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Vote now for the UK's Best Coffee Stop for Cyclists! (Sponsored by road.cc)

…and you could win a set of cool Vulpine cycling kit too

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

road.cc's founder and first editor, nowadays to be found riding a spreadsheet. Tony's journey in cycling media started in 1997 as production editor and then deputy editor of Total Bike, acting editor of Total Mountain Bike and then seven years as editor of Cycling Plus. He launched his first cycling website - the Cycling Plus Forum at the turn of the century. In 2006 he left C+ to head up the launch team for Bike Radar which he edited until 2008, when he co-launched the multi-award winning road.cc - finally handing on the reins in 2021 to Jack Sexty. His favourite ride is his ‘commute’ - which he does most days inc weekends and he’s been cycle-commuting since 1994. His favourite bikes are titanium and have disc brakes, though he'd like to own a carbon bike one day.

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29 comments

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allgearnoidea | 9 years ago
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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/

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KirinChris | 9 years ago
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"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

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mickcee | 9 years ago
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doesnt work for me either!

Capheaton Tea Rooms would get my vote

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miles_from_anywhere | 9 years ago
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Vote NOW for best cake! http://www.coffeestopsuk.com/shop/0505-18506/
It took me a while to get it listed  2

Foursquare ? might have been popular a few years ago. Try google places for listings  40

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Ghedebrav | 9 years ago
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Just getting the 123 Reg thing as well.  39

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daviej | 9 years ago
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this is my local http://www.musettecaffe.com  1

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bikeandy61 | 9 years ago
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Don't British cyclists go to tea stops? Oops showing my age and how long I've been cycling!  39  35

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AJ101 replied to bikeandy61 | 9 years ago
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bikeandy61 wrote:

Don't British cyclists go to tea stops? Oops showing my age and how long I've been cycling!  39  35

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!

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BertYardbrush | 9 years ago
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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.

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Old Cranky | 9 years ago
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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

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darrylxxx | 9 years ago
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Fail. They lost me with "Best for Britain's Cyclists"... what about us Northern Irish cyclists?  102

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fukawitribe replied to darrylxxx | 9 years ago
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darrylxxx wrote:

Fail. They lost me with "Best for Britain's Cyclists"... what about us Northern Irish cyclists?  102

I know there is a mixture of 'UK' and 'Britain' on the website, but which bit of this

Everyone asked us to expand it to the UK. - its a hobby project of mine - not a lot of money in this Smile 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.

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 ?

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chris ward | 9 years ago
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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  1 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  1

I hope you vote for your favourite and through the awards maybe discover a few more that maybe worth stopping off at  1

cheers

Chris
@chrisatcoffice

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SeanA | 9 years ago
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Flag Bikes Battersea, Great Coffee & a Great Service  16

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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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.

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fennesz | 9 years ago
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What a waste of time! Total bollocks.

No way to add the only Cycling Cafe in Cambridge: Espresso Library.

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lolol | 9 years ago
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This is going well.

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sean evans | 9 years ago
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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.

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KiwiMike replied to sean evans | 9 years ago
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sean evans wrote:

All the best coffee shops are in Central London

It's a bit early to be gunning for Most Obviously Wrong-Arsed Comment Of The Year, isn't it?

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LondonDynaslow replied to sean evans | 9 years ago
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sean evans wrote:

...Central London, where there's not much cycling to be done...

wot?!

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bdsl | 9 years ago
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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.

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stenmeister | 9 years ago
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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.

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mancrider | 9 years ago
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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

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
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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).

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Tony Farrelly replied to jacknorell | 9 years ago
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jacknorell wrote:

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.

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KiwiMike | 9 years ago
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...soon to be able to vote for the BEST flapjack in the UK: The Tea Cosy, Hurstbourne Tarrant, North Hampshire Downs AONB.

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amawby | 9 years ago
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The web site is "working" now, but is awful. Definitely a marketing fail.

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dodgy | 9 years ago
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Marketing fail, the site isn't up, the domain appears parked at 123-reg  21

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