Published on April 22th, 2025 by Summer Hanson
Hi friends!
Happy Earth Day! The sun is out and a lot of you have been emerging from the big dark to ride your bikes and grab iced coffee, and we welcome you with open arms! I'm here with a little update to fill you in on the latest and greatest at our ever-evolving shop.
We are super passionate about community and sustainability, and today's shop updates include changes we've been making to reflect these values. Earth Day is every day around here, but today's a good time to think about how we can work together to take care of this planet we call home.
Building Community
Group Rides - beginners welcome!
We're getting consistent with our monthly group rides, and hope to get to ride bikes with you soon! We usually pick a theme, and a scenic route through the city with some fun stops along the way. So far, our group rides have been chill, no-drop rides at a pace welcome to all levels, and I expect we'll mostly stick to that! The save the date for our next group ride on May 17th is up on Partiful where you can RSVP, here.
We love doing these group rides as a way to have fun on bikes together and also build confidence among new riders, with safety in numbers, and by showing routes through the city with protected bike lanes and trails.
If you're interested in planning/leading a group ride of your own that starts here, feel free to reach out and we can talk about how we can help spread the word!
Expanded coffee shop seating
We have recently added a whole room of indoor seating at the coffee shop, plus we still have seating on our covered back porch. We hope you'll come hang out and enjoy the space! Come with friends, a laptop, a book, or peruse our collection bike magazines for inspiration. We hope this can be a "third place," where you can meet people and build community!
We have more space updates coming, too! We will likely be updating the back porch soon to make it extra nice for you this summer, and have plans to add some more outdoor seating where you can enjoy your coffee in the sunshine, too. Plus we're dreaming up a shared library inside with books and games for you to enjoy as well.
Sustainability programs
Sustainability is a core value of our shop. In addition to encouraging and aiding bike transportation, prioritizing vintage bikes and used parts, using salvaged materials around the shop, and offering lots of vegan and vegetarian options, we are introducing some new programs to demonstrate our care for the environment.
Reusable cup program with OKAPI and Reuse Seattle
We're so excited to be a part of a new, city-wide reusable cup borrowing program! If you ever find yourself at our coffee shop without your own reusable cup, you are welcome to grab an OKAPI reusable cup and know you're doing your part to reduce waste, whether you're drinking your coffee here or to-go. Plus you get to enjoy your drinks in an insulated, stainless steel cup!
To use the program, all you have to do is download the app, and sign up with the promo code SEATTLE to pay just $5 for a lifetime borrowing membership. It works just like a library - you can check out up to 2 cups at a time, and will get reminders to return cups within 2 weeks, at our shop or one of the other 14+ locations around Seattle participating in the program, where the cups will be washed, sanitized, and reused! All you have to do is scan a QR code when you borrow and return a cup.
Note: for now, we have cup sizes 8oz, 12oz, and 16oz, which means only sizes 8 oz and 12oz and smaller for iced drinks (because we use larger cups to allow 4oz of room for ice). We're in talks with OKAPI about expanding their cup options to incude our larger drink sizes!
Too Good To Go: Discounted food, helping to reduce food waste!
We've recently partnered with Too Good To Go, an app where consumers can schedule pickups for food that might otherwise go to waste.
We're always tweaking our ordering to try to keep a balance between keeping our menu items in stock and avoiding over-ordering that can lead to food waste. To make the most of our occasional leftovers, we've started to list "surprise bags" on our Too Good To Go profile where you can purchase near-expiration food items at a steep discount.
Reservation and pickup windows: We usually list whatever's available that day around 12:30pm on weekdays, for pickup at 1:45pm, before we close at 2pm.
What's in the surprise bags? The surprise bags are separated by Vegan, Vegetarian, and Carnivore, and usually contain breakfast or lunch such as sandwiches, wraps, and tacos that are expiring later that day. The vegetarian bags also sometimes include pastries.
Value & pricing: The bags all have an approximate value of $15, which tends to be 2 larger items (wraps, sandwiches), or 3 smaller items (pastries or tacos), and are sold at a third of the price, so $5 per bag.
Tips for your surprise bags: We recommend heating most items up in an air fryer if you have one, and eating the same day if you can, or freezing what you won't be eating that day and moving items to the fridge to thaw the night before you think you'll eat them.
Coffee grounds for your garden
For those of you who are tending your gardens this spring, we've been setting aside bags of used coffee grounds that you can pick up for free if we have them! Just ask one of the baristas when you come by.
The coffee grounds add nitrogen to the soil, and Hugh, one of our regulars (pictured) says his rhododendrons, azaeleas, shrubs and roses love it!
Bike Help
We are open for bike service by appointment - you can schedule a service consultation with Chris (he's usually in Fri - Sun) on your vintage, commuter, touring or bikepacking bike*!
If you're looking to buy a bike, or get a custom build, you can book an appointment with me (Summer), or stop by to talk to me or Justin at the shop. I'm here on weekdays, and Justin's here most days!
We have lots of vintage 80's-90's bikes (our favorite) at the shop right now that aren't listed on the website yet, which would make great starting points as affordable all-arounder bikes. We have some lovely Surly, Soma, All-City, Rivendell, and New Albion frames too if you want something new and totally custom.
Please note, we are no longer working on e-bikes or full suspension mountain bikes (check out Electric & Folding Bikes Northwest and evo for nearby help with these kinds of bikes, respectively.)
We hope to see you all soon, and feel free to shoot us an email if you have any questions about the above!
With love,
Summer and the Cycle & Coffee team
hello@cycleandcoffee.com