I’ve done the London to Brighton a couple of times and I will do it again but the Downs Link ride looked interesting as it was mainly off road and a less plum numbing 33 miles (the blurb says 31 but my speedo said 33 and the GPS was nearer 33 than 31!!).

So what is it ? It’s a route based on the line of two disused railway tracks and runs from Bramley down to Shoreham Airport. The ride is mainly on hardpacked ground and I’d say it’s 80% off road including one fairly steep descent. One guy rode up behind me at the bottom and asked “Is this the waiting for partners queue?”, indeed it was!

Cathie and I took about 4.5 hours to complete the ride which was a little disapointing but we enjoyed it very much and raised about £125 for Cancer Research which can’t be bad. Check out their website and the British Heart Foundation for other charity rides.