As the early morning sun crept through the skylight, Emyr and I were amazed that Ffion was giving us a lye in this never happens!
Sitting drinking tea we went over our final days route which was mainly made up of bridleways and back roads to get us the 20 odd miles home from Amberley.
Our plan was to pack up and head to the Slindon Forge for breakfast before continuing home. Packing up our Alp Kit bags and loading the bikes for a final time was really sad. I was looking forward to heading home to see Luna but didn’t want our adventure to end!
Rolling out of Amberley and back onto the South Downs Way, back over the bridge and up the road into Houghton Forest, the views out to Brighton were amazing with the offshore wind turbines like little white sticks in the distance.
Meandering through back roads was nice but after a full day off road we were keen for more and headed off road at the earliest opportunity and of course straight into a climb!
This climb took us up all the way to the top of Bignor Hill Road, which is a stunning bridleway way through open fields with far reaching views of the downs and coast in every direction. Both Emyr and I were amazed we were rising somewhere we had never ridden before!
After a thrilling descent to the valley we made it to Slindon Forge for brunch. From Slindon our route was mainly country roads until we reached Lavant.
Climbing out of the valley around the side of Kingley Vale was the final bit of singletrack before we were home.
22 miles covered, 106 miles in three days and 4285 feet of climbing.
We have had an absolute blast over the last three days. Bike packing with a toddler certainly brings with it some challenges, like how to take enough nappies, but we had a great time as a family and being able to share this experience with Ffion and show her the South Downs from her bike trailer was epic.
We are already planning the next trip!
