Rykas Café

If you’re heading south out of London to escape the stop-start traffic, Ryka’s Café at the bottom of Box Hill is where everyone ends up. The stretch of roads running through the Surrey Hills has some of the best twisties near the city, so it’s naturally become the main spot to pull over and take a breather.

Get there on a decent Sunday morning and the car park is packed shoulder-to-shoulder. You'll get blokes on £30k track bikes parked right next to home-built hardtails, ratty commuters, and immaculate classic Triumphs. Everyone’s just standing around the picnic tables with greasy bacon rolls and massive mugs of builder's tea, talking through garage builds, gear ratios, and close calls on the road.

The spot isn't new, either—bikers have been meeting up around Box Hill since the 1920s. Ryka’s grew up right alongside that early British bike scene, and even after a hundred years, it’s still the first place London and South East riders head when they just need a proper ride out.