If you go down to the Fforest today, take a TentBox
Last month we were invited to FForest Gran Fondo a wonderful cycling event that dispenses with cycling’s often pervasive power meters and occasional bro-vibes, in favour of good old fashioned bonhomie and good-times - all set in the beautiful Welsh countryside above Cardigan Bay.
The event plays out over three days in early May and sells out fast, mostly I suspect with returning FForesters who probably don’t tell anyone else where they’re going, so not too many people find out about it!
Sam Weeks from Gun Control Custom Paint loading up the truck at Unit 2. Photo Helen Boast.
Everyone there is on a bicycle so you can expect some wonderful riding - there is some very testing riding round here, and routes for all appetites - but for most of the event cycling is just a small part of what for the rest of the weekend is less exertion, more an exercise in switching off.
The setting helps. James, Rhian and son Jackson have created an oasis of calm in what must have originally been a pretty fantastic to relax even before they worked their magic on the place.
But magic they have worked and nestled in every nook, hollow and natural cranny is something else designed to help you unwind, wether that’s the iced lemon and rosemary scented water that seemingly never runs out, or the timber barns in which you collect your boiled eggs at in the mornings, or the completely unobtrusive way in which almost everything you need and nothing you don’t just finds it’s way into your hand, mouth, ears, or nostrils.
The whole place feels like heaven.
Fforest is located near Cardigan. We approached via some tiny lanes, with the bikes loaded on top of the truck. Photo Helen Boast.
It does this all without feeling in the slightest bit ostentatious, in fact it feels deliberately low-key and the welcome is more like that of heading to the front gate of a dear friends house than an organised event, or fancier venue.
The fixtures and fittings are beautifully considered, but at the same time ever-so-humble, natural looking, with rough sawn timber and old stone, enamel mugs, higgledy piggled bales and a hotch-potch of random but somehow matching chairs, set in accidentally wonderful beds of wild flowers. A plaid shirt is optional but clearly encouraged.
Photo Helen Boast
There’s a number of options for accommodation - none especially cheap but all very well thought out - that range from camping, to glamping, to pods and chalets, to farmhouse cottages, with each option taking you further up into the hill (or into your overdraft) and up into the peace amongst the planting.
We were invited by the recently rebooted Bespoked show team who are curating a number of Bespoked branded events to drive interest in the show and the handmade builders that they champion. This is a perfect setting for it, with plenty of cycling fans on site, but all of them seemingly self selecting something out of the ordinary just by choosing Fforest; ideal people to be chatting to about custom bikes then perhaps.
I would usually arrive almost anywhere in my trusty transit van, sneaking in under the radar almost anywhere, but on this occasion it was in for a service so I wasn’t in such a nondescript vehicle this time.
To tide me over and get me to the event though the guys at Group1 Ford in Guildford had lent me a rather more outrageous vehicle that on arrival I realised looked completely out of place. It was a special edition MS-RT Ranger 4x4 pick-up truck on big suspension and chunky tyres, covered in MS-RT stickers in black, white and Orange. More max power than healing power.
We fitted the truck with a TentBox and had six Spoon Custom or Enve bikes strapped on with Thule Freeride bike carriers, on top of four roof bars. The truck was quite a sight and apart from the slight discomfort of turning up to such a peaceful event in a truck that would make Bo Duke question if he’d over specced it was brilliant fun to drive around in and turned out to be perfect for carting all of our event kit.
The Tentbox really was the surprise star of the trip for us too. The weekend before the trip I’d met Dom from TentBox at the London Cycle Show. I realised I didn’t have any camping gear so got chatting to his team and asked if I could borrow one. To my surprise the guys said yes, and a few days later I was on my way to their place in Southampton to pick one up.
We didn’t get paid to take it, but I feel compelled to write about it, as it was just so much fun.
The TentBox Cargo - their top of the range model I believe - is best described as a big clamshell with a three man tent packed down inside. When you get to where you’re going you open two latches, give the lid a push, and the gas struts which run down the side of the unit when packed down come to life and erect your tent for you. You then pop in two struts to make the porch, extend the ladder, and climb in. That’s literally it.
We took a duvet or two and a couple of pillows, but the kit comes with a packable synthetic down bag, so you can get away with just the stuff they supply if you need to, and the integrated mattress is pure luxury compared to a normal tent. Packing down is just as simple, and when you’re done you just shut the lid and drive away.
I’ve often scoffed at the thought of roof tents - assuming they were designed for Land Rovers in the Serengeti but having now used one I’m a complete convert and have to admit I think they’re actually brilliant, adding a really convenient extra layer of fun and comfort to a UK camping trip too. There’s something really exciting about being behind the wheel of a go-anywhere truck with your house packed down on the roof too. It feels really liberating.
The TentBox Cargo which we used for the trip is £2750 to buy and fits any car with roof bars available. Thule supply a number of roof bar set ups like the ones we used for the Ranger. The rear bars fitted to the load compartment were made for the roll top and were not Thule.
MS-RT Spec Rangers are available to order through Group 1 Ford in Guildford and other Ford Main dealers.
FForest Gran Fondo is just one event in a packed calendar at the venue, and I believe their restaurants and accommodation are open throughout the year. Food is incredible, and the welcome is unbelievable. It’s just wonderful there, bicycles or not. Check out their website to find out more.
Thanks to Petor & Josh and the team from Bespoked for making it all happen for us this year and to everyone who stopped by to chat about our bikes.