Hampshire café named the best in England by national cycling charity

By Victoria Heywood
Tuesday, 09 October 2018
Café owner Peter Moore with Vicky Richards
Café Velo, a café in Ringwood, Hampshire, has been named the best for cyclists in all of England by the national cycling charity Cycling UK.

Café Velo, owned by Peter Moore, won the England category of Cycling UK’s Cyclist Café of the Year awards, which were announced on Saturday. There were four other winners, for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as a Lifetime Achievement award.

Café Velo was nominated by its cyclist customers, who praised the café’s delicious fruit loaf, handy mechanical help and warm and welcoming atmosphere. More than 200 cafes around England received online nominations for the award, with eight then shortlisted for the final decision by a panel of experts from around the UK.

Peter, who runs the café with his partner Vicky Richards, was overwhelmed to be told of the win, saying: “We’ve only been open since Easter. I’m chuffed. I cannot tell you how proud we are. The support of cyclists and the local community has been incredible. I hope I have given them what they require.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to open a café and for something like this to happen so early on… I’m lost for words.

“We run rides out from the café every Saturday and Sunday, and a gravel ride the first Sunday of the month. We also have an on-site workshop with an in-house mechanic six days a week.

“We’re in Ringwood, but we have cyclists coming from as far as Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. We’ve even had a group from Swindon.”

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 whose staff go the extra mile to provide tired cyclists with a friendly face, tasty food and comfy place to take a break.

“Café Velo has proven it deserves the accolade of Cyclist Café of the Year for England. 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 Café Velo and the other winners can be found here: https://www.skyfish.com/p/cyclinguk/1328332
  3. More about Café Velo can be found on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cafevelo.co.uk/
  4. The other winners were Bow Bells in County Down for Northern Ireland, Velocity in Inverness for Scotland, and I want to ride my bike café, bar and workshop in Cardiff for Wales. 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