In between coffee stops, cakes and after-ride beers, we asked a selection of our more than 160 members to tell us their Favourite Forge Ride, Ever – and we found some pretty surprising answers.
Max’s London Loop
Last Summer F4 rider, Max E, and a group of similarly like-minded members took on some mammoth weekend rides together, from 200km trips to Winchester, the beaches of the South Coast for fish and chips, and repurposed Audax routes. But there was one excursion that stood out for Max. “It’s a hard choice, there’s been plenty of great rides. But probably the most memorable of 2024 was doing a loop of London, a group of 7 of us loosely followed the M25 around London (260km) plus some extras crossing London afterwards.”
The motivation? “The Strava map is pretty cool.”
With 260km to cover did the day go smoothly? “It was a tough day out, none of us had been over 250km before or done basically any of this route before. So it was all an adventure! We had a couple of “incidents”, a near crash about 10km in, a puncture shortly after, someone didn’t fully charge their Di2 so we needed to pause at a bike shop, and a couple of almost bonks towards the end. But we all made it!”
All in all it sounds like an eventful ride! And if you’re thinking there’s a river somewhere in the way on that route, you’re not wrong! “The route was 99% great, with a few bits through commercial areas/main roads, and needing to cross the Dartford tunnel in a bus was entertaining!” In case you’re interested in tackling this epic adventure, apparently you can call for a van to take you through the Dartford tunnel with bikes!
We asked our intrepid explorer what makes a great ride for him. “Riding with great people, planning an interesting route, combination of challenge and enjoyment, and making sure you have enough food / cafe stops. But ultimately, riding with great people makes even doing laps of Richmond Park for the millionth time great”
And finally, dream Forge ride? Long of course! “We’re heading out to Mallorca again in 2025, with plans to do the original Mallorca 312 route on one of the days. Very much looking forward to this day ahead.”
We look forward to hearing all about that! Sounds exhausting!
London Loop route – https://www.strava.com/routes/3230989813979709350
Graham’s All About That Velo Life
We caught up with long time cyclist, Graham W, to find out what his favourite rides are. “Despite coming from Edinburgh – a city built on 7 hills – I am no fan of hills and prefer the flatter, faster rides.” We hear you.
“My favourite ride has to be one of the Flaturday rides,” he told us. ”Probably fav is out to VeloLife.” For the less punny folks, Flaturday has become the nickname for an informal Saturday ride that offers flat routes out towards Windsor and beyond. And VeloLife is an excellent coffee stop as Graham was all too keen to tell us. “One of the best. With great coffee (obviously) as well as outdoor space and proper bike parking. Coffee stops as they should be.” A 5* review if ever there was one!
So, what makes these Flaturday rides so great (other than the coffee?). “There’s always a good opportunity for a speedy chaingang run back to Kingston – hopefully with a tailwind. Oh and it’s quite flat too. Did I mention that?” I think we’d missed that, Graham!
He continued, “The Saturday / Flaturday rides are mixed ability with usually a hard-core of the usual suspects plus always some extras which is a great way to meet others in the ever-growing Club.” Flat and sociable with great coffee? Perfect!
Flaturday Velolife route – https://www.strava.com/routes/2772095896579440712