Round the Hog's Back Cycle Ride

Today, I joined the annual Round the Hog's Back Cycle Ride organised by Guildford Bike User Group (G-BUG). This is a very pleasant route, essentially following NCN22 outward to the South of the Hog's Back and returning on the Christmas Pie Trail to the North. This route is mainly on back roads and tracks and most of the on-road sections are fairly quiet, especially on this Sunday morning. But there is a very short stretch on the busy B3000 through Compton, and the crossing of the A331/A31 junction requires great care (Guildford Borough Council is proposing a light-controlled crossing here, and it can't come soon enough (Update 2024: this has now been installed!) It's about 22 miles long, and today, it took us about 4 hours, including a leisurely coffee break provided for us at the Puttenham Camping Barn (this is not generally open for non-guests, but there are several other convenient coffee and food stops along the way, as mentioned in the description below.)

A detailed map of the route is here.

The route starts from the Millmead car park beside the River Wey in the centre of, and goes thus:

cross the footbridge and take the towpath past Millmead Lock to the footbridge over the river next to the rowing club; carry across this footbridge (here you join NCN22) (Update 2024: towpath blocked by weir collapse: short diversion via alleyway past Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, then along A281 pavement to rejoin route in Shalford Park)
follow NCN22: a short stretch of shared use pavement beside the A281 leads to the good tarmac path through Shalford Park, past the Water Works and along Dagley Lane to arrive at Shalford green
continue past cottages to Broadford Road (A248) and go over the bridge then cross carefully to the shared use pavement on the righthand side
descend to pass under the bridge: leave NCN22 (which branches off along the Downs Link) to reach Peasmarsh; cross the A3100 and take a footpath through the woods, cross the B3000 and head down Summers Road into Farncombe, where you cross the level crossing and make your way via quiet roads and a woodland footpath to Compton
Here you must join the busy B3000, before turning right on Down Lane towards the Watts Gallery (which has an excellent tea shop)
just before the Gallery, turn left to rejoin the NCN22, which uses a bridleway, rough in parts, to cross Puttenham golf course
cross the busy B3000 (again) and turn left into Puttenham village (pub). Now follow NCN22 on the road to Seale (another cafe - Manor Farm Tea Room, popular with cyclists) and onward to Runsfold, where you join the Christmas Pie Trail
turn right on Tongham Road, following your first Chrstmas Pie Trail sign, which becomes a traffic-free road and path arriving at the A331/A31 junction: cross this in two stages with great care: you must be nimble to take advantage of the gaps in the fast moving traffic whipping round from the A331 to the A31 on-ramp
follow the Trail (it is reasonably well signed with distinctive beano-style Christmas Pie logo): this is almost entirely no- or lo-traffic, using bridleways and dead-end roads, and ending through woodland on the western boundary of Guildford at Applegarth Avenue in Park Barn.
from here there are a variety of routes to return to your start at Millmead: for example through the University of Surrey campus then along the Wey Navigation towpath. The Britannia Inn at Millmead is a great place for a celebratory drink (and a meal if you're hungry).

Whilst the route is reasonably easy to follow, it would be helpful to programme your smart phone or GPS with the route. Some photos follow (actually a mix of photos from 2018 and 2019).