Cutty Sark to Crawley on NCN21

The return of an old favourite challenge - make your own way to The Cutty Sark and then ride on NCN21 through quiet backstreets, city parks, linear wildlife corridors, quiet residential streets and open spaces to escape London. A gradual climb up into the South Downs is rewarded with a pub lunch, some offroad climbing, glorious views of the Weald and fast offroad tracks through Surrey before we get onto familiar territory and pass Gatwick Airport to finish at Three Bridges station.

I’ll be catching the 08:50 train from Three Bridges to Blackfriars (arr. 09:41). n.b.the London Bridge services seem to all involve changes.

Back streets and a cycle Superhighway will then get us over to Greenwich. Let me know where you will be meeting me, the intended start time from the Cutty Sark is 10:30.

This ride is about 45 miles long and will use a mix of tarmac, stony paths and bridleways - your tyres will need some grip and your bike will need to be robust enough to deal with a bit of the rough stuff - it’s ideal for Gravel bikes, MTB’s and hybrids.