Cycling in Holmbury

Step away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy beautiful scenic country rides around Holmbury. You won't believe you're only 25 miles from the centre of London! Our hostel has secure bike sheds, security fittings and a wash station for mucky bikes.

Our guests can now hire bikes and book cycling activities before they arrive through our partners All Biked Up. Simply visit their website for more details.

Recommended Runs:

Proper Bo: Including a few small jumps and slaloming through the trees, this is a good stretch to kick a ride off on. In the wet it proved slippery on some of the roots but that just helps get the adrenaline going. From the Pitch Hill viewpoint, follow the track that puts the hill on your left and the view on your right. At a junction, veer right to keep following the top of the escarpment. Stick to this simple rule and eventually you'll find an obvious slither of singletrack winding off to your left.

T4: A pleasant flowing run back into Peaslake that gets more intense the lower down the hill you get. To find it: turn right where Proper Bo meets its third track crossing near the valley floor (there is only a tiny section of Proper Bo remaining after this). Fork right at the track crossroads to climb a steep fire road. At the top, just before you reach another crossroads, find the singletrack trail off to the left (not to be confused with the footpath marked by a bollard). Near the bottom, the trail runs alongside the village cemetery fence. Where there's a fork, veer left for a challenging and, if you so choose, steep finale (with slippery-when-wet off-camber entry) down into the main car park on Walking Bottom.

Yoghurt Pots: A bit of a roller coaster this one, swooping in and out of gullies that run down the hillside. Sometimes they're a bit boggy down in the dips, hence the name. (It is also known as Parklife). This is best located by finding the Holmbury Hill lookout then riding the broad track directly away from the escarpment. Entry to the trail is a slither of track off to the right, beyond two older trailheads that have now been closed for archaeological reasons. (The original trail ran over the site of an Iron Age Hill Fort!). When I visited, a rather flimsy looking sign tacked to a tree confirmed the new entrance. Whether it will last the winter or be replaced with sturdier signage remains to be seen.

Telegraph Road: This is a steadier, slightly less technical run that allows you to open up the throttle a bit more. Weaving around ferns and through the odd crater, this trail slaloms along a clearing cut for a telegraph line. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of some backcountry biking I was doing earlier in the year in New Zealand. I really liked backcountry biking in New Zealand. To find this trail: from the end of Yoghurt Pots turn right onto the fire road and continue descending straight over the five way junction. Shortly after you'll pass under the telegraph line. Turn left here. Although it kicks up to start with the trail gradually descents all the way to Holmbury Youth Hostel.

Barry Knows Better: A sweet, flowing run that hugs the pine covered hillside as it drops to Peaslake, this trail is a popular one to finish off on. Easy to find, the start is marked by a large log barricade across the tarmac from the turf covered reservoir halfway along Radnor Road. At the time of first visiting, the trail was known as Barry Knows Best and had a finale that a comprised a big steep eroded mess that saw you skidding and slipping in fits and starts down towards Ewhurst Road. Thankfully trail builders have since completed a vastly improved finish that berms back on itself several times. So smooth, fast and beautiful did I find these hairpin bends on my second visit, I had no option to head straight back up top and have another run.

More Trails
There are plenty more trails to be ridden in the Surrey Hills, both on Pitch and Holmbury Hills and further afield. Nearby Leith Hill is popular option as is Box Hill near Dorking. For a longer endurance ride, it's quite possible to ride off road from Guildford to Dorking with only the interruption of road crossings.

Local Amenities: Pedal and Spoke bike shop, The Hurtwood Inn and the village stores are all clustered around the central junction in Peaslake. The Inn does beer and pub grub; the village stores: tea, cake and savoury snacks; the bike shop: espressos and bike bits. What more could you want?

Getting there: A good destination for London mountain bikers, Peaslake is situated within 15 miles of Junction 9 of the M25. It sits on an unclassified road between the villages of Shere and Ewhurst. A free sizeable car park popular with mountain bikers sits on the street of Walking Bottom just on the edge of the village. The nearest train station is Gomshall, 1.4miles miles away.