Living in Basingstoke with a caravan in Selsey, I regularly ride across the South Downs. There aren't that many north-south roads across the South Downs, and most of them are busy A-roads. However, with road bikes equipped with Schwalbe Durano 28mm tyres, to stand up to the poor state of tarmac on the roads, I've taken to trying to find gravel routes that provide an alternative. These have certainly provided me with some fun, so I thought I would share them. If you find this useful, please add suggestions for other routes where gravel fills in a blank space. In my area the big blank stretch of Downs between Goring and Wantage also comes to mind.
Cut 1 - From Amberley to North Stoke, there is a rough tarmac road that leads up to the Downs and about a mile of hard packed chalk and gravel to get to Burpham, avoiding the busy roads on the west side of the Arun Valley.
Cut 2 - From Burpham, turn right by Peppering Farm and follow the track up to Springhead Hill. This is a bit rough in places, so I'm not sure I would descent it.
Cut 3 - From Eartham ride north for 1km to pick up the route of the Roman road, Stane Street and follow up to Bignor Hill. This starts off as a nice gravel track, becomes a little more interesting, I did dismount to cross one very short section of uneven tree routes, and then opens out into sheep-grazed grassland, which was smoother than some of the tarmac I rode that day
Interested to hear of other such short cuts.
