Good Friday 6th April South Downs Way Trundle.

Good Friday, a national holiday accompanied by a relaxing ride out on the South Downs. As a break from our usual riding we opted for a steady trundle along the Downs in the bright sunshine. My buddy was on the bike for the first time in two weeks nursing sore knees and suffering jet-lag after skiing in Canada and one day previous I had twisted my ankle. Invalids on bikes. It was a steady / slow pace with enough time to take in the views and do a little exploring of some trails we last visited about 4 years ago!

The weather conditions were perfect 20 deg C, bright sunshine and not a breeze in the air the trails were bone dry even the dreaded SD climbs were not as energy sapping as they can be. As usual when the weather is good the SD immediately around Brighton were a mass of people hang gliding, parascending, flying kites as well as generally shuffling about on the trails. We headed east to some less well know areas in an effort to avoid constantly steering around the throng and braking to avoid toddlers and the elderly.

A couple of highlights were myself thundering down towards Mill Hill Farm from Rodmell Cottage, over a blind lip at 30 mph to be faced with 2 whopping great 'holes', using my skill and dexterity (together with a huge dose of good luck) I negotiated the obstacles but ended up almost tangled in an electric fence reinforced with barbed wire. The descent from Pickers Hill into Balsdean Valley was better than we remembered although we had to be careful not to hit a couple who were walking up the hill in the middle of the trail without any desire to move even slightly in order to let other users have a little bit of the trail. Finally the climb out of Falmer Bottom was longer and tougher than either of us remembered.

Directions. Refer to OS Explorer Map 122
From Ditchling Beacon we headed east on the South Downs Way to Mill Hill farmsouth east of Rodmell. At Mill Hill Farm we took the bridleway directly south through the farm, at the first bridleway junction turn left into Cricketing Bottom and follow the track around and up the side of the hill towards Telscombe Village. When you come out on the road turn south and go through Telscombe Village, at the top of the hill near Cross Dyke take the bridleway west towards Telscombe Tye, Highdole Hill and Pickers Hill. At Pickers Hill the trail forks (the right hand route leads around Pickers Hill to meet the SDW at Swanborough Hill), take the left fork. The trail appears to curve left but in fact turns sharp right after a couple of thorny bushes, go through the gate for the descent into Balsdean Valley. At the bottom of the hill turn right and ride through Falmer Bottom (take care not to go into Standean Bottom). Follow the trail past the disused buildings. The trail ends at a gate and a climb up to Juggs Road (track), this is a drag of a climb that gets steeper and more rocky the further you go. At the top go through the gate and turn right on Juggs Road for about 100 metres, then turn left to take the South Downs Way back to Ditchling Beacon.