The road.cc team’s favourite routes on komoot: Dan’s ‘Avoiding Box Hill’ Surrey saunter

You all shared your routes with us for our mega competition with komoot to win a Garmin Edge 1030 (the winners have now been chosen, by the way!) and so now we’re sharing our favourite rides with you. This time it’s the turn of our live blog editor Dan - some might say there’s something missing, but according to the man himself who talks us through the ride below, it’s no biggie…

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“Starting out in Dorking at the gateway to the Surrey Hills you might expect this route to include the climb made popular by the 2012 Olympics road race, but I've decided to omit the famous hairpins to make a point - there's more to the area than Box Hill.

I've started this hilly 50-mile route at Dorking station, but if you're coming from London you could always tag on an extra 20 miles for a longer day out. Out the gate we've got my favourite climb in the area.

The dead-end road that winds up through Denbies Wine Estate vineyard will have you imagining you're somewhere far more picturesque than a stone's throw from the A25. Enjoy the views back over Box Hill and the rest of the Surrey Hills near the top and pray the gates are open to save you getting off twice. With no access to motor vehicles you can cruise up the smooth tarmac before cutting a right at the end along a short 100m bridleway to re-join the road. Just imagine the chalk stones are cobbles!

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There’s a fast descent back to Dorking then you’ve got Coldharbour Lane, one of the longest climbs in the area. The next part of the route is the best riding you can do in the area, in my humble opinion. Skirt along the top of the ridge for eight miles from Coldharbour to Peaslake ( a popular spot for mountain bikers) before another climb and fast descent to Ewhurst.

If you can get up Barhatch Lane, you can climb anything in Surrey. Save some energy for the last 500m where the climb is steepest, peaking at 25% in the cruel final 200m. More quiet lanes follow, with opportunities to fill the bottles and fuel up on cake in Chilworth, Albury or Shere.

The final part of the ride crosses over to the other range of hills for a triple-header of climbs to finish. First up is Coombe Lane, with its silly steep hairpin at the top. Then it’s the gloriously quiet Shere Road, and the final sting in the tail up Crocknorth Road. Aim for the bridge in the distance and keep pushing to the top, as this will be your final climb of the day. After Barhatch Lane and those three brutes, you'll be wondering why anyone bothers with Box Hill! All that's left is to spin the legs across the rolling road atop Ranmore Common and descend back into Dorking.”

Want to share your favourite rides? Upload to your komoot profile and tell us about them in the comments.