Hill, follow the smooth(ish) path past the T.V mast, and down the hill, past a few houses and the Youth Hostel.
Take the road all the way to the bottom, and go through the gate (as opposed to taking the path slightly to the right of the gate). Cross the field, and go through another gate. Follow the narrow path down the hill, to the road which runs alongside the River Adur.
Cross the road in to the layby, and turn right in to a path on the other side of the hedge. Foillow this path to the end, and turn right, heading for the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge, turn right, and follow the path along until you get to a fork in the path; take the left path, out on to the road.
Go right up the road and follow it until you get to a muddy turning on your left. Follow the path all the way up, following it in when it heads right. Go through the gate, and up the hill. At the top of the hill is a thin path leading straight ahead.. follow this to a gate, and cross the next field.
At the top of the field, go through the gate to your right, and follow that path, parallel to the road, again, until the end.
Go through the gate to your right, cross the road, and head up the concrete path towards the little concrete hut. Here, turn right, and head up the concrete path.
Go straight past the memorial at the top of this section, on to the rocky / chalky path. Stay on this path, heading straight ahead whenever you get to a junction. At the top of the section where the path starts getting steeper, you go through another gate on to a field, and finally Chanctonbury ring is in sight.
Ride past Chanctonbury Ring, again following the path (there are some cool bumps along the way for bunny hopping!), going over the cattle grid / through the gate when you get to it. Follow the rutted chalky path down.
Take either the left or right path when it forks the first time (they both lead back to the main path), and the right fork the second time.
When several bridleways meet at the bottom of the hill, take the path leading to your left, and follow it down the hill, up a smaller hill, and then along the flat until you get to a path leading off to your right (quite steeply uphill).
At the top of this path, turn right and go the road for about 200 yards, taking the bridleway to your right when you get to it. Head all the way up the bridleway, past the building near the top, and on to the rutted path between the trees. This is especially hard to ride in the Winter; it’s probably quicker to push.
The path will fork at one point; when this happens, take the right fork. At one point, the path shifts from being between the trees to having the trees on one side, and a fence with a field beyond on the other.
At the top of the path, turn left, go along the bridleway and take the first turning on your right. This leads down to the Cissbury Ring car park.
From the car park, take the path to the left, down the side of Cissbury Ring, and follow it down. This path is rutted all the way along, getting very sloggy at the bottom of each hill. Stay on this path, up and down several hills, crossing the road when you get to it.
Continue along the path until you get to the gate next to the phone mast. Go through in to the big field, and cross the field, sticking next to the fence on your right. This is slightly downhill at first, but soon starts going uphill.
At the top of the hill is a cattle grid; go across this in to the next field, and enjoy the downhill, again, staying as close to the fence as possible.
Go through the small gate at the bottom of the field, and turn left, go round the trees and look for a steep path to your left. Go through the gate at the bottom of the path, and follow the path through the trees to another gate at the bottom.
Head towards the bottom left of the field, and go through the gate – you face a barn as you go through. Turn right and head towards the road at the bottom of the drive.
Turn left on to the road, and follow it up the hill past the sign for the village of “Botolphs”, down the next hill and round the left-hand corner. At the next corner, pull off the road – you’re back to the path which leads to the River Adur.
Re-trace your earlier steps backwards to the bridge, then to the layby, across the road to the steep hill which is the first part of the ascent back to Truleigh Hill.
At the top of the hill, continue up the next field to the gate, where you start following the road. At the top of the road you’ll go past the Truleigh Hill Youth Hostel; continue on past the mast, and then complete the three or four uphill/downhill combinations back to the Dyke.. all finished!
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