Cardiff café named best in Wales by national cycling charity

By Victoria Heywood
Tuesday, 09 October 2018
I want to ride my bike café, bar and workshop in Cardiff has been named the best for cyclists in all of Wales by the national cycling charity Cycling UK.

I want to ride my bike won the Wales category of Cycling UK’s Cyclist Café of the Year awards, which were announced on Saturday. There were four other winners, for Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as well as a Lifetime Achievement award.

I want to ride my bike opened in July 2017 and has quickly established its place at the heart of the Cardiff cycling community.

Owner Jonathan Wright was inspired to open a cafe and bar where you could come and watch the Tour de France and meet other cycling enthusiasts. The staff serve local craft beer and have big screens to watch races on, and pride themselves on serving generous portions of cake.

Jonathan said: “We are not a destination café in the countryside, but a city centre café that is popular with students from the university, local campaigning groups, those who work at the Welsh Assembly or visit the National Museum across the road.

"We aim to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and cycle in Cardiff city centre; we are also an information hub about cycling."

Hundreds of cafes across the UK received online nominations for the Cyclist Café of the Year awards, with shortlists going to a panel of experts.

Matt Mallinder, Membership Director at Cycling UK said: “Cyclists depend on great cafes as a place to reenergise with cakes and hot drinks and meet up with others during a day out. These awards say thank you to those cafes who go the extra mile to provide tired cyclists with a friendly face, tasty food and comfy place to take a break.

“I want to ride my bike has proven it deserves the accolade of Cyclist Café of the Year for Wales. We wish its team all the best for the future.”

Notes to editors

  1. Cycling UK, the national cycling charity, inspires and helps people to cycle and keep cycling, whatever kind of cycling they do or would like to do. Over a century’s experience tells us that cycling is more than useful transport; it makes you feel good, gives you a sense of freedom and creates a better environment for everyone. www.cyclinguk.org
  2. Images of I want to ride my bike and the other winners can be found here: https://www.skyfish.com/p/cyclinguk/1328332
  3. More about I want to ride my bike can be found on its website: https://ridemybikecafe.com/
  4. The other winners were Bow Bells in County Down for Northern Ireland, Café Velo in Hampshire for England, and Velocity in Inverness for Scotland. The Lifetime Achievement award went to Eureka Café in Two Mills, Chester. The results of the Cyclist Café of the Year awards were announced on Saturday 6 October at Cycling UK’s Big Bike Celebration in Harrogate.

Press contact information

For more information, interview requests and images contact the national Cycling UK Press Office on 01483 238 315, 07786 320 713 or email [email protected]

Cyclist Cafe of the Year

Further reading