5 clubs and groups you can join, with training nights, fees and the beginner route into each.
In its 27th year as of February 2025 by its own count, so founded 1999, about 250 members, £10 a year via Spond, over-18s. Rides go up on Spond weekly, mainly at weekends, usually from a rail station into the Home Counties: 30 to 100 km, three to six hours, coffee and lunch stops, graded Relaxed, Moderate or Challenging. A free Sunday in the Park laps session twice a month is the way to try it.
Sun · Free · Beginners
Founded September 2021 by Julian Gregory, British Cycling accredited, and by its own description London's largest LGBTQ+ cycling club, with over 500 rides a year. £35 a year via Spond, over-18s, helmet mandatory, confident over 30 km. Weekdays are park laps in Regent's Park and Richmond Park; weekends go out of London in speed tiers from green to red.
Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri · Beginners
Formed in 1995, part of International Front Runners, over 600 members and seven weekly social runs. All but one start from a leisure centre with changing rooms and lockers, a leader runs with you on your first night, and there is dinner or brunch after. Your first month is free; then £56 a year.
Central · Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat, Tue · Beginners
Established in Hackney in 2019, a community interest company since March 2023, and for gay, bi and trans people rather than allies. Every session is coached, an hour long, and ends with a social. Sessions are booked in the BEND app, which is also where the prices are; Monday beginners is listed as free.
East · Mon, Tue, Sat · Free · Beginners
Formed in 2021 by friends who like long distances; the first ride was London to Cambridge that September, and the fifth anniversary ride is Saturday 19 September 2026. Rides go up on Heylo for 284 active members: 7am laps of Regent's Park on Tuesdays and Fridays at a deliberately sedate pace with coffee at 8am, and most weekends a ride out. The only requirement, in their words, is a bike.
Tue, Fri · Beginners
New clubs, changed training nights, and the occasional weekend. No more than that.
A weekend away with a group of gay men, and nothing to prove.