As I cycled, I thought, well it's too early yet, but I might just try to see where the Bike in Coffee place is that I had heard of.
I followed the signs and there it was...and although I was an hour early, if looked like it was open. I got off my bike, walked myself in and began to see corrals and horses. I greeted the horses good morning and gave one a petting on his beautiful face!
Soon, I met Lanny Tonning and Linda Thorne, the owners of Bike In Coffee! What a friendly, happy and welcoming couple!
I discovered that their "coffee truck" had been a vegan food truck that they had purchased ...but they had no idea how to run it. Along came some cyclists who were adventuring from Alaska and who had run a food truck there. Lanny and Linda put them up in the guest house and the newcomers ran the truck and taught Lanny and Linda how to operate a food truck ! Thus the idea of Bike in Coffee was born.
Lanny said he had no idea it would be as popular as it has become serving 120-200 cyclists per weekend. They are open from 8am-2pm on both Saturday and Sunday. They have super clean and spacious restrooms for all to use.
The Bike In fare is fresh farm to table. They keep their menu simple with one savory entree , one sweet entree , one soup and one salad each weekend day. They change the menu up depending on what is ready in their organic garden. They serve coffee and drinks. They also serve their signature "skookie" which is a combination cookie and scone and is a cyclist's favorite!
On this particular day, they were hosting a Ted talk. Ted sponsors what they call " Ted X" which are adventures that are based on the talks but are hands on adventures in the field. So this morning Ted X ABQ was coming on site with 10+ cyclists to learn about how to do farm to table Asian vegetables grown on the farm. The chef Lu Xiang Ru (lulu) was making dough for a vegetarian quesedilla. Then she was going to put into it Asian veggies that are a specialty of the Old Town Farm (where bike in Coffee is located)
Lanny is an advocate for bike in zoning. Why not have bike in yoga or bike in flower shops? Roads are built for commerce he says and it would lower the carbon footprint if more people biked in to get their services.
The farm is organic but they are not certified yet. Anyone can either bike in or drive in and purchase vegetables.
On top of all this exciting information, I discovered that the chef is also a weaver. She is in town from China for a big exhibit and lecture by her mentors Lin LeChang and Nancy Kozikowski.
The Lecture is on Friday June 26 at 3pm at the Albuquerque Museum Auditorium. At 5pm there will be a showing of the weavings and a reception at DSG Fine Art 510 14th street ABQ. phone is 505-463-3080.
When you are out and about on your bike and riding without an agenda, you can be open to discovering and getting off the beaten path. Only then can you discover things you would never have encountered before.
By bike or car you can also get there in the following ways:
By bike on the Bosque go south on the trails until you reach the sign for Mountain Ave. Turn left onto Mountain. Go east on Mountain until you come to Montoya Road on the left. Follow that around a bit and on you left you will see the sign for Old Town Farm...pedalers welcome ...and a picture of a bike. Turn left and drive on in.
By car, Come west on Mountain Ave. Turn right on Montoya. Follow above directions.
Bike in Coffee is open Saturdays and Sundays from 8am until 2pm.
