YOUR RIDES
MY FAVOURITE RIDE SUSSEX SHENANIGANS
RiDE reader Sam Beech improvises an absolute belter of a route into the Sussex countryside
RIDE READER
SAM BEECH Sam, 41, lives in south London but travels worldwide, creating and staging events (he’s just back from a big set-up at the National Opera House in Budapest). He’s been riding since his mid-20s, first on a Harley Fat Bob (‘I loved that bike...’) and latterly on his cherished 2016 Triumph Thruxton R.
NEWLANDS CORNER CAFE in Albury near Guildford, on a baking hot Sunday afternoon. Lots of bikes around when I arrive (late, after a 100-mile filtering marathon), but only one Triumph Thruxton R and only one guy fitting the description Sam had messaged: “Wandering about wearing a yellow T-shirt and looking sweaty.” We grab a cool drink and Sam fills me in on the route, or at least what he’s planned so far. “I don’t usually have an exact route in mind – Itend to make stuff up as I go along.”
But with Guildford to the west, the M25 and London to the north, and Crawley/Gatwick to the east, it doesn’t take a detailed planning session to know we’ll be heading broadly south, so let’s get going.
The ride
A bit of A25 from Newlands, through a couple of nice villages (Abinger Hammer is beautiful) and then we turn right towards Ockley. I’d thought it’d take us a while to get out into proper countryside but I was wrong – almost immediately we’re on a deeply sunken, narrow lane with a few passing places, and the sun that filters through the canopy of trees above gives it an other-worldly feel. It’s only a short section but it’s a great start.
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Email ride@ride.co.uk and tell us about your favourite ride and, if published, you’ll get a great prize to say thanks. The Metzeler Roadtec 01 SE — winner of RiDE’s 2023 touring-tyre test — is a great tyre that works in all conditions. metzeler.co.uk
Through the pretty village of Abinger Common, and we’re into thick woodland –you’d never guess you were just a few miles from Gatwick airport. We stop for a photo and
