About: Philip Wise

If you have been out on the roads near Chichester in the summer, on an early morning at the weekend, or early evening during the week, you may have seen a cyclist (or several of them, spaced out at one minute intervals), with numbers pinned to their back, going at top speed. If, like me,...

For every South Down Velo member, this is simply ‘The Caff’. For close to 40 or so club members every Saturday morning, Tea on the Green is part of the Saturday morning ritual. In the winter, a place to shelter from the wind and rain, in the summer a place to catch a few rays...

The charm of The Forge is that it is run by the local community. A quick cycle around the village tells you who the local community is (despite being only 10 miles from Bognor and Littlehampton, Slindon is the opposite of deprived). Expect to be served by a public school gap year student or their...

We discovered the Compton Café in the days when Olly used to struggle to keep up (it is hard to imagine, I know). Since then it has remained a firm family favourite. The combination of shop and café have made it a perfect place for father and son – a coke, a warm homemade sausage roll...

Just north of Ashurst, and right next to the Downs Link on the B2135, stands Stan’s Shack, a perfect destination for the Chichester cyclist. After 40 miles on a crisp and freezing November morning, Stan’s warm interior was a welcome relief, even after those at the front of the group gave us the customary signal that...