South Downs - Intro to Bikepacking
Length
Trip Style
Gravel/mixed terrain
End Point
Distance
Southease YHA Hostel
Challenge
18th - 20th April
Price
Intro to Bikepacking
2 nights/2 cycling days
Accomodation
Start Point
Southease YHA
1 night hostel (dorm), 1 night camping
Terrain
Dates
50km
£250
Highlights
✔ The perfect step into to our bigger bikepacking trips
✔ Leave London after work on Friday and be with us by the evening
✔ Bike hire avilable locally
✔ No gear needed! We can loan all bags & camping gear
✔ Small group setting. New adventure pals guaranteed.
Our Introduction To Bikepacking weekends offer the bikepacking-curious a chance to try it out in a supportive, fun, small group atmosphere. Based in locations that put us at the heart of some of the UK’s finest gravel routes, we can lend you most of the bikepacking bags and camping gear you need to get you out on your first overnight adventure.
Itinerary
Start/End Point: Southease YHA Hostel
We begin this weekend at Southease YHA, a hostel in a gorgeous location, easily accessible by train from London. We start the weekend in true Sisters In The Wild style, sharing skills and tips over campfire, before loading up the next morning to head out on an overnight adventure. We'll ride around 25 miles on a mix of on road and off trails, rolling into our very special camp spot to pitch up and share dinner and a night under the stars. The next day, we’ll ride pack to base to unpack, debrief, and make plans for future adventures with new friends.
-
Meeting at the hostel, we’ll share dinner together (al fresco if the weather permits!) and get to know a little about each other.
After dinner, our guides will lead a packing demo, showing you the gear they take on their adventures, and we’ll share tips and tricks amongst the group.
We’ll head to be with the challenge of thinking about how you’ll pack for your adventure tomorrow!
-
After an al fresco breakfast, we’ll continue with our bikepacking demo’s, showing different examples of bikes and bikepacking set ups. We’ll explore the challenges and benefits of different bikes and bag types, and our hacks for getting started without needing to spend lots of money!
It’s then time to pack! We’ll help each rider try out different bags, and work out what their ideal set up might be. Then we have the challenge of packing everything we need for two days in them. Let the great packing faff begin!
Around midday, we’ll finally be ready to set off on our adventure. We’ll ride as a group, moving through the South Downs over a rewarding 25 mile route. We’ll have a couple of scenic snack stops as we go.
Late afternoon, we’ll roll into our gorgeous campsite with out own secluded area. After pitching our home for the night, we’ll cook dinner and chat more about route planning, wild camping, and whatever other subjects are on people’s minds!
Sleep will come easy after a big day. We’ll be grateful for the hot showers for luxurious wash before bed.
-
There’s nothing like waking up outside, and we’ll make the most of our beautiful campspot with a leisurely al fresco breakfast, before packing up our bikes to complete our adventure.
Today we have a similar distance, but with more tarmac and less climbing, we’ll enjoy a chance to make some easy miles! We’ll stop for the mandatory bikepacking meal of second breakfast, before continuing our journey over our final down, for some incredible off-road riding back to our hostel.
We’ll unpack, clean up, and say farewell to our new friends around 4pm. It’ll feel like we’ve been away for weeks!
View Dates & Book
2025 Dates
18 - 20th April
Interested in future dates?
Pricing Info
A spot on the weekend costs £250, and you’ll be directed to our secure booking ticketing partner Ticket Tailor to book. Each trip also has a couple of subsidised spots available for lower income riders. This trip has a minimum number of 5 to run, and your place is fully refundable up to the point we confirm the trip go ahead. Refunds available up to 45 days before the event. Within 45 days, no refund or credit is possible, but you may transfer your ticket to someone else of your finding that this event is suitable for. View the full booking terms and conditions here.
About the riding, bikes & guiding
Support & guiding
This weekend is all about learning, building confidence and connecting with new adventure pals. We will ride as small group regrouping at key turns, and expect that we’ll have a range of different confidence and speed levels amongst the group. You’re guide for the weekend will move back and forth amongst the group, and will offer riding tips and tricks at key points for those who are keen to pick up some off-road riding skills. There’s no need to carry your own navigation device, as we’ll be moving together. However, you are welcome to carry one, and we’ll share the route for the weekend in advance. Our intro weekends have a maximum rider: guide ratio of 8:1.
Terrain
The ride will take in a mixed bag of South Downs terrain, with a mix of off-road and quiet roads. Expect a mix of tarmac, dirt, mud, grassy fields and rocky bridleways. We fully expect a range of experiences with off-road riding, and our guides are great at giving riding tips over the weekend and helping our riders to build their confidence.
Climbing
You can expect about 900m of elevation gain over the weekend. We’ll have two main big hills (on the trails of the South Downs Way - meaning we get to push our bikes with great view and no cars!) and one main climb on Sunday (on tarmac). With our bikes loaded up, there will be some steeper sections where we’ll ALL be taking our bikes for a short walk. But we love this route for how much time we spend away from roads. Having a walk with your bike is all part of the fun and a chance to take in the gorgeous South Downs views.
Daily Distances
We expect to cover about 50 miles over the weekend, with slightly more riding on Saturday than Sunday.
Bikes & Bike hire
Bike hire is not included in this trip, and you’ll need to bring a bike that you are comfortable riding off road (e.g. on dirt, gravel, bridleways etc), and that is in good, safe, working order. A MTB or Gravel bike works great. We'd suggest a minimum of 38mm tyres. Full suspension bikes only if suspension can be locked out.
If travelling from London Wild Cycles offer bike hire that can be collected/dropped off in London around Marylebone station. Collection is between 4 & 6pm on Friday, and drop off between 6 & 8pm on Sunday. You would need to ride between Marylebone and Victoria if getting the train. Please check your train for rules on when bikes are allowed on. Please contact Wild Cycles directly by email if you have any questions, or view the T&Cs and book online here: https://www.wildcycles.co.uk/product-page/sisters-itw-bike-hire
If you are driving, the most local bike hire to our venue is Cuckmere Cycles. If you are neither in London, nor driving, Cuckmere Cycles may be able to arrange delivery and collection to/from our basecamp for an additional fee. Please contact them directly to discuss.
What’s included?
-
Our trip will be hosted by our British Cycling and First Aid qualified Sisters in the Wild guides. Between them have a tonne of experience of bikepacking, creating supportive spaces and who are full of tips and tricks!
-
Friday night accommodation (in a bed!) is included at Southease YHA (dorm room based). On saturday we’ll camp at a beautiful nearly-wild campsite.
-
All bikepacking bags and camping gear can be borrowed from us! From tents to sleeping mats and stoves, we’ve got you covered. The main things you’ll need is a bike (hire available locally), and a sleeping bag (though we do have a couple of these available too!). We’ll capture what you need to borrow at checkout and you can look at our packing list in the FAQ.
-
We’ll share dinner at the hostel on Friday, and breakfast the following morning before we set out on our ride,
At camp, we’ll share tasty and filling expedition meals, and a simple breakfast the next morning. There’ll be chance to pick up the bikepacking staple of a proper “Second breakfast” an hour or so in to the ride.
-
We’ll share tonnes of practical , hands-on skill sharing on bikepacking essentials from experienced bikepackers and your fellow attendees. Expect chats on gear, packing, food, route planning and the practical stuff no one talks about (periods? poop? we've got you covered!)
Not included
-
Lunch and snacks are not included. We’ll make sure you know where you can pick up food on the ride.
-
Bike hire is not included in this weekend. Riders are free to bring their own, or hire locally. See our Bikes section for info,
Riders should carry simple tools/spares (e.g. inner tubes) for their bike in case of bike issues. Our guide team can help you use them! See the packing list for info.
-
Flights, transfers and all travel to our start point at Southease YHA is not included.we’ll arrange for bike bags to be transferred to meet us in Almeria.
-
We highly recommend taking out travel insurance that will cover you in case of curtailment or cancellation of your trip.
We also highly recommend our riders take out cycling public liability insurance, which comes
as standard through annual memberships with
Cycling UK or British Cycling.
FAQs
-
Trains
Our Friday meeting point is is very Trainclose to South Ease train station.
Trains from London Victoria to Southease are around 1 hr 15 min. If travelling with a bike, please check your trains for when bikes are allowed onboard.
Car travel
On booking, we will share a whatsapp group that’s a great place to share travel plans. Parking is available at the hostel, and there is space close by to leave cars over the weekend.
-
Refunds available up to 45 days before the event. Within 45 days, no refund or credit is possible, but you may transfer your ticket to someone else of your finding that this event is suitable for. If we have a waiting list available we will open up your ticket to the waiting list and give you a refund if it is taken
-
We’ll have a max group size of 16, with a max ration of 1:8 guides to riders.
-
We will try our best to accommodate dietary restrictions for meals that we prepare and provide over the weekend. We’ll capture these at checkout. If you have serious allergies, please email us before booking on hello@sistersinthewild.com.
-
It is mandatory that you get personal travel/health insurance for this trip, that includes cycling on it’s policy. It should also cover you for public liability in case you are involved in an accident that is your fault.
E.g. with Yellow Jersey, Bikmo, Laka
-
Whilst this is a beginners bikepacking trip, it shouldn’t be seen as a beginners bike ride.
Riding (and pushing!) a fully loaded bike for the first time can feel quite challenging, especially when we take it on to our off-road trails.
We recommend that to get the most out of the trip, you should be comfortable riding about 30 miles in hilly terrain, and have a little bit of experience of riding off-road. There’s absolutely no problem if you need to walk parts that feel a little out of your comfort zone - we’ll all be walking at some point!
-
If you need to arrive later than 7pm on Friday, that’s cool - we often have people trickling in by train. We will be starting our talks around 8pm, so ideally you’d be with us by then, but we can catch you up if you miss them.
If you need to leave early on Sunday, you would probably need to leave the group at Lewes and ride/take the rain dircetly to Southease.
-
Bikepacking bags - we'll have a range of handlebar rolls, saddle bag and frame bags to borrow
Tent
Stoves and pans
Sleeping Mats
Sleeping bags (limited number)
-
We'll share a proper kit list before, But key things you'll need to bring.
A bike - One you are comfortable riding off road (e.g. on dirt, gravel, bridleways etc), and that is in good working order. A MTB or Gravel bike works great. We'd suggest a minimum of 38mm tyres. Full suspension bikes only if suspension can be locked out.
Sleeping Bag - A 3 season, lightweight bag. We do have a limited number of these to borrow. You can add this at checkout.
A small rucksack - Around 10L, that you'll be comfortable riding with
Helmet
Simple spares/tools for your own bike. E.g. inner tubes, pump, multitool.
Headtorch & Bike Lights
Waterproof/warm layers for cycling in
Something to eat and drink with e.g. camping mug, spork
-
Any stuff you don’t need for the trip can be left in our guides vehicle during the trip (left at your own risk).
Other Intro to Bikepacking Weekends
Dates Coming Soon
Lake District: 16 - 18th May
More dates coming soon