The Henry VIII loop gravel cycling route extends the Chartwell loop. Rather than heading over to Chartwell and Toys Hill, it heads further south to Hever Castle (home of the Boleyns hence the route name), Chiddingstone castle & village before a steep climb up Yorks Hill and the return leg to Surrey.
Starting Point: The Coppernose, Hampton Court Palace
Suggested Café: Chiddingstone Castle Tea Room or The Tulip Tree, Chiddingstone (both 68km)
Not content to go up Leith Hill once? Try going up and down it eight times from different angles. This is a gruelling ride with little recovery between climbs and nearly 2500m of elevation.
The Knatt’s Valley cycling route goes a bit further east along the Pilgrim’s Way between the ridges of the Downs before turning left for a fairly steep climb up through Rowdow Wood. The route then descends into the picturesque Knatt’s Valley.
This long but relatively flat one-way cycling route leaves London via the City, skirting the top of East London and heading straight through Epping Forest and the wider northern Essex countryside, before ultimately reaching the ‘Constable Country’ of Dedham Vale National Landscape and the Stour Estuary at the Suffolk border.
The Rusper Circuit climbs Mill Way after Leatherhead before a long flat section along Rusper Road.
At the village of Rusper, the route turns left round to the left and back to Kingston via Headley Lane to the north of Box Hill. The route finishes at the Local Hero café in Kingston.
Starting point: The Coppernose, Hampton Court.
Suggested café: Tanhouse Café, Tanhouse Farm (37km).
The Whiteleaf Loop cycling route intot he Chilterns heads west out of London via Uxbridge to get further into the the western end of the Chillterns National Landscape. A climb up Whiteleaf Hill sets up the long descent home.