Pyecombe - The Peak Valley

It's not often that the sun shines without a cloud so I was lucky to find myself in the right place at the right time and able to enjoy a fantastic evening running the SDW trails above the city of Brighton, the Devil's Dyke being a major feature hereabouts.

I had earlier mapped out and studied a possible route taking in the Devils Dyke starting from Pyecombe which has easy parking, so I knew what to expect in terms of hills and gradients. Seeing that a good number of the hills were steep and sometimes long I erred on the side of caution and decided to cut back the distance to about 10 miles turning at Truleigh Hill YHA instead of continuing to drop down to the Adur valley and turning there which would have made the distance about 13 miles but increased the height gain by probably a 1/3 since from the YHA the trail descends unremittingly to near sea level!
And I'm glad I did, since the route was challenging enough, it being late during the week and not wanting to knacker myself and spoil the prospect of a longer weekend run. 
Starting at Haresdean with the A23 running close by, the trail heads up West Hill to Saddlescombe, up Summers Down - climbing past The Devils Dyke and it's iron age fort before continuing on via Edburton & Truleigh HIll. It's hard to believe that the Dyke has been home to the first cable car (across the valley), a steep  grade railway (along the valley) and a Victorian fun fair - all gone now. All the time on a clear day one has amazing views out to the north. The YHA at Truleigh Hill marks the end of the trail run at least temporarily - a tarmac road leads on for another kilometer before the trail can  be picked up again (the road dodging off south back into Shoreham some miles away.
It felt easier on the outward journey, the climbs gentler, albeit longer whereas the return journey definitely had a few stings to it! The last one being the climb up West Hill at '1 in too many'. Here I passed 2 other intrepid trail runners, reduced to walking. I wondered how far they had ran and how far they had to go, but having puffed out a short greeting I continued on always pitting myself against the clock. All power to them for staying the course & making the most of the day. I never have found it easy to ignore the competitive voice in my head whether it's running, cycling, climbing - you name it I find it hard to resist the challenge. As I ran back today, I became aware of a word play running softly in my head, 'The trail continues & so do I'. I think I will make it my mantra.

Close to the YHA at Truleigh Hill

Looking back east towards The Devils Dyke from Edburton Hill

The Devils Dyke (top right)