FLAT 100 km (62 mile) ride from Garforth, Saturday 4th July, 2026

[ColinJ]

***** ColinJ's forum rider tag list *****
Fellow forum riders, I am planning another ride!
@colly, @neil_merseyside, @Sea of vapours, @Domus, @Julia9054, @Spiderweb, @Slioch, @EasyPeez, @Kestevan, @Venod, @Soltydog, @NorthernDave, @Buck, @si_c, @videoman, @FrothNinja, @Vantage, @Dadam, @Jameshow

If anybody wants their name to be added to the list, let me know.

(If anybody wants their name to be removed, let me know, but... )

NB Make sure that you have enabled tag alerts in your account preferences - HERE (tick 'mentions you in a message')

(Yes, I know some are already signed up for this ride, or can't make it, but I copy and paste the list from one ride to the next so I don't want to edit it.)
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I fancy doing the Garforth forum ride again this year, after skipping it last year.

It is a VERY flat route. I used to tackle it on my singlespeed bike and only had difficulty on one short climb, but even that has been removed on this modified route through Tadcaster. My bike now has 6 gears but I will whack it in the old singlespeed gear and leave it there all day!

The route will be that of the 2024 ride - see attached GPX file. First choice for the cafe stop is Roast Coffee Shop, just as we leave Tadcaster. We have used that a couple of times. The cafe is usually quite busy inside, but we sat at tables outside where we could keep an eye on the bikes. Note though that the other rides were much earlier in the year so there is a good chance that the cafe will be heaving with customers in early July!

That cafe is at the 52 km point. If the cafe is too busy or the weather is too grotty to sit outside, we could go on to our other choice of stop at Cawood Park at the 65 km point. Make sure that you have enough food and drink to get you to Cawood, just in case.

Provisional date is Saturday, 4th July, 2026. Keep an eye on updates at the end of the thread. If for some reason the ride has to be put back, let's pencil in the following Saturday as a backup date.

I will be coming in by train along with my pal Bill who has been on a few of my forum rides, but is not a forum member. Allowing for the advertised arrival time of our train, let's meet at the car park at Garforth station [NOT East Garforth station!] at around 10:10 with a view to leaving ASAP after that.

Is anybody interested in joining us?

GPX viewer


PS I was going to make it an earlier Saturday but something came up on the 20th and it turns out that York races are taking place on the 27th so the trains could be heaving/delayed.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Flat? What have you done with the real @ColinJ?

 

[ColinJ]

Flat? What have you done with the real @ColinJ?

He got old and knackered!

I like this route because it is about as easy as a 100 km ride can be. I hope to do a few of my more challenging routes later in the summer though.

 

[Dadam]

Count me in, this is my favourite forum ride

 

[ColinJ]

Count me in, this is my favourite forum ride

Super. That's 3 of us so far. It would be nice to get (say) 6-8 in total, so I will return to the thread at least a couple more times to try to stimulate interest.

For those of you might be up for the ride but are super-fussy about what surfaces you ride on, I now include this minor warning after a couple of people once complained...

NB We use the cycle path from Wetherby to Spofforth, where a railway line used to run. The surface is generalIy very good. There are a few gravelly sections and minor bumps here and there but I have ridden it multiple times on 25C slick tyres and had no problems with it. If there had been a lot of rain in the days leading up to the ride, there would probably be a few puddles and a bit of mud, but that's the worst of it. Don't ride a bike that you feel precious about; any other bike would do!

My original route took The Lines path back up to Garforth but that one WAS sometimes a bit too rough and mucky for me so we now use the road through Kippax instead.

 

[steverob]

That date is during my LEJOG attempt but I thought I'd take a look at the map anyway just to see if you guys were going to cross my route, but unfortunately we're on opposite sides of the Pennines. That day I'll be riding from Leigh to Carnforth.

 

[ColinJ]

That date is during my LEJOG attempt but I thought I'd take a look at the map anyway just to see if you guys were going to cross my route, but unfortunately we're on opposite sides of the Pennines. That day I'll be riding from Leigh to Carnforth.

Oh well, it would probably have been very difficult to make sure that crossed the same point at the same time anyway. Enjoy your LEJOG!

I had an overnight stay at The County in Carnforth when I rode an extended version of The Bay Way with a pal.