Cyclist Café of the Year: and the winners are...

• Maidenhead based Velolife takes inaugural People’s Choice in Cycling UK’s Cyclist Café of the Year 2019
• Panel of expert judges including Angellica Bell also award top cafes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and choose lifetime achievement
• Short film available at: https://youtu.be/C5ylrzfXteE

The awards, now in their second-year, invite cyclists in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to choose their favourite haunts for their (pre, mid and post ride) coffee and cake. Cafés which have been serving cyclists for longer than 20 years are also considered for an lifetime achievement award.

The nominations were judged by an expert panel of cake critics (ie cyclists), which this year included Celebrity Masterchef winner, Angellica Bell. This year, a new category was also introduced: the People’s Choice.

Hannah Duncan, Cycling UK’s cake and coffee expert said:

“There was some pretty stiff competition this year across all the home nations for the top café choices for cyclists in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and all the winners are well worth making a detour for. Particular mention should go to Bank View Café in South Yorks, which received the Lifetime Achievement award for delivering more than 100 years of service to Britain’s cyclists.

“When it came to the People’s Choice award though, there could be only one: Velolife! The owner Lee has been through hell and back over the last two years, so it’s heart warming to see the cycling community get behind his amazing café and recognise the great café Maidenhead is very lucky to have.”

Velolife in Maidenhead (Berkshire), was the clear winner of the People’s Choice receiving 20% of all nominations. Coffee drinking cyclists voiced their support for the owner Lee Goodwin who until earlier in the month had been threatened with closure by the council if he allowed cyclists to gather on the premises.

Lee said: “It is so awesome to be chosen for the People’s Choice Award.

“We have been through a lot this year and to be a part of such an amazing community, that is so much bigger than us, is amazing! It’s an honour to serve such an incredible community and we are very proud to be chosen for the People’s Choice Award! Thank you.”

It’s an honour to serve such an incredible community and we are very proud to be chosen for the People’s Choice Award!

Lee Goodwin, Velolife owner

Angellica Bell said: "Velolife received a staggering amount of votes – and it’s great news that coffee drinking cyclists can now return to their favourite haunt making it a real people’s choice winner. A well-deserved award!”

Other winning cafés included:

• The Feed Station (Somerset) - England
• The Auction Room (Derry Londonderry) - Northern Ireland
• Lanterne Rouge (East Lothian) - Scotland 
• Pedal Power (Cardiff) - Wales
• Bank View Café (South Yorkshire) - Lifetime Achievement

The Bank View Café has served cyclists for more than 100 years, since it was founded in 1900 to provide provisions for the nearby reservoir’s workers. The café is located at one end of the Strines, a route which skirts the edge of open moorland that connects the Woohead Pass (and Holme Moss) to Derbyshire’s Snake Pass and is popular with both roadies and mountain bikers.

Bank View café owner Pete Sparks was over the moon with news that his cake, coffee and venue stand in such high regard among his cycling clientele. He is keen that all visitors, cyclists and non-cyclists alike, feel at home at Bank View.

“It’s a space where everyone can relax,” said Pete. “We’re a little bit scruffy around the edges because we do get dogs shaking themselves off in the doorway, cyclists coming in the middle of winter draping their clothes on the radiators to dry, and it’s the countryside so we do get muddy boots! We don’t turn anyone around. We’re not fussy like that. We try to make it a warm, welcoming space.

“I think it’s great we get so many cyclists coming out no matter the weather.”