when I first started riding, with the ctc, a morning and a afternoon café stop, were the order of the day.
I used to have a handbook with all the Yorkshire region cafes listed.
a few are open still, also a few still have the ctc winged wheel sign up.

Like someone up there, I don’t “get” cafe stops. If I’m on a bike ride, I want to ride my. I can be persuaded with a beer or a coffee at the end of a ride but stopping halfway just seems alien to me.

Like someone up there, I don’t “get” cafe stops. If I’m on a bike ride, I want to ride my. I can be persuaded with a beer or a coffee at the end of a ride but stopping halfway just seems alien to me.

I think there’s a whole different set of riders here, from short-blast riders, through trail centre lunatics, XC racers and marathon endurance head cases and each have their own expectations.

Personally, I can’t see myself riding for 6 or 7 hours _without_ some form of stop, be it a sarnie by the trail, or a cafe and proper food. My legs simply can’t keep going for that long. The difference here is that for some people that’s a normal Saturday ride, and for others this would be a once-a-year-epic. We’re all different 🙂

For myself, I normally have my son with me, so a cafe stop is a motivator to get him round. It’s also a vital point in the ride to stuff him full of calories as he doesn’t carry the same weight of pies wrapped around his middle as his dad (sigh, I remember when I looked like him!)

I think there’s a whole different set of riders here, from short-blast riders, through trail centre lunatics, XC racers and marathon endurance head cases and each have their own expectations.

That’s fair.
I tend to be time short so, whether I have an hour of 8 hours spare, if that time i allocated to bike riding then it will all be used. Food tends to be a banana, a gel or an energy bar on the move.

i also think it depends what kind of cycling background you have.
as a lifelong tourist, hunting cafe’s out is all part of a ride.

Rare to get much change out of a fiver for coffee and a cake these days (Peaks).

I enjoy a good coffee, so its part of the ride for me. I still miss the Beanabout wagon that used to be at the Stanage Plantation carpark – they’d be out in all kinds of weather, likewise Jolleys at the top of Curbar Gap (who are still going). I feel supporting enterprises like that is a really good thing.

Don’t tend to stop if I’m out for much less than 4 hrs, but much over that and I need something approaching a proper break, and I’d always rather have real food than an energy bar or (god forbid) a gel.

When touring I use cafes. When just out for the day only if the folk I am with want to go to one.

I’ve never ever stopped at a cafe on a bike ride

it’s a huge part of UK roadie culture though, most weekend club runs have a café as a ‘destination’. Our club puts out different paced rides, but they aim to meet at the same café at roughly the same time to be sociable.

Going rate in SE seems to be £2.50 coffee + £2.50 cake.

MTB: when the Thai van is at Chicksands I tend to spend all the cash I’m carrying!

Most rides seem to start at a cafe rather than head towards, I live 1min from where several road clubs and informal groups meet for road rides heading south out of London, there are now 3 cafe’s to choose from all less than 1min apart, one has been there for years, another a cycle specific shop/cafe/workshop and a new one has just opened run by cycle club members which does the best coffee but has limited bike parking.
I guess it’s nice to have the choice.
You will need more than a fiver though.

A tenner….

If I’m on the MTB it’s Peaslake stores as already mentioned numerous times.

If I’m on the road bike there are a few ranging from cheap to expensive; depends where I ride really although living and riding in Surrey my definition of cheap is probably different to yours.

If I’m riding with Italians it’s a coffee before we start (strong, short, black w/sugar) at least once during the ride and again at the end of the ride.

I’m literally buzzing when I get home.

As with a bunch of others here on the mtb it’s Peaslake Village Stores. I go for sausage roll, cheese straw and a coffee for less than a fiver but I’m definitely going to try some of the other pastry related items noted above.

On the road bike it could be a few places, but the most regular for me at the moment is the cafe at the top of Box Hill. Get there nice and early, soup, coffee and flapjack for somewhere in the region of £6 I think.

£11, if you are in Morrisons surely binners?

tonyg2003 – Member
Peaslake store is an oasis of quality and value, especially compared to our usual road bike meet up in South West London burbs which is a swanky roadie based cafe with £5k made to measure carbon frames on the wall and reassuringly expensive expressos.

Giro in Esher?

We do Peaslake Village Store, Denbies (with the 20% cyclist’s discount), Leith Hill Tower, the Medicine Garden in Cobham, Hanger Cafe at Fairoaks Airfield, BikeBeanz, Pilgrim Cycles, Tanhouse Cafe in Newdigate,
Beer is either very close to home on the way back, or after returning, showering and eating.

£4.70 today – filter coffee and the most amazing raspberry and vanilla scone 😯

Filter coffee can **** off but that scone looks good 🙂

Filter coffee can **** off but that scone looks good

Even worse, by the look of it, its contaminated too!

Edit:

I tend to be time short so, whether I have an hour of 8 hours spare, if that time i allocated to bike riding then it will all be used.

What do you do for water resupplies. I find that on a 4+hr ride then a cafe stop makes sense as I can get some real food, a caffeine hit and get my bottles filled all in one go.

Another “not bothered about cafe stops” rider here.

I spend enough of my daily life sitting down eating cakes and drinking tea, I don’t need to do it when I could be riding my bike instead!

Slight derailment but, am i right in thinking you’re in Boroughbridge or some such essel? (Sorry for the stalkery question)

Could do with trying to catch up with someone local to encourage me to get off my backside at some point.

I still miss the Beanabout wagon that used to be at the Stanage Plantation carpark – they’d be out in all kinds of weather, likewise Jolleys at the top of Curbar Gap (who are still going).

The Beanabout wagon was great wasn’t it? I used to love getting a coffee and having a chat with them in the drizzle …

and +1 for Jolly’s – they’ve saved the day on a couple of occasions on 100Km+ rides when I’ve had enough of energy bars etc
(although I think ‘Louis’ is in for repairs at the moment)

but to answer the OP these days it can be anything from a couple of quid to a fiver upwards. I don’t mind if the coffee is good and the cake is [homemade] and fresh. I’m disapointed with ‘bean-to-cup’ machines and ‘celophane’ wrapped cake portions that are clearly quite a few days old which is sadly what started to happen at the Woodbine in Hope.

@AP

Yes Giro in Esher. Lovely cycling culture but amazingly expensive kit for sale on the walls – do they ever sell any of it?

To your list add Domestique in Bookham as a lovely cycling café with great caféand the H Van on Ranmore (good for MTBers too). We generally head out further south for café stops.

Some sort of sandwich/panini/rarebit, a slice of cake and a coffee is usually £7-9 around here in the Peaks although I avoid the more touristy cafes.

Same in the Lakes; avoid the tourist places and just go to Wilfs!

Cafe?
They’re closed by the time we finish riding
Usually about a tenner each in the pub then a slightly more perilous (traffic free)ride home.

Cider and slippy mud/leaves is always a great combination!

Budget for a fiver for coffee and cake on the south coast.

a couple of places are (significantly) cheaper and a couple of places are over. They have to make sure it;s worth it to be over otherwise we’re not coming back.

I’m disapointed with ‘bean-to-cup’ machines and ‘celophane’ wrapped cake portions

+1, Value is pretty important. I don’t mind instant coffee but i don;t wanna pay more than £1.

Swinley = overpriced: coffee average cake crap. Still a fiver.

Me & dezbjr stopped at QE Park’s cafe, which I thought was quite expensive. But we had a drink, 2 slices of cake, and 2 chiabattas, came to £13, pretty average I suspect.
We waddled happily back to the car. Cake was good.
(As a season ticket holder I’ve got a 10% voucher but forgot to use it)

What do you do for water resupplies.

Make sure i’m very hydrated before I leave, 2 full bottles, and then stop as needed. Churches almost always have an outside tap to fill bottles with.