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Bicycles, beer, and coffee. What’s missing? Nothing at the Denver Bicycle Cafe, which officially opened its doors on Tuesday morning on 17th Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood. The exposed brick walls encase an area meant to marry work and play. Half of the space is home to a big community table with room to work and stir up conversations. The other half houses a pair of more-accessible-than-normal bicycle mechanic stations. The centerpiece wooden U-shaped bar is extra deep to encourage people to bring their work and enjoy the flavor-of-the-week libations.
“Here bicycle service is a community activity,” Roper says. “We love bicycles and we love bicyclists. People can be learning while their bike is getting fixed and talking to the bartender.”
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Open at 6 a.m. each morning and closing at either 8 p.m. (Monday to Wednesday and Sunday) or 9 p.m. (Thursday to Saturday), the Denver Bicycle Cafe serves needs all day long. The plentiful bicycle parking allows for a quick coffee stop on the way to work. When the day is done, you can stop in for one of the six rotating Colorado tap beers.
“We wanted our first taps to be from Denver breweries, a celebration of Denver,” Roper says. “From there we want to have a continuously evolving tap line-up. It will depend on the seasons and brewer specialties. We want to constrict our tap line-up to Colorado with a focus on local industry.” The local industry extends to the coffee as well. Beans will be brought, or bicycled, in by local roasters like Pablo’s Coffee.
The bicycle service stations keep people rolling, but also to provide an educational experience on how the two-wheeler machine works. Peter Roper and Jessica Caouette, co-owners/founders and friends since birth, say the concept evolved from their mutual love for bikes, beer, and coffee. Roper worked at the Bicycle Station at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Caouette studied hospitality at the University of Denver. Between their strengths and a year’s worth of planning, bicycles, beer, and coffee merged.
Currently on tap: Great Divide Hibernation Ale, Dry Dock Vanilla Porter, Renegade Ryeteous IPA, Copper Kettle Bavarian Helles Lager, Strange Cherry Bomb Belgian Stout, and Denver Beer Company‘s Coffee Stout.
Picnic spot: There are light food offerings, but feel free to bring your own grub.