The Cinnamon Bun Run (Cinnamon Café Windsor)

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Not all runs are as they seem. And the Cinnamon Bun Run is definitely in that category in that it’s not actually a run at all. I’m sure the odd runner ends up there but the legendary status of Cinnamon Café Windsor is the domain of the cycling community who come from far and wide to sample its treats.

The Cinnamon Café Windsor

The Cinnamon Café is extremely popular with the cycling community. Bikes can be left safely on the racks provided whilst you enjoy the produce!

PS – image taken from Cinnamon Café FB page

Why the fuss?

There are numerous reasons why the Cinnamon Café has its stellar reputation.

  • It has a great location in the heart of Windsor Royal Station, a stone’s throw from the Castle.
  • The staff are really friendly
  • It has a great ambience
  • They serve super coffee and a pretty decent bacon sandwich (which I was silly enough to have once)
  • There’s plenty of seating even at the busiest of times

These are all valid but miss the point, and the clue is in the name.

The coup de grace, icing on the cake (or more literally on the bun), is their Cinnamon Bun, for which cyclists travel from across the South East to sample.

It is, quite simply, a thing of beauty, aesthetically ordinary but designed to take your tastebuds to paradise. And when you’ve created an appetite by cycling from wherever it may be, that paradise is closer by the bite.

I’ve yet to take a photograph that does justice to these beauties but hopefully you get the picture… (pun intended!)

The run for bun

It was our friend, Becky (more of her in a soon to come post!), who coined the phrase Cinnamon Bun Run. It’s apt given as I first met her through Clapham Pioneers, the South West London running club of which we are both members. However, Becky is also a super keen and ridiculously talented cyclist… we’re talking RideLondon in less than 5 hours talented, almost quicker than a car!!

In chatting with her, Claire (my wife) and I mentioned that we often do a loop from Battersea to Windsor and back, with Cinnamon Café as an obligatory half-time stop. In that moment, the phrase Cinnamon Bun Run was born.

I think I’ve visited once while running and that was for the old runners’ trick of ordering an espresso and running to the bathroom! I don’t often find myself on training runs in the Windsor area but happened to be staying in the area for the Holy Trinity Clapham church weekend away at the end of June, so was out on an early morning jaunt before breakfast.

The joy in cycling

I’m not a cyclist.

OK, I definitely wasn’t a cyclist but am now! I rode a bike as a boy (my beloved boyhood Raleigh Grifter and my teenage Peugeot) but it was a very long time between then and getting on a bike outside Holy Trinity Clapham in November 2020.

In that late Autumn, a friend from church was selling his bike at a very reasonable price, and I shocked myself by agreeing to buy it. I had hitherto been petrified of riding a bike in London as the contest between big red machine and small two wheels wasn’t appealing.

Claire is an avid rider, however, and this was time together when Covid was still at the forefront of life. Our Sunday morning jaunts through the heart of London became routine and precious.

Fate ‘transpired’ to force a bike upgrade the following spring so I found myself with a new shiny road bike to replace the hybrid of the early “noughties”. It was timely.

Most of you know I couldn’t run late 2021 to December 2022 due to an achilles injury. Through that time and especially as rehab ramped up, having the bike was a godsend. And when work was really exhausting, it was great down time with Claire.

Even as I’ve become more ‘serious’ about cycling – you don’t complete a 100 mile sportive without some seriousness – the essence has remained. Cycling is about enjoyment not speed for me, it is about time with my wife, it is about cross-training to complement my running which is now back up and running (again, pun intended!).

It is also a great way to see places that you otherwise wouldn’t, and Windsor is definitely one of those.

Round the Castle without an elephant

Since moving to London in 2014, I’d only twice been over Windsor and one of those was running through as part of a 100km ultramarathon – I had no real reason to be there regularly.

When Claire first suggested that we ride the bikes out there as she’d heard of some café, I responded with a look of shock and trepidation. I didn’t like my chances of riding 30+ miles on busy open roads or navigating outside of the confines of the SW and City of London postcodes.

Our first attempt was on the Jubilee holiday weekend in 2022. We successfully navigated Chertsey, Virginia Water and the Great Park, and a very busy Windsor. We didn’t stop in Windsor that day but visited friends nearby before ending our jaunt in Egham and getting the train back to Clapham Junction.

However, we now knew it was very possible for us to ride over from our Battersea home through the beautiful Surrey and surrounding countryside to Windsor. Until that point, our bike rides were more likely to take us around the Elephant and Castle than Windsor Castle.

Once we entered RideLondon for 2023, the Cinnamon Bun Run became a major part of our training. Initially, we would ride to Windsor and get a train back from Ashford or similar, usually about 40 miles. As we became more confident, we came back as far as Chertsey which was just over 50 and a real achievement. Then one Saturday in March, we accidentally found ourselves doing the full loop back home to Battersea.

Having gone beyond 60 miles on the Cinnamon Bun Run, we knew we could look forward to RideLondon!

Riding over Tower Bridge, the finish line of RideLondon 2023 … our first 100 mile sportive, training fuelled by buns!

The fun of the bun

We really enjoy our regular visits to the Cinnamon Café.

Yup, the Cinnamon Bun is a thing of beauty but that’s just part of it. Beyond that, the team is as engaging in person as on their Instagram feed … and they’re pretty good there!

I’ve built up a ‘healthy banter’ with the café manager with his aversion to my LFC cycling top. He’s still not carried out his threat not to let me in mind you!! I can only assume he’s a Manc but I’ve not yet asked! 🤣

Beyond that, the clientele is a true representation of cycling; it is diverse! You will find everyone from your serious cyclists through to the more cuddly of us, with a very healthy and welcome gender and race mix also. Whenever we visit, we feel welcome and part of something much more than a long ride or eating a bun. It’s one of the few places where this introvert happily speaks to perfect strangers!

I’ve still not been refused a bun in my LFC top!!! 🤣
Out of the café & straight to the Castle! Cycling is great time with Claire.

So why this post?

Simply, my social media is full of cinnamon bun photos most Saturdays and I thought you all needed to know why! Moreover, Cinnamon Café Windsor clearly doesn’t need the publicity (judging by the numbers who visit every weekend), but I wanted to use my platform to tell you how wonderful they are!

And the next bike ride is…

We have two UK Cycling Events on the horizon. In August, we’ll be in Warwickshire for the Cotswolds Classic, 51 miles with a few ‘punchy climbs’. On 17 September, focus will turn to the beautiful New Forest and 101 beautiful miles of undulating terrain and, hopefully, some wildlife.

So if this reaches the team at Cinnamon Café, a huge thanks for being part of the journey!

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