Support your favourite coffee stop by nominating it as Cyclist Café of the Year

Coffee and cake are an integral part of a good bike ride, and we want you to help celebrate the nation's best places for a mid-cycle caffeine and carb fix. Nominations are now open for Cycling UK's Cyclist Café of the Year awards 2020, so tell us what makes your favourite coffee stop great. This year's winners will be decided by judges including the food writer, and keen cyclist, Felicity Cloake.This has been a tough year for the hospitality industry, so it is more important than ever to recognise and support the food heroes who keep us fuelled and refreshed on a long ride. Last year, we received more than 1,200 submissions, nominating 219 cafés in total, and chose winners for each of the four nations of the UK, together with People's Choice and Lifetime Achievement awards.

Guardian food columnist Felicity Cloake, whose love of cycling inspired her latest book, One More Croissant for the Road (Mudlark, £9.99), said: "As a big fan of both cycling and cake (is it really a ride if you don't stop for coffee?) I'm delighted to be helping judge this year's awards, celebrating the joy these cafés bring to our lives at a time when they need our support more than ever – and very much looking forward to finding some new favourites for the future!"

As a big fan of both cycling and cake (is it really a ride if you don't stop for coffee?) I'm delighted to be helping judge this year's awards

Felicity Cloake, food writer

Pete Sparks, owner of Bank View Café in Langsett, South Yorkshire, one of our 2019 winners, commented: "There are so many fantastic cycle-friendly cafes around, so it was genuinely amazing to win our Cyclist Café of the Year 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award last November. It now sits in pride of place at the counter of the café, where it reminds me daily that the time and energy I’ve invested over the last 13 years developing my business have been worthwhile.”

Nominations for the Cyclist Café of the Year can be made using our web form, and the closing date is 30 October 2020. To enter, tell us why you think your chosen café is most deserving in no more than 100 words – and sorry, café owners can't vote for themselves! Judging will take place in November and the winners will be announced on our website. All shortlisted nominees will receive a window sticker to show they are a top cycle-friendly café.

Cycling UK's official coffee and cake connoisseur, Hannah Duncan, is encouraging as many of Britain's millions of cyclists as possible to vote this year – and to continue to support their local cafés. She said: "Many of us keenly felt the lack of a good coffee stop during our daily exercise in lockdown. Now our favourite cycle-friendly cafés are opening their doors (or offering takeaways) once more, but we know that, for most, the past six months have not been easy. The Cyclist Café of the Year awards are a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the amazing cycling cafés out there and give them the recognition they deserve at a time when they need it most.”

Contact information 

For more information contact Rob Kingston in the national Cycling UK press office on 07880 424 912, or email [email protected]

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. More than 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. For more information, and to nominate a café, go to: www.cyclinguk.org/cyclist-cafe-year-2020
3. The winners of the 2019 awards included:
   
   The Feed Station (Somerset) – England
   
   The Auction Room (Derry/Londonderry) – Northern Ireland
   
   Lanterne Rouge (East Lothian) – Scotland 
   
   Pedal Power (Cardiff) – Wales
   
   Velolife (Berkshire) – People's Choice
   
   Bank View Café (South Yorkshire) – Lifetime Achievement