I don't often undertake point to point rides as the logistics often seem to be more difficult than the actual ride and I have only ever undertaken a handful in my cycling career. So it was with some surprise that I found myself agreeing to this latest MTB adventure which is my second this year (following close on the Devil's Dyke to Bognor Regis ride in June)

But who could resist the lure of a ride that promised to take in the North Downs, all three of the Surrey Hills including a large dose of Surrey's finest singletrack and still end up riding over the South Downs before dropping into Brighton?

And so after leaving home at 7-30 a.m. to ride to Adam's house (I always take the opportunity to get in some extra miles even on a day like today) we meet for a brief review of the route before being waved off at 8-21 a.m. by Adam's wife and young son.

We take the well worn route up past the LOMAC and onto Stane Street towards Bockett's Farm before joining the Admiral track towards Ranmore Common.

There has been plenty of rain this week including a downpour that lasted pretty much for 12 hours yesterday and I was worried that the trails would have turned to mush but there's still been plenty of dry days this Summer and with the weather dry today the trails are firm under tyre.

Onto Ranmore Common and then dropping down the fast chalky descent to the railway crossing. The trail is under a lot of tree cover and I take this descent cautiously as my tyres have lacked grip on damp chalk too many times in the past.

Into Westcott and we start to climb the Rookery when Adam's chain snaps. Luckily he has recently upgraded his ancient Klein Attitude to 9-speed and so one of my Power-Links quickly does the job and we are on the move again.

Up towards Leith Hill Tower and we pause at one of the viewpoints. Yup there are the South Downs far away on the horizon and the magnitude of this undertaking starts to sink in. As we head over Leith Hill we see a massive dark cloud off to our left and there is a rumble of thunder but the thundercloud passes us by and we push on in the dry.

Down the other side of Leith Hill and we take in some of the singletrack trails although Alan takes a heavy tumble over the bars and onto his shoulder at the top of Chocolate Jesus. But Alan is looking like an extra out of Braveheart today and those Scotsmen are a tough breed so we head down the fast descent to the bottom of Holmbury Hill before heading up and over and down Reservoir Dogs and Barry Knows Best to Peaslake bus shelter for a quick breather.

Then it's the climb up to the trig point on Pitch Hill and another descent across and down the Greensand Way before cutting down across a mixture of road and urban trails to head into Cranleigh for a well earned break having already spent four and a half hours in the saddle.

The Downs Link takes you along the Wealden landscape which was created 20 to 30 million years ago. The dome gradually eroded leaving the Weald basin sited between the North and South Downs. And luckily for us the trail is signposted from Cranleigh High Street not more than 20 metres from where we pause for a snack.

Based mainly on a disused railway line the all-weather surface may not be very testing for five and a half inches of front suspension but it runs dead straight for many miles and allows us to finally put some distance in after those fun singletrack trails.

We set a pace of between 11 to 14 mph as we push South passing disused railway stations and families and friends out for a Saturday afternoon pootle. The only downside of the Downs Link, no pun intended, is that much of the mileage is sheltered between two rows of trees and there's not much to see apart from endless shrubbery.

But as we head further South we break out of the trees and there are a few more photo opportunities and after another 90 minutes of riding we decide to break for lunch. There are many picnic tables and benches along the route although some are strangley positioned as they merely offer a view of an encroaching bush or two but I am building up a hunger and need to stop. I insist that we stop at the next bench and as one hoves into view we slow down and pull over only for us to all laugh as this bench offers a view of a car park hidden within the trees.

I'm not eating my lunch staring at a car park and so we ride on again only to find Southwater Country Park offering picnic benches, a cafe and a nice lake to sit by less than 50 metres past the car-park. I would have been gutted if we had stopped at the previous bench and it was strange that there was no indication of the Country Park being so close.

After a couple of rounds of jam sandwiches and a sugary drink we set off again and have the only rain of the day, around 20 minutes of light rain which doesn't even slow us down as we push on past a number of families sheltering by the trees.

We finally hit Steyning which is where the South Downs start to rise around you and it's decision time. We can push on another five miles via the Downs Link straight into Brighton or we can be glutton's for punishment and turn left onto the South Downs Way.

We are all feeling strong still and the sun is shining once more and so we take the SDW option and start the longish climb up Beeding Hill. A minor error on the map-reading front almost causes a rebellion though as we are forced to climb another hill whilst heading North with the sea and Brighton clearly visible on our '6' and Alan and I threaten to leave Adam pushing on alone.

But this is soon forgotten as we hit the ridgeline and despite some more short climbs there are sweeping views and fast descents although we were slowed for five minutes or so as my rear tyre pinch flatted on a particularly loose descent.

After more superb South Downs Way trails we hit the roadside and I knew we were close as we saw 3 mod scooters a la Quadrophenia (which has long been one of my favourite films).

We finally rolled into Brighton at 17:36 p.m. and rode along the promendade before heading into the town centre to find a pub for a relaxing couple of beers.

A short ride to the train station and we are on the London bound train to finish off an excellent day of circa 65+ miles for me (including the ride to Ashtead).