You are reading a single comment by @t_w and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@t_w
As previously mentioned in this thread: https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/270374/
I'm a reasonably long time lurker on the forum and a more recent poster and have been perusing the threads about organised offroad rides in place such as Epping Forest but could not see any on the Surrey Hills. So in the interests of contributing to the forum and meeting some of its denizens I'd like to propose a guided ride for those that are interested. I know the trails well enough to guide through some of the best the area has to offer (though some secret gems shall have to stay shaded...).
The plan would be to go for Saturday 18th of July.
We can arrange to meet at Gomshall train station at around 10am and ride to Peaslake (this is the best station to alight due to its proximity to the best riding in the hills), head up to Pitch Hill, then over to Holmbury Hill, over onto Leith Hill with an obligatory tea and cake stop at the tower, and finally back to Dorking to catch the train (they are far more regular from Dorking main station than Gomshall). To get to Gomshall from wherever you are coming from if you can get to Norwood Junction or East Croydon, get a connecting train to Redhill, then from Redhill to Gomshall. Looking at National Rail Enquiries it would be the Horsham train you will want to Redhill from East Croydon, then the Reading train from Redhill to Gomshall. One thing to account for - and doing it here via the event posting thread will make things easier via confirmation of attendance - is the possible problem of getting a large number of bikes on the train from Redhill to Gomshall. Considering its only four carriages usually we would be lucky to get 8 - 10 bikes on so if more numbers than that confirm we shall have to hope for low passenger numbers and lenient train staff....
This route will take between 4 - 5 hours on a good day but if there are many not used to the riding and the trails we can allow for up to 8, at a more leisurely pace.
The route will take in the usual suspects of Proper Beau, Curly Wurly, Graveyard Run, Supernova, Barry Knows Best, Yoghurt Pots, Reservoir Dogs, the Quarry, and more, then finally onto the only waymarked official MTB trail, Summer Lightning.
I would suggest a halfway decent MTB and a desire for digging in on punchy, steepish climbs on the connecting fire roads between trails. Also, do bring a helmet. Even if you ride without on the road or offroad elsewhere I strongly urge a helmet here. I have seen the odd cross bike on the trails though I generally wouldn't advise it for the ones we might do.
This is a social ride so I will account for different ability levels and adjust trail choice accordingly. I want to make sure this is a fun event and not a reason for people grimacing at the memory.
So please register your interest here if you wanna go.