# How long a ride deserves a cafe stop?



## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

How long should a ride be before a proper cafe stop is deserved in your opinion? I was teasing a friend today who wanted a cafe stop on a 30 mile ride. I think that a cafe stop is only warranted after at least 50 miles. Just for fun, don't have a problem with those who like their cafe stops or need to stop more than some


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## MikeG (24 Oct 2017)

Depends on the quality of the cake, obviously. Half way through a 44 mile ride, if the bara brith is world class. DAMHIKT.


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## ianrauk (24 Oct 2017)

Whenever the cake is calling.


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## johnnyb47 (24 Oct 2017)

Good question Welsh Wheels. I'm usually craving a hot chocolate drink and a slice of cake by around 50/60 miles but i always drink plenty in-between that though.


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## MacB (24 Oct 2017)

Whatever the distance is from home to the nearest cafe


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## screenman (24 Oct 2017)

A lot, I have only stopped a few dozen times for cakes etc in 50 years of cycling.


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

ianrauk said:


> Whenever the cake is calling.


That's 1 mile in then for me then...


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## PaulSB (24 Oct 2017)

70ish which covers all our club rides and all social rides. Only exception being the introductory rides we run which are for less experienced riders, 27 and 50 miles and both have a cafe stop.


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## NorthernDave (24 Oct 2017)

My nearest cafe is 3 mins riding time from home...


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

MacB said:


> Whatever the distance is from home to the nearest cafe


I hate the fact that the best cafes around are so close to my house


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## ianrauk (24 Oct 2017)

Welsh wheels said:


> That's 1 mile in then for me then...




Welsh Wheels... I'm liking your style.


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## HLaB (24 Oct 2017)

My Sunday ride meets in a Cafe and if I go straight there its just over a mile.


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## Jimidh (24 Oct 2017)

How long is a piece of string?

Cafe stops aren’t required full stop but part of the fun of riding socially is the cafe stop so the answer is probably whatever you want it to be.


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

ianrauk said:


> Welsh Wheels... I'm liking your style.


I am known in my club for the guy who has two cakes at the cafe stop


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

Jimidh said:


> How long is a piece of string?
> 
> Cafe stops aren’t required full stop but part of the fun of riding socially is the cafe stop so the answer is probably whatever you want it to be.


Depends on the length of the ride. There's no way I could do 100 miles without some proper food, so a cafe stop would be the easiest way. Difficult to stuck a jacket potato or panini in your jersey pocket.


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## HLaB (24 Oct 2017)

Welsh wheels said:


> I am known in my club for the guy who has two cakes at the cafe stop


So am I after one stop when the waitress thought the cake slice was too small and cut me another. They were both the same size as you'd get in another cafe


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

HLaB said:


> So am I after one stop when the waitress thought the cake slice was too small and cut me another. They were both the same size as you'd get in another cafe


She must have had a thing for cyclists


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## hoppym27 (24 Oct 2017)

Are you telling me there is such a thing as a ride without a cafe stop?????


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## MikeG (24 Oct 2017)

hoppym27 said:


> Are you telling me there is such a thing as a ride without a cafe stop?????



No, but there's pretty much no such thing as a cafe stop without a bike ride.


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## CopperBrompton (24 Oct 2017)

I'd say the ride has to be at least as far as the nearest cafe.


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## Jon George (24 Oct 2017)

I like this question as, until this year, I never stopped for cafe food. What convinced me, was The Old Store at Tuddenham St Martin. I'd always considered it too close to home for an early stop or too close for a pit-stop before home. It's definitely a 'Ladies Who Lunch' kind of place, but I loved it - huge slices of homemade cake and superb tea. 

Oh, on Monday lunchtime, I cycled over to the other side of Ipswich to try a fish-and-chip shop (Millers) I'd been recommended , Absolutely delicious cod and chips. Does it count?


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## Will Spin (24 Oct 2017)

If cycling on my own, maybe after 20 miles, if cycling with my cycling club, definitely after 25 miles, or the ride leader is in serious trouble, if cycling with Mrs Spin after 5 miles, otherwise I am in serious trouble.


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## Banjo (24 Oct 2017)

I rarely use cafes if the pubs are open.


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## Markymark (24 Oct 2017)

I stop for cake whilst going to get my bike out of the shed.


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## mjr (24 Oct 2017)

hoppym27 said:


> Are you telling me there is such a thing as a ride without a cafe stop?????


There's all sorts of perverts in the world.

I stopped at a cafe on my 4½ mile ride from town today


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## Tin Pot (24 Oct 2017)

Welsh wheels said:


> How long should a ride be before a proper cafe stop is deserved in your opinion? I was teasing a friend today who wanted a cafe stop on a 30 mile ride. I think that a cafe stop is only warranted after at least 50 miles. Just for fun, don't have a problem with those who like their cafe stops or need to stop more than some



112 miles.


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## User10119 (24 Oct 2017)

I organised a ride once that had one cake stop (picnic from my panniers, by the duck puddle), one pooh sticks stop, a cafe lunch stop, an afternoon tea stop catered by my mum and a pub stop. Oh, and we started from my house where there were bacon butties, cake and coffee available. In 50 miles...


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## Welsh wheels (24 Oct 2017)

I stop at a cafe after 4 miles. That's because I work there though...


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## Katherine (24 Oct 2017)

I don't think in terms of miles but by time. So a slower group doing a shorter ride would have the same cafe stop as the faster group doing a longer ride. All our different levels of Sunday club ride have a cafe stop.


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## tallliman (24 Oct 2017)

Generally I don't stop unless I'm doing at least a 50 miler but it can be anywhere within the 50.

The most I'd do without a stop is probably 50 miles now.


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## steveindenmark (24 Oct 2017)

You don't have to deserve a cafe stop. You just take one. We live in a democracy. Especiaĺly when we are away from the other half.


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## CanucksTraveller (24 Oct 2017)

Depends on the weather, winter rides can be miserable and I'll maybe only put in ten or twelve miles until I feel I'm owed a hot brew... I'm anything but a hardcore mile eater. Maybe 20 miles until the first stop on a good day in the summer. 

My social group prefer pub stops, and a ride of 30 miles will often have two stops at some point mid ride. Some pubs will only be a few miles apart.. Oh and the ride will finish at a pub, so that's three stops really. In the winter (especially in the Cambs flatlands), you need the stops just to thaw the tootsies by the fireplace.


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## rugby bloke (24 Oct 2017)

Any decent ride must have a cake stop in the middle, so the distance to the cafe is usually half the total distance ... although I will grudgingly drag myself around a short mid week ride of 20-30 miles without a stop.


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## si_c (24 Oct 2017)

Depends on the sort of ride I'm going for. If I'm on my own I'll stop less often, usually for a quick garage / convenience store snack. Sometimes I'll stop for coffee and cake too, sometimes not.

Ride how you feel like, stop as often as you want, it's your ride, so you can make the rules.


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## iateyoubutler (24 Oct 2017)

I have a lovely little cafe just a mile up the road from me, used to be a pub, but does the most amazing cakes. I have been known, just to ride there, indulge, and ride home again


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## Ian H (24 Oct 2017)

A late friend of mine once went out with the N Devon group, now defunct. He recalled how they eventually reached a pleasant village with a cafe and a pub, and sailed straight past to a chilly, windy headland where they stopped, sat down, and unpacked their sandwiches. Never again, he said.


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## Racing roadkill (25 Oct 2017)

I’m too pro for Cafe stops. If I’m out smashing stuff, and being the ball, yeah, I’m not stopping for no Cafe.


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## betty swollocks (25 Oct 2017)

I interrupt my cake stops for a bike ride.


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## vickster (25 Oct 2017)

About a mile to the nearest place if I'm just going out for a coffee

I often ride 7-10 miles to meet @jefmcg for coffee


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## reacher (25 Oct 2017)

None, I'm out training on a bike not looking to fill my face with cake and crap I'v seen people sitting eating full English and bacon sandwiches, however I have to say they do look like people who eat this stuff regardless of if hey get on a bike or not, everyone to their own though, strangely enough they actually do think that it's ok to eat this stuff for some reason they think that getting back on a bike for a few miles with all this crap swishing about in their guts is doing them good


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## Globalti (25 Oct 2017)

ANY ride deserves a cafe stop otherwise the ride becomes drudgery. 

I know of a local bike shop that also has a cafe and the owner, when he leads rides, refuses to stop even at mile 40 of a 60 miler, saying "I own a cafe, why would I stop?" This is the reason why, even though i enjoy the shop rides, i seldom join them.


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## Bodhbh (25 Oct 2017)

Probably about 30mile here....assuming the rides over 40-50miles. After burning 1000 odd calories, I want to be stuffing my face with some more. I make a total pig of myself on tour and still end up loosing weight.


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## Alan O (25 Oct 2017)

My last cafe stop was after 20 miles (of a 40-mile ride), but I only waited that long because the first 20 miles was almost all off road. And the stop was at The Swan in Southport for their excellent fish & chips, which made the return 20 miles a good bit slower.

In general, I'll stop for a relaxed refueling whenever I feel like it, regardless of whether I've gone a mile or 100.


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## snorri (25 Oct 2017)

There are not many cafes within a one day cycling radius so I always take a flask and piece box with me if I expect to be out for a few hours.
It could be a disaster if the cafe I planned to visit was closed for some odd reason.


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## Profpointy (25 Oct 2017)

I reckon about half way round is about right; or maybe 1/3 and 2/3 of the way round


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## User269 (25 Oct 2017)

Cafe stops are an abomination, and are never justified on any ride.
Why sit around freezing in sweat soaked clothing, eating and drinking muck, when you could get back home asap and be comfortable as well as mowing the lawn and walking the dog? Unless of course it's important to you to sit around yuk-yukking (as my American friends call it) about wot a larf we's havin' and wot a bunch of all round heroes we are.............isn't that what Twitter's for?
I'll get me coat................


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## vickster (25 Oct 2017)

I realise you're joking presumably...Not every ride actually involves getting sweaty...we don't all race everywhere  nor with a club, perhaps that coffee stop is with friends who you actually want to converse with


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## kingrollo (25 Oct 2017)

A cafe stop eats into training time. I try to eat on the go - stopping only for the calls of nature.


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## User269 (25 Oct 2017)

vickster said:


> I realise you're joking presumably...Not every ride actually involves getting sweaty...we don't all race everywhere  nor with a club, perhaps that coffee stop is with friends who you actually want to converse with



Bah! Humbug!


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## TheDoctor (25 Oct 2017)

I suppose it's possible to go on a ride without a cafe stop.
It might be too late for cafes, frinstance, so a pub stop is called for.


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## User269 (25 Oct 2017)

User13710 said:


> Take the humbugs with you, saves having to stop, just don't choke on one .



The humbugs, ie a person or thing that behaves in a dishonest way, most certainly will not be taken with me! No sirrah!*

*Unless made of titanium or carbon fibre.


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## vickster (25 Oct 2017)

kingrollo said:


> A cafe stop eats into training time. I try to eat on the go - stopping only for the calls of nature.


Why even bother to stop to pee, the pros don't


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## Levo-Lon (25 Oct 2017)

The little cafe half way around the Beast at CyB is about right being a fenland mountain man....


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## bikingdad90 (25 Oct 2017)

My 25 mike bike ride had a cafe stop at mile 12. It was Lordstones Cafe at the top of Carlton Bank. I got up in a time of 15:44 with three stops for breath (unfit with little or no training and it was blowing a gale) but I rode the darn thing! No where near as fast as the local Tanfield boys or @jamma.


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## Leodis (25 Oct 2017)

Usually for me its the weekend spin, 40-80 miles will include a breakfast buttie or cake. If I am training say for hills I will take a narna and some gels but nothing beats a bacon buttie, pot of tea and the Yorkshire countryside


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## presta (25 Oct 2017)

I don't use cafes, it's cheaper to take my own food & drink. Up to about 30m I did non-stop, 30-45 I did in an afternoon with a break to eat some biscuits or nuts. More than that, and I took a packed lunch and made a day of it. On a full day ride I tried to stop every hour.


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## jefmcg (25 Oct 2017)

It's the wrong question. The actually question is "how short can I ride be before a cafe stop?"


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## vickster (25 Oct 2017)

User3094 said:


> Daftest thread. Ever.


Do you have Accy on permanent ignore then?


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## dave r (25 Oct 2017)

Any ride of 40 miles or more will usually involve a cafe stop.


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## Katherine (25 Oct 2017)

Just for you lot :










A 37 mile ride if you were wondering.


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## dave r (25 Oct 2017)

Katherine said:


> Just for you lot :
> 
> View attachment 380282
> View attachment 380285
> ...


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## Aravis (25 Oct 2017)

My first cycling-related cafe stop of the year today, at Whiddon Down, on the northern edge of Dartmoor after an extremely slow 110 miles:







I was waiting for my car to return from its visit to deepest Cornwall. I knew there'd be some cake in the car.


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## Banjo (25 Oct 2017)

I once had a massive pasty with half a stone of mashed potato and gravy at the famous West End Café in Llandovery.
My ride buddy couldn't believe I ordered it just prior to the hilly section of the Carmarthen Snapper.
Bit heavy for a few miles but once the calories started fuelling me up I flew the rest of the ride..

Another claim to fame was the large full English at the café at the bottom of the Cheddar Gorge with Pikey on The Tasty Cheddar Ride.
OK quite a few lightweights passed me going up the gorge but it was worth it :-)


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## Profpointy (25 Oct 2017)

User3094 said:


> Daftest thread. Ever.



That's a very big claim indeed !


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## Banjo (25 Oct 2017)

Profpointy said:


> That's a very big claim indeed !



Certainly some strong competition. :-)


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## TheDoctor (25 Oct 2017)

I once did a ride with cafe stops in Ashwell, Stotfold Mill, Radwell and Baldock.
16 miles, since you ask. 
In my defence, I'd done well over 100 miles the day before, going to Hunstanton.


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## mjr (26 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> None, I'm out training on a bike not looking to fill my face with cake and crap I'v seen people sitting eating full English and bacon sandwiches, however I have to say they do look like people who eat this stuff regardless of if hey get on a bike or not, everyone to their own though, strangely enough they actually do think that it's ok to eat this stuff for some reason they think that getting back on a bike for a few miles with all this crap swishing about in their guts is doing them good


Probably still less harmful than the telly tubby blow job masquerading as gels and what are you training for anyway? How to have no fun?


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## Alan O (26 Oct 2017)

mjr said:


> Probably still less harmful than the telly tubby blow job masquerading as gels and what are you training for anyway? How to have no fun?


LOL - I've never heard gels described quite like that before (but they are horrid).


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## mjr (26 Oct 2017)

Alan O said:


> LOL - I've never heard gels described quite like that before (but they are horrid).


I think it's originally from someone like gaz BICBW and I can't find the original. It's part of a much more graphic (and disturbing) description which has got rather stuck in my mind.


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## postman (26 Oct 2017)

Anything after 12 miles and again at the end.Otley my fave place is around 12 miles away.Then Headingley is at the end another 12 miles.I enjoy my breaks.


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## reacher (30 Oct 2017)

Banjo said:


> I once had a massive pasty with half a stone of mashed potato and gravy at the famous West End Café in Llandovery.
> My ride buddy couldn't believe I ordered it just prior to the hilly section of the Carmarthen Snapper.
> Bit heavy for a few miles but once the calories started fuelling me up I flew the rest of the ride..
> 
> ...



Sorry but that's rubbish, theirs no recovery value in eating that and getting back on a bike


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## reacher (30 Oct 2017)

mjr said:


> Probably still less harmful than the telly tubby blow job masquerading as gels and what are you training for anyway? How to have no fun?


Don't use those either, like I said everyone to their own and if you want to eat this stuff in the middle of a ride is fine, it's just not part of a serious training regime is all


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## swansonj (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Don't use those either, like I said everyone to their own and if you want to eat this stuff in the middle of a ride is fine, it's just not part of a serious training regime is all


As you say, everyone to their own. Personally, the day anyone mistakes me for being on a serious training regime - or at least, a training regime serious enough to interfere with my eating exactly what I want to - is the day I give up cycling


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## reacher (30 Oct 2017)

Well it could be you would have to check with team sky, maybe those bags they give to riders in the middle of a stage race have bacon sandwiches in them, marginal gains an all


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## mjr (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Well it could be you would have to check with team sky, maybe those bags they give to riders in the middle of a stage race have bacon sandwiches in them, marginal gains an all


Ham, cheese or jam rather than bacon and not team sky (who mostly have rice balls in the musettes IIRC) but panninis have been used for years. https://www.roadbikerider.com/health-and-nutrition/nutrition/682-what-s-in-a-musette-bag


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## mjr (30 Oct 2017)

User13710 said:


> Context is everything though. Or have they introduced cafe stops during stage races now?


Reintroduced, you mean: "race regulations required that riders fend entirely for themselves, forcing them to scavenge for meals along the way. If the lights were on at a roadside tavern and they were serving rabbit, rabbit is what you ate. Guzzling alarming amounts of alcohol was the norm." https://www.outsideonline.com/2099916/how-tour-de-france-diet-has-changed-over-decades


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## Gravity Aided (30 Oct 2017)

Shortest ride of the year is always our club ride on New Years, as it's so cold in the States then. Shortest ride was from meeting point to nearby hotel, about 2 city blocks, then sat around having coffee and biscotti.


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## rivers (30 Oct 2017)

It depends. Anything over 40-50 ish, a cafe stop will be included. Anything over 60, a lunch stop. Sometimes less will have a cafe stop because why the hell not. Shorter rides tend to have a cafe stop at the end as opposed to mid-ride. Evening rides have a pub stop built in.


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## Fonze (30 Oct 2017)

I stop around the halfway mark and treat myself to a double espresso and a lemon muffin the cafe owner makes.
I also like a little harvest bar nuts oats and the like.
If I ate a full English I'd want a snooze rather than ride home


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## jefmcg (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> , it's just not part of a serious training regime is all


Depends what you are training for. I might have completed LEL if I'd practiced more eating meals during rides, as well as drinking water and sleeping. 4 days of half eaten meals, not enough fluids and patchy sleep did more damage than 1200km.

But if you are only training for pissy little 100 miles, then you don't need meal breaks.


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## Mugshot (30 Oct 2017)

Dogtrousers said:


> Does a cafe stop have to be at a cafe?
> View attachment 380178


I'd just like to say that that pie looks delicious!!!!


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## Banjo (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Sorry but that's rubbish, theirs no recovery value in eating that and getting back on a bike



Unless they have invented calorie free full english breakfast then you are talking nonsense.

Any food will fuel your ride.Someone on a holiday tour will have different needs to someone riding THE tour but the principle is the same.So long as calories consumed matches or exceeds calories burned your ok.


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## Mugshot (30 Oct 2017)

User13710 said:


> Or have they introduced cafe stops during stage races now?


They should bring them back;






_Robert Jacquinot taking a break to eat at a cafe in Hostens during stage 5, Les Sables d’Olonne – Bayonne, 3 July 1922_









_Over the years bicycle racing has become a more focused and professional sport with big investments by sponsors and painstaking organization by times. The major races are taken very seriously indeed so it is disarming to see photos of riders who took a moment to raid cafes or fruit stands during major races. This was apparently a tradition of sorts and the Tour and Giro organizers supposedly reimbursed the merchants._


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## Mr_Grieve (30 Oct 2017)

To quote Geraint Thomas, 'A long ride without a cafe stop is like a bike without wheels' and you can't say he doesn't train seriously. So if it's good enough for him then it's good enough for me - although he doesn't define how far a long ride is and I suspect his idea of a long ride is might be a wee bit further than mine,


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## crazyjoe101 (30 Oct 2017)

Assuming the point of the ride is not to go to a cafe in the first place then for me it's anywhere between 15~60 miles before stop number one.


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## nickyboy (30 Oct 2017)

As others have said, it's time, not miles for me. If I'm riding hard, I need to eat something reasonable after about three hours. So that can be 35 miles or it can be 55 miles depending on how hilly it is

I wouldn't stop if I had less than about 10 miles to go to home...so I guess it's 45 hilly miles or 65 flat miles, give or take


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## hoppym27 (30 Oct 2017)

theres a lovely little canalside pub 3 miles from home and sometimes I stop for a pint before the last 3 miles.....probably contraversial but they do a lovely pint of Doombar!


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## reacher (30 Oct 2017)

Banjo said:


> Unless they have invented calorie free full english breakfast then you are talking nonsense.
> 
> Any food will fuel your ride.Someone on a holiday tour will have different needs to someone riding THE tour but the principle is the same.So long as calories consumed matches or exceeds calories burned your ok.



Ok, if you think eating that in the middle of a ride is beneficial and your going to perform better for it then carry on, all it would do for me is make me puke after about 5 minutes. Personally i wouldn't eat swill like that without being on a bike let alone in the middle of a ride as I said everyone to their own if you wish to put that stuff inside you and think its clever to do so and ride a bike after as well then go for it.


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## Mugshot (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Ok, if you think eating that in the middle of a ride is beneficial and your going to perform better for it then carry on, all it would do for me is make me puke after about 5 minutes. Personally i wouldn't eat swill like that without being on a bike let alone in the middle of a ride as I said everyone to their own if you wish to put that stuff inside you and think its clever to do so and ride a bike after as well then go for it.


Blimey @reacher it's only what someone had for dinner, do you always get so het up about what other people eat. Is this you looking through the window?


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## Mugshot (30 Oct 2017)

[QUOTE 5020041, member: 43827"]Speak for yourself! I have snack breaks and coffee breaks every couple of hours, whether I'm riding a bike or not.[/QUOTE]


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## MacB (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Ok, if you think eating that in the middle of a ride is beneficial and your going to perform better for it then carry on, all it would do for me is make me puke after about 5 minutes. Personally i wouldn't eat swill like that without being on a bike let alone in the middle of a ride as I said everyone to their own if you wish to put that stuff inside you and think its clever to do so and ride a bike after as well then go for it.



The OP was about how long a ride deserves a cafe stop, didn't say it was a training ride. You may find it weird but more rides are about having a ride than training and a big part of the fun can be guilt free eating. I know this may make you puke but some of us don't even bother with a computer or GPS, we just ride and eat without stats.


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## Ming the Merciless (30 Oct 2017)

reacher said:


> Ok, if you think eating that in the middle of a ride is beneficial and your going to perform better for it then carry on, all it would do for me is make me puke after about 5 minutes. Personally i wouldn't eat swill like that without being on a bike let alone in the middle of a ride as I said everyone to their own if you wish to put that stuff inside you and think its clever to do so and ride a bike after as well then go for it.



Sounds like you have not trained enough. More training in cafes and you will be able to eat and ride without getting ill.


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## Banjo (30 Oct 2017)

Good job I didnt mention stopping for a pint now and then.


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## mjr (31 Oct 2017)

Banjo said:


> Good job I didnt mention stopping for a pint now and then.


You should see a doctor about that amount of urination...


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