Ride the Roding - GPX Route
Ride Level: Blue - Moderate
Gravel/CX MTB | GPX Route | Traffic-free | Natural, Gravel and Single Track | 43 km/27 miles | 4 to 5 hours
Great combo of easy riding trails along rivers, through forests and through the occasional concrete jungle. An all-weather gravel ride based in East London that explores the quiet River Roding and Hainault Forest returning to Stratford across the Fairlop Waters.
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Ride Description
Starting At Stratford Station the route follows quiet roads towards the Wanstead flats, the very southern tip of Epping Forest. Crossing these former grazing grounds to the Roding where the route heads north on a series of well-made Gravel Paths. If it’s hot take is a dip in the Luxborough Lakes (pre-booking required – see notes for details) before leaving the Valley and heading towards Chigwell.
Leaving the Roding, the route passes Chigwell Row to reach Hainault Forest, with its labyrinth of tracks and trails, take time to explore these open-access woodlands.
Heading back towards London past Redbridge Cycling Centre, aka Hog Hill on the right, if you have time, go and play on the MTB trails there before turning left into Fairlop Waters, a series of old gravel pits that have now been taken over by sailing boats and assorted birds including some very tame Canada Geese.
Q6 cycle route park hops its way back to Wanstead Park from which you retrace your steps back to Stratford.
Start and End Points
Start/Finish: Mitcham Eastfields
Ride Details
- Distance: 43 km | 27 miles
- Climb: 370 m | 1200 ft
- Percentage off-road: 60%
- Trail surface: Natural | Gravel | Cycle Paths | Single Track
- Technical Grade: Moderate - Easy non-technical off-road riding
- Mudometer: Green - most of the route is on all-weather gravel tracks
Places to Visit
8 miles: Wild Swim in Luxbrough lakes (Book in advance with Be Endurance Open Water Swimming)
17 miles: Redbridge Cycling Centre (aka Hog Hill)
Places to Eat
14 miles: The Two Brewers - Chigwell Row
Is this ride for me?
Ideal for riders with some off-road experience and reasonable fitness
Is my bike OK for this ride?
The route can be completed using a hybrid bike fitted with knobbly tyres, or a gravel/CX bike or mountain bike.
Reviews
Customer Reviews
Relatively easy ride this one. Starting from Stratford, it picks up a surprisingly lush track alongside the Roding as it winds towards Hainault and Chigwell. The paths are very picturesque, but bear in mind that most of this part of the ride takes place directly alongside the North Circular / M11 so it is not especially peaceful.
The route goes through several parks - Hainault Forest, Wanstead Flats and Fairlop Country park, all of which are pleasant and have plenty of scope to explore more widely before you continue on the main route. There are some road sections - mainly a few residential back roads to get to / from Stratford.
The whole route comprises plenty of easy riding through mostly well maintained gravelly tracks, so nothing especially demanding, either technically or in terms of climbing effort. Just be warned that quite a bit of the single track on this route is very narrow and there are nettles / brambles overhanging the path for quite a lot of it. You’ll get through OK, but do think about having arms / legs covered, even if it’s warm.
