Five Perfect Reasons to Cycle in Sussex

If you live in the South East of England or in London Sussex is an excellent county to head into for scenic cycling trips.  If you are planning on getting out on your bike once you can get out of your house, here are five good reasons to make your way to the Sussex countryside.

1 The Rolling English Road

Between the busy A-roads of Sussex lay a widespread network of country lanes. Often they are single lane, surrounded by fields and hedges. With a little planning its possible to cycle all day without difficult encounters with roaring lorries and cars on fast roads.

2 Rolling Stock - Stations

A good network of railway services in Sussex means public transport can be use access to many beautiful spots in the county. Get your bike on the train at  St Pancras, London Bridge or Victoria in London to take you into Sussex, and via branch lines to the east, west and the length of the coast. Leave your car at home.

3 Rolling Waves - Coast Routes

From Littlehampton and Bognor in the west and beyond Hastings in the east most of the coastline of Sussex is Cycleable and in some of the major towns, including Brighton, the national cycle route passes along the prom away from the main coast road. Eastwards out of Brighton its possible to ride along the under cliff path for several miles. Cycling the seaside means lots of potential pitstops for hot chips or cold ice-cream. On the down side promenade paths can be busy on sunny days, so don't try using them if your plan is to go fast.

4 Rolling Along - Cycleways

One of the positive outcomes of the railway closures of the sixties is that many of the trackbeds of the old railway lines have been converted to routes for pedestrians and cyclists. From Three Bridges, half an hour from either London or Brighton, the Worth Way Heads six miles out to East Grinstead. From East Grinstead the Forest Way takes cyclists a further nine miles, passing through the countryside that features in AA Milne's 'Pooh' books. The Cuckoo Trail is another long trail, heading from Polegate, near Eastbourne ten miles in land. The longest cycle trail is the Downs Link, over thirty miles from Shoreham on the south Coast, up to the North Downs, near Guildford.

5 Rolling Hills - The Downs

The longest bridleway in the UK is the South Downs Way, 100 miles available for walkers, horse riders and, of course, cyclists. It a rough surface so a mountain bike is the only comfortable way to cycle it. The SDW is a very different experience to other cycle routes in Sussex requiring much more effort and taking much longer to complete than the same distance on country lanes or cycle paths, but the views are so special you won't regret the aching muscles.