100 Climbs Route: Day 2, Steyning to Dorchester

In August 2018, three Cycling UK members - Dominic Millar, Graham Salisbury and James Findlater – cycled a 3,300-mile, 29-day route around Britain to take on all 100 hills featured in Simon Warren’s book ‘100 Greatest Cycling Climbs’. This route plots day two of the journey, 132 miles from Steyning to Dorchester, taking in the climb of Steyning Bostal.

After all the excitement – and hills – of day one, day two should be a piece of cake. Not that you’d know it initially, though, with a quick detour out of Steyning for the climb of Steyning Bostal: a 17% brute that is used each year for Brighton Mitre CC’s hill-climb.

With that warming up if not shredding your legs, it’s onwards to a day spent first following the South Downs as you head westwards. It’s all country lanes and villages such as Storrington, Coldwaltham and East and West Meon as you enter Hampshire and skirt round the edge of Chandler’s Ford.

Using roads that run parallel to the M27 and A31, it’s down to Ringwood – a good place to restock supplies – and then round the south of Bournemouth Airport and onwards to Wimbourne Minster. This is all on roads at the outer edge of the Bournemouth/Poole conurbation, so traffic may be busy at times.

You can stop in at the National Trust’s Kingston Lacey if you fancy a break. Otherwise, keep zigzagging on country lanes with brief sections of bigger roads until you reach Dorchester.

It’s been a good day for racking up the miles – but there are hills coming tomorrow!