Eastbourne.. living/riding?

[Emoco]

I'm likely moving to Eastbourne very soon after over a decade in London and 10 years without riding. I grew up riding/digging MTB trails and later BMX, then back to MTB for a bit before moving to London.

I grew up in a seaside town in North Wales so it seems fairly similar in ways.

The area seems really nice, but just wondering if some folks here could give me the low down on the area? Town I grew up in looks very nice from outside but had a bit of an odd underbelly, especially off peak season. I'm moving from a really nice area in London too and I've been sheltered from a lot of the bad shit there!

Is bike theft bad? Do riders get much hassle?

I'll be living quite close to the south downs and have been on google street view scouting entrances and pathways onto it. Any tips?

Seems Paradise trails and Friston forest are the local places to ride. And of course Hampden pump track.

 

[renaldo]

Re:

I was born and grew up in Eastbourne and still go back there pretty frequently, and have also lived and worked in and around London for the past ~20 years as a comparison.
I think Eastbourne is like a lot of places really, in that there are good areas and bad areas. I think the good areas are really nice, although I am biased, and the bad areas are not great but probably not as bad as bad areas in London. The town centre is....variable. I think overall its changed quite a lot over the last few years. It used to have a reputation for having an elderly population but there are a lot more young people now. I think people that are getting pried out of Brighton are moving there. As far as I know there isn't a particular problem with bike theft, but I wouldn't leave a bike unlocked anywhere either. Whereabouts you live in Eastbourne would determine how much bike security you'd need at home.
For riding there is Friston Forest and Paradise trails as you mentioned, plus the South Downs Way of course. I haven't been there for a little while but Paradise wasn't very big last time I was there but there were a few fun runs and its easy to get onto the Downs from there so you can incorporate it into a longer ride if you want. Friston had a bit of a problem with tension between riders, ramblers and dog walkers a while ago I think, but as far as I know its better now. There are lots of ways to get onto the South Downs, Butts Brow is popular and from the end of the seafront at Holywell. I'd have a look on Google Maps satellite view and see whats nearest you. I'd recommend Evolution Cycles in Meads as a great bike shop. They've always been very friendly and helpful with me, happy to work on retrobikes, and everthing I've bought from them has been good stuff that I've been happy with.