Into the wild

1 - Start at Hove Park cafe. Head for the north-east corner of the park, and look for the bridleway signposted Three Cornered Copse.

The path runs up through some woodland and up into a very picturesque field. Carry on across the field, and you will find yourself deposited neatly at the roundabout at the top of Dyke Road.

2 - Turn left, go over the two roundabouts, and follow the Devil’s Dyke Road, joining the gravelled track to the right of the road just as you turn off towards the Dyke.

When you reach the turn- off to the Devil’s Dyke pub, follow the smaller road north for about 200 metres until you see the signposts on either side for the South Downs Way.

3 - Turn left through the gate, and cross a field full of bullocks. On your right you will soon see a track heading downwards. Follow it down and then to the left, turning right at the steep hairpin bend, and you will eventually end up in Fulking.

It’s a nerve-wracking descent when the grass is wet and the chalky patches are like thick oily paste, but this is obviously all part of the fun.

4 - When you’ve reached the road, look for the bridleway going off north just at the village exit.

It looks like a nice little meander between big expensive houses, but beware: horses have churned this path into a river of mud. You have to grit your teeth and plough through it as fast as you can, because if you stop you’ll get wet feet.

The “path” quickly becomes a lane, though, and you can enjoy leafy tarmac for the next few miles as the road winds up through the echoing woods of the heavily moneyed Weald, past expansive country properties, and one of the best tree houses I have ever seen.

5 - When you reach the main road, turn right and continue along, going straight on at the first junction you get to, past the cosy-looking Ginger Fox pub.

When you see the next road going off left, turn right down a marked bridleway until you reach a small farm. At this point you reach the M23.

Follow the cycle path alongside the road, until you find a road that drops down and takes you left through a small tunnel.

6 - Follow the road uphill, then turn right and look for a footpath heading off left. You’ll need to walk up this bit, as it is a footpath, but in any case it’s so steep that riding is impossible anyway.

It’ll take you about five minutes to reach the gate at the top of the hill, at which point you rejoin another properly horse-churned bridleway. Turn right and head down this river of mud towards Pyecombe.

7 - The path thankfully soon becomes a road, and you need to take the first turning on the left, riding up through Pyecombe village, then down to the next main road.

Turn right, then fifty metres later leave the road again on the left and join a bridleway that runs along parallel to the road before taking up a long, straight, demoralising climb to the top of Middle Brow.

Near the top you’ll cross the Pyecombe golf course; exchange puzzled looks with the golfers as both parties wonder what on earth the other is doing.

8 - At the very top of the hill, turn right along a line of trees, sharp left, then right again into a bleak and barren field. This is the Sussex Border Path, and you will follow it all the way back to the A27.

It is bleak and windswept, the ground is soft and sludgy, and there feels like no lonelier place on Earth. But this is cross-country riding, and this is what you came out here for.

9 - When you reach the end of the path, turn right and join the main road back into Brighton, finishing at the Rotunda café in Preston Park for decent coffee and a cake. You’ll have earned it.

* Timee: Three hours.

* Difficulty: Hard in winter, easier in summer.

* Surface: Grass, chalk, tarmac.

* Your bike: Mountain bikes only.

* Thirsty work: Hove Park Café and the Rotunda Café.

* So you don’t get lost: OS 122.