We like a coffee here at road.cc especially when combined with a bike ride, that’s why road.cc is sponsoring the inaugural award for ‘The UK’s Best Coffee Stop For Cyclists’ at the 2015 UK Coffee Stop Awards.
There are lots of other awards too including Coolest Coffee Shop, and best cakes and bakes (a personal favourite that one) you can check out the full list of awards and vote at www.coffeestopsuk.com.
To vote pop over to www.coffeestopsuk.com and select the award category you want to vote in. Then type the name of the coffee shop into the coffee shop finder - the name of your fave coffee stop should then pop up allowing you to select it and vote. If the finder doesn't find your favourite coffee stop because it is too new or too much of a well kept secret you can still vote for it and help other people to vote for it too by emailing its details to helen [at] bluedotworld.com and it will be added to the coffeestopuk.com database along with your vote for it.
Not only does the winning coffee shop receive a prestigious plaque to put on the wall, but the winning coffee shop owner gets a complete set of Vulpine cycling kit so they can join you for a ride while still looking stylish by the milk frother too.
The prize includes a Vulpine Harrington Jacket, Polo Shirt, Shorts, Race Socks, a pair merino boxers for maximum cycling comfort and all topped off with a cap - all the kit is available in male or female versions. Better still, everyone who votes will be entered in to a prize draw and one lucky voter will also get a matching set of Vulpine kit.
So what makes a great cycling friendly coffee shop?
Well a warm welcome for cyclists is a good start and obviously great coffee and cake is a big help too, but if your coffee stop goes that extra mile, with bike parking or the use of a spare pump… or even an attached bike shop, that’s got to be worth a vote too. Whatever it is that makes a must visit destination on your weekend ride or daily commute has got to be worth a vote!
Voting is open now and until the awards are given out at the Caffe Culture Show in London on 13th May. http://www.caffecultureshow.com.
The awards are run by cyclist and author Chris Ward - last year we covered his six times up Mount Ventoux in a day ride /content/news/131013-video-london-cyclist-tackles-mont-ventoux-6-times-1-day - so he knows a bit about being fuelled by fine caffeine. You can vote for any coffee stop in the UK - if you have any trouble finding your favourite on the site please email chris chris [at] workwhereyoulike.com
Vote now at www.coffeestopsuk.com
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29 comments
http://www.bicycling.com/culture/brompton/brompton-creates-hip-brooklyn-...
some comments a bit harsh - site does work but they need to sort their domain so it resolves with non-www. and www. but that's road.cc fault for not proofing their post first.
Couldn't find my local stop - http://www.cafevelobeverley.co.uk/
"It has never been difficult to tell the difference between a Road CC commenter with a grievance and a ray of sunshine."
P.G. Wodehouse-on-a-bike
doesnt work for me either!
Capheaton Tea Rooms would get my vote
Vote NOW for best cake! http://www.coffeestopsuk.com/shop/0505-18506/
It took me a while to get it listed
Foursquare ? might have been popular a few years ago. Try google places for listings
Just getting the 123 Reg thing as well.
this is my local http://www.musettecaffe.com
Don't British cyclists go to tea stops? Oops showing my age and how long I've been cycling!
haha I remember starting out riding when it was all tea stops as well. You could taste the lumps of lard in the cakes too!
Doesn't work. coffee stop suk doesn't seem a too clever.
Good luck with it.
Anyway - I'm not a coffee drinker.
Tea & toasted tea cake, that's another matter.
I've nominated the Bike Bus, the best place for cyclists banter, coffee and superb cake and run by an ex-pro racer.
https://www.facebook.com/bikebusgep?fref=ts
Fail. They lost me with "Best for Britain's Cyclists"... what about us Northern Irish cyclists?
I know there is a mixture of 'UK' and 'Britain' on the website, but which bit of this
from the post immediately above yours did you not get ? It's from the organisers and was posted 20-odd minutes before yours.... or did you just fancy a little tantrum ?
Hi, I'm the person who's running the awards. Thanks for all the comments. We ran this in London last year and it was hugely successful and thankfully so many coffee shops reported a rise in their business because of the awards and having a great way to engage their customers. Last years London finalists for 'Best Cycling cafe' were Rapha Cycle Club, Peloton & Co, Look Mum No Hands! (Old St), Cadence Cycling and Giro (Esher) - with Look Mum winning!
Everyone asked us to expand it to the UK. - its a hobby project of mine - not a lot of money in this So therefore these awards. We've included everyone we can find but as it says on the site please mail helen [at] bluedotworld.com and we can add any cycle / coffee shop in the UK by the evening of the same day.
We have pulled all data from 4sq as this is the only way we can get close to finding and including everyone - there are around 10,000 coffee shops in the database. We also took the decision to include chains generally as they are still more popular that the independents and their involvement will help raise the profile of the whole sector.
The awards are a genuine effort to try and support this sector - I wrote the book on it ?! - and have been cycling and supporting these shops for 12 years now
I hope you vote for your favourite and through the awards maybe discover a few more that maybe worth stopping off at
cheers
Chris
@chrisatcoffice
Flag Bikes Battersea, Great Coffee & a Great Service
Got feedback from them: they used Foursquare to lit the cafés. So if the owner doesn't play their particular flavour of social media BS game, they aren't listed.
Anyway, you can email helen [at] bluedotworld.com to get your local added.
What a waste of time! Total bollocks.
No way to add the only Cycling Cafe in Cambridge: Espresso Library.
This is going well.
If you want a rest, cake and some hot liquid down your throat there are many cafes to choose from, if you want coffee excellence, you are limited.
All the best coffee shops are in Central London, where there's not much cycling to be done, Prufrock, Workshop etc. If you're bothered about "Speciality Coffee", the best shop outside London is probably Colonna & Small's in Bath, run by Maxwell, the UK barista champion. He is a true pioneer in the field.
It's a bit early to be gunning for Most Obviously Wrong-Arsed Comment Of The Year, isn't it?
wot?!
Looks like a nonsense voting system. We should really just be expressing a preference for particular shops over other particular shops. If we just say which one we like its a contest for the best-known, not the best.
There may be a little known shop somewhere that people who know prefer to all the other shops.
I had no problems and they had the best in Glasgow listed, Laboritario Espresso which was frequented by Sir Bradley last year at the Commonwealth Games.
my fav is The Forge in Allendale - Northumberland!
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Allendale+Forge+Studios/@54.897008,-2.255619,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x487db72745153645:0xd390086545db2502
They also have lots of Starbucks and local ones to me that really aren't cyclist friendly... (no bike racks outside at all, for example).
…So then you type the name of the coffee shop in to the big box (either at the top or bottom of the page) that says "Type to find your coffee shop" in it and it will either pick out the shop or give you a list of shops of the same name in various locations so you can select the right one; and then you can vote for it in the category(s) of your choice.
Pretty sure it already says that in the copy, but maybe I need to explain it more clearly.
Screen Shot 2015-05-05 at 15.35.09.png
...soon to be able to vote for the BEST flapjack in the UK: The Tea Cosy, Hurstbourne Tarrant, North Hampshire Downs AONB.
The web site is "working" now, but is awful. Definitely a marketing fail.
Marketing fail, the site isn't up, the domain appears parked at 123-reg