Spotted...

Can you have a go on the cross section out the back of Herne Hill on your own, or does there need to be some element of supervision due to it being a cycling facility?

I'd love to go and thrash round the course for a while just to get familiar with the bike.

I don't think you can use it unsupervised and it's only accessible when the gates are open anyway.

There are plenty of good bridleways south of London where you could let loose though. Andrey and I did this route a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.cross-crazy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=865:favourite-rides-3-three-pimples-cross&catid=41:specials&Itemid=29