£4.70 for Raspberry and Lemon cake 😳😳😳😳
So thinking of carrying a couple energy bars instead not mega miles max 30 on and off road mix so one a ride is plenty . Thought about making my own but cost of ingredients.
We use these. Only buy them when they are on offer
Malt loaf lunchbox, often on offer, few different flavours and can keep them in the freezer
Thought about making my own but cost of ingredients.
Bag of oats, syrup, butter, sugar.
Various things like dates, nuts, dried fruit etc and there's the ingredients there for multiple trays of flapjacks which will work out as pence per bar (depending on how big you cut them!)
Agree about cost of a cafe stop these days though, it'll easily be up at £8 for coffee and cake.
After years of buying expensive sport bars and gels now pretty much rely on Supermarket fruit cake and jelly babies.
Eg
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254947026
I pretty much gave up buying carby snacks a few years back, but recently needed something light and well packaged for a multi-day hike. Ended up with RawVelo bars as they seemed free from the usual additives. Happy to say they were very tasty too!!
Tesco 250g Jelly Babies, now £1.10, used to be ~90p during my "outdoor season" last year.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254573427
Couple babies every ~10mins with a swig of fluid from around half hour into ride, having eaten a banana with fluid just before heading off, if expecting to be out >2 hours.
Otherwise, just the banana beforehand.
Yes cake can be expensive. I take Naked bars (4 for £2) with me on a longer ride. Generally eat one every hour. I did try to carry home made flapjacks recently but found them difficult to access while riding e.g. they were a bit crumbly and I needed 2 hands to unwrap. What am I doing wrong?
Cafe stops are pretty much fundamental to my cycling, but even I winced when last weeks club stop came to nearly £8 for an amazing flat white and a pretty good slice of lemon and blueberry.
I was so concerned I rode back there today for lunch. A spectacularly posh fish finger cob with the most delicious salad was £9. And worth every penny.
they were a bit crumbly and I needed 2 hands to unwrap
More butter and or honey. If you make them dry they crumble. You need more sticky wet ingredients that don't just dry out in the oven
Mrs t-r does a mean flapjack
(One for aberdeenlune - I had a flat white and danish at park shop cafe today on my ride for 6 quid.....and even then I felt it was a proper treat at that price...... - it's nae quite the kirkmicheal garage coffees stop. Tin o coke and a caramel slice and change from 3 quid. )
Oh good shout trail-rat will try that next time I put the flapjacks on.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to Park shop cafe. It’s a bit far to go now from the new place. Kirkmichael however is on the Cairngorm road loop I have planned for the next sunny day long ride. £3 a proper bargain.
https://eattrek.com/products/protein-energy-bars/
I usually have one of these (peanut one) in my bag along with wine gums. I like the fact there is no chocolate on them to melt.
Home made Naked Bar recipe:
225g cashews, almonds, pecans or a combo of all of these
265g dates
60g raisins or sultanas
60g dried cranberries or cherries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Grind nuts in food processor.
Add fruit and flavours, mix again until it goes into a doughy lump. You might need to add a couple of teaspoons of water.
Spread the mixture into a lined loaf tin. Leave in fridge
It takes me about 20 mins, and I'm a cookery moron - literally, if I can do it then anyone can. It makes about 20 naked bar sized slices, and is delicious.
Just waiting for a bacon sandwich on artisan* bloomer bread at the fantastic Nutbrook Coffee Shop. £7.20 with a cappuccino.
*even though I've seen Chris collecting his artisan bloomer bread from Aldi in Ilkeston. This is possibly why I get a LOT of bacon in my sandwich here 🤣
So thinking of carrying a couple energy bars instead not mega miles max 30 on and off road mix so one a ride is plenty . Thought about making my own but cost of ingredients.
Wait - you are worried about cost so you want to buy gels? They're far more expensive.
Came to post what Molgrips said...cake may be expensive but eating a couple of energy bars isn't really the same, especially when you can easily spend £2 a bar. The first ones on Tracey's link are £2.29 each so if you are not organised enough to buy in advance when they are on offer, or even worse, but them in singles in the shop, it's expensive.
Even the tastiest energy bars are not going to trick you into eating a bit of carrot cake!
£18 for two coffees and 2 bacon sarnies in Cheddar on Saturday.
Wait.
So thinking of carrying a couple energy bars instead not mega miles max 30 on and off road mix so one a ride is plenty
I'm astounded you don't carry on your ride tbh.
yep. It needs budgeting for as much as anything else, bikes, consumables, servicing etc 😀Cafe stops are pretty much fundamental to my cycling
yep. Ridiculous really given what most on here spend on bikes etc!If I was a cafe owner, struggling to make ends meet with the rising costs, I would find theis thread most disheartening
This isn't the BBC so Soreen lunchbox loaf, fig biscuits, home bargains flapjacks for 30 something pence. A little over a quid for that lot, comparing what you spend on your bike is not a valid argument, there's plenty cafes worth saving that don't charge you the best part of a fiver for a cake, then cafes, especially tourist ones taking the you know what.
I wouldn’t carry a gel or consider stopping on a sub 30mile ride. I only tend to stop if it’s going to be 3hours plus of riding.
Tesco jelly babies, and nakd bars (or lidl equivalent) bought whenever they're cheap, for me. But I'll still grab a cake if I can. I'm at a point now where I basically don't want to ride without a little ziplock bag of jelly beans, it gets me anxious.
If you aren't bothered about sports products then you can buy big boxes of flapjacks. They are convenient. Blackfriars do them - but you can google to find loads of others. Supermarkets will do them as well. They are good because they are wrapped and have a long shelf life for when you don't have time to make them yourself.
I take Naked bars (4 for £2) with me on a longer ride. Generally eat one every hour
Not just me then 🙂
But I still budget for a cafe stop. I like cake
If I was a cafe owner, struggling to make ends meet with the rising costs, I would find theis thread most disheartening
I like to do my bit for local community businesses. Seem to have done about 10kg worth over the the last 6 months...
I wouldn’t carry a gel or consider stopping on a sub 30mile ride. I only tend to stop if it’s going to be 3hours plus of riding.
Thursday night - 14 miles, two pints, two packets of crisps. This morning, 8 miles, bacon cob and cappucino.....
Thought about making my own but cost of ingredients.
Almost like there's a reason why cake prices have gone up.
The staple from my student days was flapjack, dead easy to make just oats, syrup, sugar and butter. Ridiculous that not that (ok, it's getting to be a while, other people have had kids, who are now in uni since I started) I remeber the sugar, butter and oats all costing 50p a bag, which made several batches 😬.
As mentioned above please try and support your local cafes.
They are usually small enterprises, struggling with energy price rises, cost or ingredients going through the roof and finding it hard to get and pay staff.
I'm self employed and atm believe me it's been hard to even earn a minimum wage.
Maybe make your own bars but still buy a drink.
£4.70 for Raspberry and Lemon cake
What percentage of the cost of all your other cycling gear, including bike, is that? 😉
In all seriousness, if I'm out on my own I might buy a coffee but normally just have fruit pastilles, jelly babies, malt loaf etc. But the café is the better option by far...mmmmm...cake.
Sounds like you need to find a better cyclists cafe!
Cappuccino, Lemon & Blueberry Sponge (gluten free) for me, babyccino & Shortbread slice for the lad
Just over £6
And the cake slices are huge!!
Bikebus cafe near Cranfield, no use if it's not within riding distance for you though I guess!
Cafe stops are the part of the ride I most look forward to. A couple of energy bars at the side of the road/trail just don’t cut it I’m afraid
Fig rolls or homemade flapjacks. Keep the flapjack in the freezer and then it’s spot on for when you stop, it also stops it getting eaten out of boredom at home.
As mentioned above please try and support your local cafes.
if they are any good .....
too many shit cafes hanging on - you have one job and that's to be able to make a decent cup of coffee..
the milk/Coffee should not be scalding hot and tasting burnt - its not a cup of tea.
Hence i support my local- he makes good coffee and stands by his coffee conversations heard in shop "your coffees too cold" - "no my coffee is the correct temperature" or "ill have a hazelnut latte"* - "no you wont - youll have to go to banchory for that nonsense"
*My wife was the one asking.
I quite like taking a massive lump of Soreen malt loaf cut into
Slices and buttered then wrapped in foil. ‘Fruity 5 loaf’ is my favourite version right now - it’s a bit less stodgy then the original
Bikebus cafe near Cranfield
I've not been there in ages but I do remember it being very reasonably priced.
If I was a cafe owner, struggling to make ends meet with the rising costs, I would find theis thread most disheartening
I didn't realise that when I bought my first bike years ago that I was signing up to support every local business that I rode past, or that owning a bike meant that rising costs didn't apply to me.
£7.70 for a lemon Fanta and limoncello cheesecake yesterday, in Banwen, which is about as far from anywhere as possible. Nice place, I might even take my wife for a meal there. But, lemon Fanta and cheesecake for £7.70? That's not happening regularly.
It was about £4 for my millionaire's shortbread on Saturday but it was:
A: Bloody lush, one of the best I've ever had.
B: Served at Spokes Cycles, one of my favorite bike cafes in the UK, they even have an Emu, I think that's worth £4.
C: They do a coffee & cake for £6 combo for all you miserable skinflints out there.
If you're in East Herts in the lanes near Welwyn, check 'em out.
I didn’t realise that when I bought my first bike years ago that I was signing up to support every local business
You don't have to, but £9 on Sunday for double espresso, can of fancy lemonade that wasn't san pelegrino, and a massive slice of chocolate cake at the Saddleback cafe in the Chilterns.
That's not bad value when you consider it's the only actual cost of a 5 hour club ride.
Yes I could buy cake in Tesco, but it would be a miserable club run that ended at Tesco. Although someone did once lead a run that ended at Sainsbury's cafe in Basingstoke, I don't think they were asked to lead again 😂.
That’s not bad value when you consider it’s the only actual cost of a 5 hour club ride.
Yes I could buy cake in Tesco, but it would be a miserable club run that ended at Tesco.
Yes, obviously there's a difference between raiding Lidl's cake shelves and a decent cafe, but that's not what the OP was asking. I read it as the cafe stop is becoming too expensive so I'll carry my own supplies, not asking to be guilt tripped into even more expensive cafe stops. 😀
Home made Naked Bar recipe
@easily, just made these. They are bloody lovely - thanks! I quite like Naked bars but these are far, far superior! Pretty calorific mind, so I'm going to have to resist chomping straight through them!
(also: beyond Stuff Being More Expensive, Cost Of Living Crisis, etc, don't forget that if you're wincing at an £8 cafe stop and thinking that you remember it being four quid at some point in the past, you may be shocked to see what inflation has done to the value of your money in the past twenty years; Bank of England's inflation calculator suggests that £4 in 2003 would be equivalent to £6.83 this March.)
Just buy the damned cake. You’re supporting a small local company (I assume) and it’ll be much nicer than a Clif bar or other energy bar.
They’re tasty, eh? I know what you mean about not eating the whole lot in one go.
I didn’t mind Nakd bars getting more expensive, but I didn’t like it when they kept shrinking. It took me about four goes to get the tight consistency.
Anyway, that was my attempt at Bakewell Tart. I’m going to try putting in dried blueberries next to get the blueberry muffin flavour.
too many shit cafes hanging on – you have one job and that’s to be able to make a decent cup of coffee..
Usually easy to tell though - anything in a tourist resort or beachfront cafe is going to be along those lines.
North Coast 500 and similar tourist routes are a lottery of shit cafes and overpriced pubs but venture even a few hundred metres off the beaten track and you'll (usually) find something much better.
Locally I've got a mental list of good reliable cafes, places that are decent but slow and places that I wouldn't stop at even if they were offering free coffee.
It's why, in unfamiliar places, I'm often relieved to find a Costa, Nero, McDonald's etc. Standard reliable fare, you get pretty much the same from Devon to Dundee!
Absentmindedly bought a slice of carrot cake today, my brother paid for it, only afterwards I found out it was £6. Kinda mortified tbh, it was really nice though
Where abouts was that?!
or spend 5 mins on TripAdvisor and find/support a decent indie. 🤷♂️ (I will make exception for the mcD brekkie though 😂)It’s why, in unfamiliar places, I’m often relieved to find a Costa, Nero, McDonald’s etc.
Interesting responses as usual from the STW collective 😉 Thought I'd share this little tale . When I retired I started volunteering for Sustrans . We've been on a few led rides and there's been a theme . We stop at a cafe with a garden some of the group sit as far away as possible from the cafe and munch their own food on the premises 🙄 The last ride we did it was too cold to sit outside the pub and it was outside bar opening time . They rustled up some basic coffees which were welcome as a warm up and usual pub snacks .
I stared in amazement when one of our group set out his own picnic in the bar ! Sarnies, crisps fruit etc and merrily chomped away oblivious to what I thought was out of order 🙄He did buy a hot drink but I think he thought that entitled him to have a feast
I did bring this up at a meeting, that as an Active Travel charity shouldn't we be seen to be supporting local businesses or if not just sit in a park and eat out own grub . That met with a stony silence, newcomer upsetting the apple cart . The chairman eventually thanked me for my comment something to consider in the future. Thing is he was one of the culprits 😞
We've got a group ride in a few weeks with a cafe stop it'll be interesting to see what happens 🤔
the only time that's slightly acceptable is if you've got a very small child who's a bit fussy.. otherwise, i'm a no on that.
Something like an entergy bar out of your pocket while drinkng their coffee, maybe... sandwiches and picnic, nah.
I remember when Clif bars tasted disgusting, and, therefore, must be full of whatever it was that makes you ride far ans fast.
They now taste palatable, which makes me suspicious.
Yeah, that's a point. Trying to eat a PowerBar was harder than the last couple of climbs at the end of a long day. They were like bricks.
Nakd/Trek are a great choice, as are Bounce balls.
If we're out riding and passing through a new village, town or other unknown to us, I always ask a local. Usually they know the best eateries and these are often tucked away down little side streets, or slightly out of town. We've found some brilliant little cafes from 'just asking'.
I stared in amazement when one of our group set out his own picnic in the bar !
Haha, the old 'CTC' crew used to be legendary for their feats of tightness, this kind of thing is 100% within standard norms for that crowd.
I've been in a cafe and seen one ask for 'hot water' assumed it was for lemsip or something similar, but no as soon as the steaming mug touched the table a carefully wrapped teabag and a little flask of milk appeared from his saddlebag, utterly shameless.
If you're a bike shop and see a Dawes Galaxy with downtube shifters, a set of threadbare RonHill tracksters and a 20 year old Carradice saddle bag heading towards you, be afraid.