Why this ride
A one-way ride of 524 km, Dorking to Ewell - roughly 7 h 51 in the saddle. On the way it passes Seven Sisters cliffs, Beachy Head and Lewes. The climbs: Ditchling Beacon and in Cobham. The passes are the reason to go.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
London · South Downs and Beachy Head Day + New Forest and Solent Easy Ride
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 524 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 51
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Box Hill rider gate
Box Hill is the Surrey Hills' best-known bump, and it earns its fame. The hill rises sharply from the valley of the River Mole to a crest of chalk grassland and ancient box trees, from which the land falls away in a wide view toward the South Downs. It is a National Trust property, and it has been a favourite day out for Londoners since the railway came to Dorking in the nineteenth century. The poet John Keats finished part of Endymion in the inn below the hill, and Jane Austen set a famous picnic scene on its slopes in Emma.
Read the complete Box Hill rider gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Box Hill rider is where the day begins. Next is Ditchling Beacon.
2. Ditchling Beacon
Ditchling Beacon is the highest point on the South Downs in East Sussex, at 248 metres, and the way up from the north is steep enough to make a loaded bike grumble. The lane leaves the village of Ditchling and climbs the scarp in a series of narrow bends, with a gradient that is a serious test for cyclists, who treat it as a rite of passage, since the London to Brighton charity ride famously ends with this climb. A motorcycle takes it in its stride, but there is little room to pass, so patience is needed.
Read the complete Ditchling Beacon write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ditchling Beacon comes up 39 km in. Next is Seven Sisters cliffs.
3. Seven Sisters cliffs
Seven Sisters is the name of a row of white chalk cliffs that rise and fall like a wave along the Sussex coast, between the mouth of the Cuckmere river and Birling Gap. They stand about a hundred metres high, bright against the sea, and the view of them from the clifftop path to the east is one of the most photographed in southern England. The coast here is constantly being worn away, and every winter storm brings down another piece of cliff, so the profile you see is never quite the same.
Read the complete Seven Sisters cliffs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
79 km in you reach Seven Sisters cliffs. Next is Beachy Head.
4. Beachy Head
Beachy Head is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, around 160 metres, and the place where the South Downs end in a white wall at the English Channel. Down on the shore a red-and-white striped lighthouse from 1902 looks tiny, and the old Belle Tout lighthouse sits on the next headland west, a squat white tower that was moved back from the cliff edge in 1999. Past it the cliffs run on in the long, undulating line of the Seven Sisters, now protected as part of the South Downs National Park.
Read the complete Beachy Head write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beachy Head, early in the day. Next is Lewes food stop.
5. Lewes food stop
Lewes is one of those small county towns where you can feel the layers of time on the street. A Norman castle, built soon after 1066, sits on a mound in the middle, and the main street, the High Street, climbs steeply toward it in a long curve of old brick, tile and timber. In 1264 Simon de Montfort defeated Henry III in a battle on the slopes outside the town, a moment often seen as the start of English parliamentary government, and the place has stayed a little rebellious ever since.
Read the complete Lewes food stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food at 158 km, roughly 3 hours into the riding. Next is Back to Box.
6. Back to Box
Box Hill is the great chalk lump south of Leatherhead, where the River Mole cuts through the North Downs and leaves a steep slope of box trees, yews and wildflower grassland on one side. The box trees give the hill its name, and it is one of the few places in Britain where they grow wild. The National Trust looks after much of it. Down by the river at Burford Bridge, the poet John Keats finished his poem Endymion in 1817, and Jane Austen set the famously awkward picnic in Emma on the hill.
Read the complete Box write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 512 km. Next is New Forest and Solent Easy Ride.
7. Fuel stop in Ewell
Planning note
Fill up here — 276 km left and no pump marked after this. Next is High point in Cobham.
8. High point in Cobham
Planning note
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is New Forest and Solent Easy Ride checkpoint 8.
9. Brentford
Brentford is where the River Brent and the Grand Union Canal meet the Thames, on the western edge of London, and for centuries it was the first important crossing west of the capital. It is a busy, mixed place of new riverside apartments, old pubs, warehouses and roads, with Kew Gardens just across the water and Syon Park, the London home of the Dukes of Northumberland, next door.
Read the complete Brentford write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
New Forest and Solent Easy Ride checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Scenic stretch in Watford.
10. Scenic stretch in Watford
Planning note
Scenic stretch in Watford comes up 354 km in. Next is Photo stop near Hatfield.
11. Photo stop near Hatfield
Planning note
394 km in you reach Photo stop near Hatfield. Next is London motorcycle escapes return.
12. Near Stanford-le-Hope, on the way back
Down where the Thames widens into its estuary, the Essex shore becomes a strange, flat, huge-skied place of marshes, sea walls, container cranes and old forts, and Stanford-le-Hope sits just back from it. The town is a commuter place of nearly thirty thousand people, but a few minutes' ride south the land opens up into creeks and mudflats where the river meets the sea, with ships gliding past towards London.
Read the complete Near Stanford-le-Hope, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
London motorcycle escapes return, late in the day. Next is Food stop in Gravesend.
13. Food stop in Gravesend
Planning note
Food at 473 km, roughly 9 hours into the riding. Next is Back to New.
14. Back to New
Ewell and Cheam are two of the old villages that London swallowed in the twentieth century, on the border between Surrey and the capital, with Nonsuch Park between them. That park holds the secret. In 1538 Henry VIII began building a palace here, meant to be so grand there would be none like it, and he named it Nonsuch. It was never finished in his lifetime and was demolished in the 1680s after Charles II gave it to a mistress who sold the materials to pay her gambling debts. The site was lost for centuries and was found again by archaeologists in the 1950s, and the park remains as a wide expanse of grass and trees, with the old mansion house of a later era at its edge.
Read the complete New write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to New. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Box Hill rider gate to Ditchling Beacon
Box Hill rider gate → Ditchling Beacon is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ditchling Beacon to Seven Sisters cliffs
Ditchling Beacon → Seven Sisters cliffs is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seven Sisters cliffs to Beachy Head
Seven Sisters cliffs → Beachy Head is 10 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beachy Head to Lewes food stop
Beachy Head → Lewes food stop is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lewes food stop to Back to Box
Lewes food stop → Back to Box is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Box to Fuel stop in Ewell
Back to Box → Fuel stop in Ewell is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop in Ewell to High point in Cobham
Fuel stop in Ewell → High point in Cobham is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Cobham to Brentford
High point in Cobham → Brentford is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Watford to Photo stop near Hatfield
Scenic stretch in Watford → Photo stop near Hatfield is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Hatfield to Near Stanford-le-Hope, on the way back
Photo stop near Hatfield → Near Stanford-le-Hope, on the way back is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop in Gravesend to Back to New
Food stop in Gravesend → Back to New is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.