Combine these favorites at Lola Bikes & Coffee
Just as the Dutch love their cycling, they also take great pride in their coffee. What better than to combine the two?
Enter Lola Bikes & Coffee, located in the heart of The Hague. On a lively street filled with a variety of boutiques, galleries, and restaurants sits Lola Bikes & Coffee – a bicycle shop and coffee bar in one. This is where coffee lovers and avid cyclists come together.
Most cycling clubs in the Netherlands are informal: think of a group of friends that meets at a specific location every Saturday and then goes cycling along a beautiful route. Groups like these are always looking for a nice place to stop and relax for a while during or after a ride. Lola is the ideal spot to enjoy good coffee without worrying about your bike, because you can bring it inside with you.
Lola Bikes & Coffee strives to do two things really well – good coffee and nice bikes. The coffee is roasted in-house and the milk comes from the shop’s own cow. They also make special bicycles and do custom-made projects. Organic products are used whenever possible. For example, the bicycle lubricant is made without chemicals. There are also a lot of worthy initiatives within Lola’s community, such as the Team Amani Foundation, which offers opportunities to cycling talents in Africa.
But who is Lola?
Cycling can have a slightly masculine image, which can make it feel less accessible to women. Women also love cycling, but they don’t necessarily want to dive into that macho culture. Lola provides a more inclusive, less testosterone-fueled alternative. Half of the cycling club consists of women. Fun fact: everyone thinks Lola is the barista behind the bar, but any of the baristas could be “Lola”. The idea of Lola has morphed into an almost mythical story about a girl who went on a world trip by bicycle.