Cardiffians, get ready! This coffee shop in Cardiff is offering secure parking of bikes to encourage more people to cycle.
A new cycling cafe with bike parking facility for more than 40 bikes is trying to put an end to bike thefts and is encouraging people to cycle more.
The Bike Lock at Windsor Place is the first to open a safe space to store bikes and have facilities for its customers which inspires them to cycle more and drive more bikes.
“I can’t force people to cycle but what we are trying to do here is take away the reasons that might stop somebody to cycle,” says Tom Overton, the owner of The Bike Lock.
“So, you can lock your bikes here safely and maybe take a shower and get ready. Worried about your belongings? Leave it at our lockers. Want to have some coffee? We have it,” he says.
Apart from just being a Café and a cycle storage facility, The Bike Lock also helps the local community and their wellbeing by promoting their products.
The milk the Café uses is sourced from a farm in Wales who doesn’t work with supermarkets and plastics. The milk gets delivered twice a week in glass bottles. Jams for toasts are made by a woman who makes jams at home in Cardiff. The cakes are made locally and the Brazilian Sao Lucas, is roasted in Splott.
“I went two steps ahead and sourced everything myself,” Tom says.
He says, “It’s hard to be ethical but you can’t be half ethical. We don’t have big lorries coming in from supermarkets, we are trying to do things differently and locally here.”
Aside from sourcing everything sustainably, The Bike Lock is also working with a charity that supports and helps women who have been trafficked.
The Bike Lock has a range of people coming in and some of them donate their bikes as well. The café repairs it and donates it to the community. The community groups use the café’s rooms for their meetings as well.
Tom has made sure to take all the reasons why people would not want to bike and has also opened bike servicing to make it convenient for its customers with flat tires or broken brakes. He says, ” We will fix it, we’ll take the hassle out of you, no excuses.”
“Just to let you know, everything we do, it is for people,” he says.