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Potential New Bike Café around Enniskerry
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Wishbone Ash wrote: »Without wishing to put a dampener on it, you'll need to ask yourself if it's viable especially if specifically aimed at cyclists. There won't be too many about on a wet Monday morning in January. I regularly stop at the hippy cafe in Laragh. Many consider it a busy spot for cyclists but they may only visit on a Saturday/Sunday. I'm often the only person there when I stop (bearing in mind that it is also a shop).
(BTW - Enniskerry is perfect for me - about 50k from home.
)
I was chatting to them in Glendalough Green on saturday. Just chit-chat about how business was, etc. They said that they rely heavily on the summer to get them through the whole year. And even at that, it tends only to be the sunny days that brings the crowds.
They're good to cyclists because they know we can arrive in big numbers, and tend not to stay too long. As opposed to, say, walkers, who park their cars for hours on end, then might or might not get a coffee and a sandwich at the end of the day.
I do remember talking to them before just as one of our bad winters ended. The Roundwood - Laragh road had been iced over for a couple of weeks and there was only local traffic coming in. They were decimated that winter.
And, when AA Roadwatch post their 'advisory' about people avoiding Sally Gap (which they seem to do every winter, regardless of whether its actually passable or not), that impacts them too. I got onto AA Roadwatch about this, and asked them if they could be a bit more discerning about when they posted the advisory (I had been up there this particular day and there were no issues with the road at that time).
In relation to this thread though, a genuine question for people.
How often would you need to go to a bike shop when you are out cycling? And even when you do, how often would it be for something more than just a tube, or something else relatively cheap and minor?
I couldn't see a bike shop on a common route in Wicklow being a place where people would tend to go for anything much more than the above.
Someone else mentioned Look Mum, No Hands. Surely that is the model to follow, and the prime location would be in a built-up area like town, or on its outskirts. I think it needs to be in a populated area where you can enjoy passing trade (or the benefit of the bike-to-work scheme).
And on bike rental - the problem with that is you would surely need to base a service like that where people come to stay? So, while wicklow is popular for cyclists, there aren't really many areas that have a heavy concentration of hotels or other places tourists/vistors come to stay.
I think your idea is a nice one, and its something I'd defintely make use of at least once a week. I don't think a fiver from me once or twice a week is going to sustain a business though.
I'd suggest reading Emily Chappell's book, What Goes Round. She was a cycle courier and large parts of the book are based around a cafe/bike-shop that she and other cyclists used to hang around in. It might give a little insight to how things are, even in a busy area like London.
Best of luck either way0 -
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petethedrummer wrote: »I stop at various city centre cafes after weekend spins and NEVER see any other roadies. It doesn't seem to be the done thing.
Two issues, 1 your bike would be stolen in the city centre, 2 it's bad enough going to work in my Lycra but to sit in cafe in town is a step to far 0 -
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