Where to watch live bike racing

bobmcstuff
bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
edited April 2016 in Pro race
A summary of places to go and watch live bike races if you happen to be in town and wanting to watch a bike race:

Aberdeen - Nope. 6 degrees north sells nice Belgian beer and has wifi so if you're stuck for somewhere to go it's a better place than anywhere else.
Bristol - Mud Dock Cafe - decent venue but as a popular cafe for non-racing fans there was no sound and little race atmosphere. The ploughmans boards are massive.
Glasgow - Siempre Bike Cafe. Apparently a good atmosphere for the big races (was rammed for P-R by the looks of things), nice place and friendly staff. Good food.
Manchester - Rapha. Well it's a bit twatty, being Rapha, but it's very central in Manchester so you get a lot of cycling fans stop by for the last hour/half hour of races and a multinational crowd too so a good atmosphere.
Manchester - Velo Espresso, Altrincham. Nice cafe. Also has a bike shop which has nice kit and does turbo training nights etc. (not been to one of those...).
York - Your Bike Shed Cafe. Not been myself, suggested by McStumpy

I did do a forum search but couldn't see anything.

I am in Bristol this weekend and wanting to watch Ronde. Can anyone recommend any bar/cafe where it might be shown?

If there is any interest I would quite like to have a thread with a list of good places to watch live cycling around the country, I don't mind trying to keep it up to date.

Comments

  • Richmond Racer 2
    Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    I did do a forum search but couldn't see anything.

    I am in Bristol this weekend and wanting to watch Ronde. Can anyone recommend any bar/cafe where it might be shown?

    If there is any interest I would quite like to have a thread with a list of good places to watch live cycling around the country, I don't mind trying to keep it up to date.


    Mud Dock down on the wharf (but give them a shout first to check)
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,695
    There's that vegan hipstery bike cafe/shop thing close to Temple Meads, I guess they might?

    You'll probably have to drink nettle beer and eat raw sticks of carrots instead of Frites though...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Richmond Racer 2
    Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    ddraver wrote:
    There's that vegan hipstery bike cafe/shop thing close to Temple Meads, I guess they might?

    You'll probably have to drink nettle beer and eat raw sticks of carrots instead of Frites though...


    You're not selling it, chap
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,695
    No, i wasnt impressed...

    Beggars can't be choosers though and in this case we're usually beggars...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Richmond Racer 2 wrote:
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    I did do a forum search but couldn't see anything.

    I am in Bristol this weekend and wanting to watch Ronde. Can anyone recommend any bar/cafe where it might be shown?

    If there is any interest I would quite like to have a thread with a list of good places to watch live cycling around the country, I don't mind trying to keep it up to date.


    Mud Dock down on the wharf (but give them a shout first to check)

    Cheers, have asked them on Facebook, didn't know they showed racing. Used to go there quite often in my teenage mountain biking years...

    I thought there would be plenty of hipstery cafes in Bristol showing cycling these days.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    FWIW I watched MSR at Rapha in Manchester and it was a really good place to watch it. There were lots of people from all nationalities, there was a good atmosphere. They seem to show pretty much every race going.

    Also had a Peroni at a not-eye watering price and it cape with free olives and parma ham. Very civilized.

    I'm planning to "work from home" there for some of the big MTFs in the giro/tour.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Watched it at Mud Dock, it is a nice venue but there was really only me and 2 other guys who were actually into it, and the place was packed with people having their Sunday lunch. Also no sound - but that just meant I couldn't hear Kirby's inane ramblings so I wasn't too bothered by that.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Watched amstel at Siempre in Glasgow on Sunday. Was a good place to watch it but the Internet couldn't quite keep up with eurosport at points. I did have a good chat about the giro with a guy who might have been the manager or owner afterwards. Some nice bikes and bike related paraphernalia to look at during the ad breaks too :)

    I seem to be the only one who cares but I'm going to update the first post with a list anyway...
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    Pedal Back Cafe in Tooting has a TV and show the races. I'm planning on watching a race down there soon.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Eugh can't think of much worse then watching cycling with a bunch of wannabe know it alls!

    (And I include myself in that)
    _
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Eugh can't think of much worse then watching cycling with a bunch of wannabe know it alls!

    (And I include myself in that)

    Nah, it's just like watching any other sport live.

    Weirdly Rapha was probably the best (for MSR), because despite being Rapha it has a good location so there were a lot of Europeans and people from all over who popped in to shout at the screen for a bit. Much better than watching it on my todd at home and trying to explain to my girlfriend why I'm shouting at her ipad.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Eugh can't think of much worse then watching cycling with a bunch of wannabe know it alls!

    (And I include myself in that)

    Nah, it's just like watching any other sport live.

    Weirdly Rapha was probably the best (for MSR), because despite being Rapha it has a good location so there were a lot of Europeans and people from all over who popped in to shout at the screen for a bit. Much better than watching it on my todd at home and trying to explain to my girlfriend why I'm shouting at her ipad.

    Really? Cycling's a bit more cerebral than football, and it's got enough niche requisite knowledge that you get a lot of twatish behaviour!

    Football you can get caught up in the mob mentally and drop C bombs and just shout at the TV and the ref. You're not really thinking about it.
    _
  • mcstumpy
    mcstumpy Posts: 298
    Your Bike Shed cafe, Micklegate, York. I'm not from York but stayed near the cafe on easter weekend. It was showing live cycling a couple of times I went past.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Eugh can't think of much worse then watching cycling with a bunch of wannabe know it alls!

    (And I include myself in that)

    Nah, it's just like watching any other sport live.

    Weirdly Rapha was probably the best (for MSR), because despite being Rapha it has a good location so there were a lot of Europeans and people from all over who popped in to shout at the screen for a bit. Much better than watching it on my todd at home and trying to explain to my girlfriend why I'm shouting at her ipad.

    Really? Cycling's a bit more cerebral than football, and it's got enough niche requisite knowledge that you get a lot of twatish behaviour!

    Football you can get caught up in the mob mentally and drop C bombs and just shout at the TV and the ref. You're not really thinking about it.

    The last few k is just like that - imagine what you describe in your post about P-R in the drugs thread but with a packed room doing exactly the same.

    Then the rest is just having a beer or some lunch and going "ow" and "balls" periodically when someone crashes etc.

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