Coulsdon to Lancing via Dorking
Starting off in Coulsdon, south of Croydon, this 60-mile ride goes west towards Dorking and turns south all the way down to Lancing, on the coast.
The first section of the ride follows National Cycle Network route 22 to begin with, which passes through Epsom Downs, past Box Hill, and through Dorking. It’s a mixture of trails through woods, gravel paths, and a few roads. You could do it on a road bike with wide tyres, but off-road tyres work best.
Route 22 is quite undulating, lots of ups and downs, but never anything too strenuous. It passes through some beautiful countryside. It was busy with other cyclists around Box Hill but was otherwise quiet. I seemed to be the only person heading west! A coffee stop at the Forge coffee shop in Shamley Green was well appreciated, and their cakes were stupidly good.
After Shamley Green I joined the Downs Link, which is NCN route 223. It was gravel the whole way, apart from a few small road sections, and as it’s an old railway track it was flat the whole way. This meant I could get my speed up and go fast under the trees towards the coast.
I stopped at Bax Castle for lunch – a Ploughman’s – and a beer, but found the riding slow going after the pint, so I stopped at Mary’s Coffee for a cheap coffee. Mary’s is a budget option but there was a fancy option a little while after.
There were plenty of people enjoying the Downs Link but never too many to cause traffic, it was very free-flowing. There were people on road bikes and e-bikes but not everyone had off-road tyres.
Once I got to Shoreham I turned off to head over a bridge to Lancing. A seaside town, Lancing has good pub options on the beach, so I had a celebratory beer and an ice-cream. The train back to East Croydon was quick and only took an hour.