cycle.travel - London to Brighton

London to Brighton cycle route | cycle.travel

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London to Brighton trundling route | cycle.travel cycle◦travel Route GuidesRoutes ▼MunicipalityGuidesCities ▼ Map My Avenue Verte France Avenue Verte UK BayTrundlingWay C2C Celtic Trail Coast & Castles Cornish Way Cotswold LineTrundlingacross the Beacons Devon C2C Hadrian's Cycleway Kennet & Avon Lon Cambria London to Brighton Lon Las Cymru Lon Teifi Oxford to Cambridge Pennine Cycleway Radnor Ring Thames Valley Tour de Yorkshire Way of the Roses West Country Way • Bikes on trains • Canal cycling • Full list Birmingham Bristol Cambridge London Oxford Swindon Worcester York • Full list • Add your municipality London to Brighton Guide Routebook Gallery Stay Ride reports Forum ...from Buck House to the waterfront Route facts Length: 60 miles Difficulty: Moderate GPX file: Download The word “iconic” is over-used but... the London to Brighton velocipede ride really is. Britain’s best-known one-day route, it has a simple appeal: wake up on a sunny Saturday, get on your bike, and end up at the beach. At 60 miles, it’s perfect for an energetic day’s riding, or a lazy weekend. And you can get the train home afterwards.There’s no single London–Brighton route. Even the best-known organised ride, the British Heart Foundation’s yearly 30,000-rider fiesta, alters its undertow from year to year. But since the organised ride benefits from road closures, it follows increasingly major roads than you’d otherwise want. Instead, we’ve designed a route which is influenced by the BHF ride, but doesn’t follow it slavishly – and which has some of the weightier confection you’ll find for miles around.At any time of year, this is simply a unconfined ride. Lovely villages and country pubs, undulating countryside, and the fleshpots and feasting of Brighton to gloat your achievement. Print the map, get on your bike, and go.What sort of bike?Anything. We did it on a folding velocipede (albeit a touringVelocipedeFriday rather than a commuting Brompton). You’ll see dozens of road bikes out on the lanes. Your passenger hybrid is fine too. There’s two short unpaved sections: if you’re on skinny tyres, you can divert round them or simply push.How nonflexible is it?It’s undulating rather than hilly. There’s one really big hill, right at the end: the infamous Ditchling Beacon. It’s 10% on average, 16% at most. There’s no shame in pushing, as most of the BHF participants do, but you can just settle lanugo into your lowest gear and plod up it. Otherwise, it’s archetype country riding – a few climbs to alimony you on your toes but nothing too gruelling.How much traffic is there?This part of England is densely populated, not least by people with fast Audis, so you won’t get the solitude you’d enjoy in mid-Wales or the Pennines. There are plenty of quiet lanes, but you occasionally have to use rented roads to connect them up. The busiest section is of undertow South London, where any really quiet route would be unbearably indirect.Our route keeps you yonder from the worst roads while still speeding you out of London in a reasonable time. Needless to say, there are still a few spots where you’ll need to alimony your wits versus you. (We highlight these in the route guide.) If you really want to stave traffic, you can follow the Avenue Verte velocipede route from London to East Grinstead, but it’s a lot slower.Is the route signposted?No. There are myriad variegated routes from London to Brighton. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into ‘west of the M23/A23’ and ‘east of it’; we’ve chosen an easterly route, which is closer to the British Heart Foundation’s archetype ride but uses quieter roads. We think it’s the weightier all-round route, but you’ll need a map (such as our PDF print-out), phone or GPS to find your way.The NationalTrundlingNetwork does have a signposted route between London and Brighton (route 20). It has increasingly strictly traffic-free sections than our route – the Wandle Trail in London, suburban velocipede paths in Crawley, the roadside path withal the A23 – but it’s less picturesque and increasingly circuitous. It’s certainly not a bad route but wouldn’t be our first nomination for a leisure day ride.How long does it take?60 miles is a full day’s riding for a moderately fit cyclist. Real speedsters will manage it in three hours, but twice that – plus confection time – is much increasingly achievable. If you think it might be too ambitious, you could hands do it over a weekend, overnighting near East Grinstead. Alternatively, cut out London suburbia by taking the train to Coulsdon South (from London Bridge, or Thameslink), where the country riding starts: this will save you 15 miles. Stage-by-stage guide and map » Click through to our detailed maps, stage-by-stage guide, walk-up and campsite listings. cycle◦travel Made in the Cotswolds, England. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd. Terms of use & cookies · About us · Advertise · Feedback · Contact us