Pedalling Caffeine Part 2


Last week's post generated enough responses to stay on the theme of pedalling caffeine.

Occasionally I get the feeling that everything old is new again.  If only the safari suit I've got hanging in the wardrobe became the height of fashion again, I'd be the hippest guy in town.  Yes fashion trends come and go with the seasons and it's no different with bikes.  The number of cargo and haulage type bikes on the road seems to be ever increasing.  Local cafes, bakeries and micro-breweries have embraced these bikes as genuine alternative delivery vehicles, just as they were used before the rise of the car.  It adds to the green credentials of a business who can make a point with their low carbon footprint, low food miles and also provide a mobile billboard.  

Now what happens when a coffee cart collides with a bicycle?  Enter the mobile cafe on 3 wheels. Just add coffee, water, milk, sugar, coffee machine, power, a little imagination and the coffee comes to you.  The owner of this industrious looking bike is Patrick Verdon from Brunswick whose combined pleasures of cycling and caffeine have been fused in the creation of his home made coffee cycle aka Coffee Peddlers Cafe.  Patrick turned up at the local Auskick last year sensing an opportunity to add to the event and judging by the response from the punters, they were fairly pleased to have him there.  I was really impressed with Patrick's setup and the detail he put into mounting his Coffee machine onto the bike. Everything packs up within the box and off he goes.  Patrick's passion is now seeing him get regular work at Bicycle Victoria, markets in the Cities of Moreland and Darebin and other events, so look out for him or book him for your next event.


I can just see the MKII version of the product complete with a bike capable of being ridden on a wind trainer to generate enough electricity to power the coffee machine and for the drinker to grind their own beans by hand while they wait for that truly feelgood moment when they take their first sip of off the grid caffeine.  The only problem would be to combine the collective energy of 10 professional cyclists each capable of outputting 300 watts of energy (3000 Watts) for the time it takes to warm up the machine and make a coffee or 10.  Now there's a new challenge for Green Edge to prove their green credentials.

Along with the various food trucks now plying their trade of taking food to the people, rather than people to the food, the concept of mobile vendors on bikes seems like a great idea.   Low cost to setup, low overheads, no rent, small footprint and the ability to go where the punters are.  This got me thinking what other passions could be combined with cycling?  Perhaps a mobile disco, bar or teppanyaki BBQ.  Happy to hear your ideas on pedalling your passions.





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