Lewes Forum thread

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Cycling

On 7 Sep 2015 at 3:15am Paul wrote:

Is there a rural cycle-friendly route from Lewes to Falmer in which I can avoid traffic? I'm a young man so not fussed about it being longer, I just don't like the idea of cycling up the road near the prison and pissing off commuters and causing jams

On 7 Sep 2015 at 9:09am On the way to Newhaven wrote:

ESCC (well, their Lead Member for the Transport and Environment) have previously thrown out proposals to route a fully signposted, predominantly offroad route through Lewes, connecting the town centre to where the existing cycle path ends on the Brighton Road.
Otherwise, your only tarmac option is going via Ditchling Beacon (and no doubt pissing off commuters on those roads instead).
That said, I wouldn't expect your presence would hold cars up by more than a handful of seconds - many of which would have been lost waiting for other cars to go through the Prison lights anyway...

On 7 Sep 2015 at 9:39am Humbert wrote:

It's cycle path all the way from about half way between the prison and the Kingston Roundabout, so the only on road bit is about 500 metres between the prison and the start of the cycle path.

I quite often get off and walk my bike along the pavement for this bit but it's not too bad on the road depending on the time of day. The main hazards are the many pot holes and drivers who don't indicate before heading down Winterbourne Hollow or up to Nevill (depending on if you are going out of, or into, Lewes), and the ones who put their foot down to get through a yellow light before it goes red are a menace too. Parents dropping their children at the bus stop and blocking the bus space so buses are forced into the middle of the road are also a pain, but keep your wits about you, signal, and notwithstanding a driver with a chip on their shoulder about cyclists (of which there are sadly many in Lewes) you should be safe enough

(This post will now bring irrelevant complaints about cyclists jumping lights.)

On 7 Sep 2015 at 9:43am OffRoad wrote:

If you've got a mountain bike you could go off road quite pleasantly. Up Spital Road past the prison, past the racecourse, up to Black Cap, then down through the university - you turn off somewhere round Streat Hill.
You could also go on Juggs Road to Kingston, then up Kingston Ridge, and then down to Falmer that way, but you'd have to face the monster that is Kingston Ridge.

On 7 Sep 2015 at 1:58pm HeathClifford wrote:

I would take the Kingston Ridge route. You can follow the cycle paths past the tennis club to Kingston, or go over the top via Jubilee Gardens (?) and past the windmill. When you get to the Woodingdean-Falmer road there's a new cycle path down the hill to Falmer.