If you are thinking about acquiring one, consider how much capacity you will need for the kind of riding you do.
Drinking water along the South Downs Way
There are few places where drinking water can be obtained along the South Downs Way. This is because much of the SDW runs along the crest of the Downs while villages and springs are found at the foot. Ensure that you carry enough water with you, especially in summer – when perhaps two litres per person per day may be required. See Appendix B for a comprehensive list of waterpoints.
Food
Carry enough food and/or make certain you can buy some en route. If your energy levels dip when riding it is difficult to maintain output on an empty tank. When walking, hunger can be ignored to a certain extent, but mountain bikers are prey to the phenomenon of gnawing pangs that won’t go away, which is known in some parts as ‘bonking’. It makes sense to carry lightweight, high-energy foods such as flapjacks, fruit cake, dried fruit and nuts, ‘hi-energy’ bars and bananas.
Chalk-hill blue butterfly
Rights of way and other users
Mountain bikers have ‘right of way’ on bridleways (indicated by blue arrows on signposts and gates), on byways (red arrows) and on green lanes. This gives you the right to share the way with other users – always give way to walkers and horse riders. Don’t approach walkers or horse riders at speed from behind or in front. When approaching from behind, slow right down and announce your presence with a ‘hello’ so as not to startle man or beast. When approaching from the front, slow down and give a wide berth or stop and make way for them to pass you.
Waymarking on the South Downs Way
Don’t ride on footpaths: it’s illegal, it can damage paths and sensitive heathland environments and it’s really annoying for walkers. Besides, the bridleway and byway network on the Downs is so extensive that there’s no need to use footpaths.
Waymarking
Waymarking on the South Downs is generally excellent, you will find waymarkers on gates and signposts at regular intervals and at path junctions – where you need them most. As mentioned above, bridleways are indicated with blue arrows and in the case of the SDW those arrows incorporate the acorn emblem which indicates Long Distance Paths in England and Wales. Byways are indicated with red arrows and footpaths with yellow arrows, and these of course are out of bounds to mountain bikers and horse riders.
Although paths and tracks on the Downs are usually excellently maintained and comprehensively waymarked, it’s still quite possible to get lost. Signposts are occasionally removed or damaged; routes can be changed temporarily or permanently for a variety of reasons and it’s also quite easy at times to go whizzing past a path junction on your bike, oblivious to any waymarkers. There are also a few places where waymarkers are not obvious or clear; where this has been the case, or where there is a good chance of going astray for other reasons, it is noted in the route descriptions below.
The other situation where it’s easy to get lost is when you are riding through managed woodland. Forestry plantations are often criss-crossed with tracks that are liable to be changed and therefore don’t always correspond with the map. It can be quite easy to lose your bearings when all you can see are trees. Hence, as well as a carrying a map, a compass is extremely useful: it can save you going miles off course.
Maps
Ordnance Survey provides map coverage of the South Downs in 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales (see www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure).
The most up-to-date 1:50,000 scale Ordnance Survey mapping is used for the routes in this guidebook. At the time of going to press, the information on the maps included in this guide was accurate. A note of caution: the status of some rights of way may be changed over time. Most often – but not always – cyclists have been granted greater access rights with footpaths and other rights of way being ‘upgraded’ to permissive bridleways. Older copies of maps may contain information that is at odds with what is included here.
OS 1:25,000 EXPLORER SERIES
132 Winchester, New Alresford & East Meon – Routes 1 and 4–6
120 Chichester & the Downs, South Harting & Selsey – Routes 1, 2 and 7–11
121 Arundel & Pulborough, Worthing & Bognor Regis – Routes 2, 6 and 12–16
122 Brighton & Hove, Lewes & Burgess Hill – Routes 2, 3 and 16–22
123 Eastbourne & Beachy Head, Newhaven, Seaford, Hailsham & Heathfield – Routes 3, 21 and 23–26
133 Haslemere & Petersfield, Midhurst & Selbourne and 119 Meon Valley, Portsmouth, Gosport & Fareham – no specific route but cover surrounding areas
Harvey Maps publish a lightweight, waterproof 1:40,000 single sheet map showing the whole of the SDW (see www.harveymaps.co.uk).
Digital Ordnance Survey mapping of the region is available from www.memory-map.co.uk and www.anquet.co.uk.
OS 1:50,000 LANDRANGER SERIES
185 Winchester & Basingstoke – Routes 1 and 4–6
197 Chichester & The South Downs – Routes 1, 2 and 7–16
198 Brighton & Lewes – Routes 2, 3 and 17–22
199 Eastbourne & Hastings – Routes 3, 21 and 23–26
How to use this guide
Each of the three day stages of the SDW and the 23 other routes included in this guide are graded according to the degree of physical effort they require. The grades are:
The grades reflect the length of the route, the number and severity of climbs and the nature of the terrain traversed. There is very little ‘technical’ mountain biking on the South Downs, hence there is no ‘difficult’ grade. The ‘hard’ and ‘very hard’ classifications in this guide focus on how strenuous the routes are. There are no ‘easy’ routes included here and, therefore, there is no ‘easy’ grade.
Distances are given in kilometres and metres throughout the route descriptions. The total distance given at the beginning of each route is given in kilometres with the equivalent in miles given in brackets. All distances given in metres are linear distances and not height gain unless specifically stated. ‘Climb for 200m along the bridleway’ means the climb is over a distance of 200m, as opposed to: ‘…ascend 200m as you climb along the bridleway for 500m’.
The total route distances are also broken down into off-road and on-road distances, with the off-road total given as a percentage. These off-road/on-road distances are as accurate as possible, allowing for a few grey areas where there is some uncertainty
