Up for the Challenge?

When Do We Ride?

The club organises rides a minimum of three times a week, with varying routes, target speeds and distances. You simply choose the ride you want to commit to and put your name forward. You can commit to all of the rides or just come along on the occasional spin.

Thursday Evenings

In summer this is usually a shorter, flatter and faster ride to sharpen fitness and speed. We meet at 6:30pm by the Shrubsole Memorial statue in Kingston Market Place. During winter, as we are lucky enough to be right on the doorstep of beautiful Richmond Park, we ride group laps of the Park (either two or three) before retreating to the warmth of a local pub. The winter rides meet at 7pm just inside the Kingston Gate entrance to the park.

Saturdays

Most weeks there will be an informal Saturday ride. Stay tuned to the club’s Slack ‘RIDE_SATURDAY’ channel where individuals plan the route and bring a group together.

Sundays

The bedrock of many cycling clubs, the Sunday ride is a great chance to head into the countryside, try new routes and roads, stop at a designated coffee stop and be back around lunchtime. We meet at 9am by the Shrubsole memorial statue in Kingston Market Place. Rides vary in distance from 60km-80km for the F1 and F2 groups up to 90-120km for the F3, F4 and F5 groups.

Other Rides

Keep an eye on our Forge Slack app where individuals or smaller groups organise other week-day informal rides.

Ride Groups

Everyone’s ride is important, and we split our rides into five categories, based on an expected average speed. Remember, you travel further and faster in a group ride and you can move between groups each week.

On our flat Thursday training rides, with all riders working effectively, the expected average speeds are listed below. But we go slower in the hills!

F1

Social pace

A good, steady pace

Flat 25-27kph

Hilly 21-24kph

F2

Ramping from F1 with elements of challenge on speed and distance

Flat 27-30kph

Hilly 24-26kph

F3

Those looking for a pacy, challenging ride

Flat 30-33kph

Hilly 26-28kph

F4

Sometimes a little longer than F3, a strong and pacy challenging ride

Flat 33-36kph

Hilly 27-30kph

F5

Race-type pace, often with race-type attacks

Flat 36-40kph+

Hilly 30-33kph+

Ride Safety

The No1 goal for every ride is that we all return safely and together.

Each ride has a Road Captain, someone who has planned and shared the route in advance and who will help guide the group around the day’s ride. It is important you take individual responsibility for the maintenance of your bike and equipment and know how far and where we are going. There will always be someone on hand to help – and we will never leave anyone on the roadside, but you are expected to bring a multi-tool, tyre levers, spare inner tubes, pump and a water bottle.

Riding safely in a group is paramount and understanding and heeding the highway code is not only the law but the safest way to ride. Please click here for British Cycling’s tips on group riding.

A Club Where You Know Everyone

Forge London is a diverse and inclusive club and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination.

We monitor the number of active members to ensure the right balance between a club that’s large enough to give all riders the challenge and enjoyment they require, while maintaining the friendliness and intimacy of a smaller club.

Sharing Your Targets

What do you want from your riding? Maybe it’s to become fitter, faster, to race at national level, train for a race, get a PB on a Surrey hill, break 30kph average speed on a ride to Windsor, sign-up for a sportive or simply to lose a kilogram or two.

Whatever your personal goal, if you want to, you can share it with the club. We want to help you get there and celebrate with you when you achieve it.

Learning From Others

From bike handling skills and the right equipment, to understanding the strange hand signals of group cyclists, Forge London will demystify and help explain how to be a better rider, giving tips and advice on how to ride safely in a group and, if required, advice on the best kit and equipment you may need.

New Routes and Broad Horizons

We love the rolling lanes of the Surrey Hills. Right on our doorstep, we have great routes, quiet back roads and challenging terrain throughout the county. But we also ride towards Windsor and the Great Park, on to Henley, the Chilterns and also head East to Kent and Sussex.

In the spring and summer months, we plan cycling trips away or a few days training in the sun. All are welcome and this could be Belgium, Majorca and mainland Spain, Yorkshire, Ireland or the Cotswolds. We might take on a French or Belgium classic sportive or plan a few days guided riding in the Dolomites.

One thing that is certain, whether riding in the UK or abroad, we always make sure there are great cafe stops en route and a social gathering in the evening.

Check out our Route library for inspiration and examples of the type of rides we go on.