Fuel Your Ride with Beans from Cycling-Inspired Coffee Roasters

This 1977 Mercedes diesel Unimog-turned-mobile-coffee shop can be found on the streets of Seattle at any given time (go to motofishcoffee.com to pinpoint its current location). But if you’re nowhere near the northwest corner of the country, you can pick up a bag of the current blend online—as well as nifty travel mugs and a sweet AeroPress travel kit. But coffee isn’t the only thing the folks at Motofish do well. They’re also photographers who most recently introduced their video project, “The Book of Cross.”

Why do coffee and cycling go hand in hand? "Coffee is the perfect complement to cycling, as it is the yin to cycling’s yang," says Chris Cumming, of Motofish Images. “Up early to ride. Coffee will wake you up. Riding in the rain, and cold and wet. Coffee will warm you up. Alone on the bike for hours. Grab a coffee with some friends at the end of the ride. As cyclists, we do many things that take sacrifice, and coffee helps to soften the edges. As cycling is simplifying and going local (think small frame builders and 1Xs), those in the know are moving to small roasters, too. You know who grew it, where they grew it, and who roasted it. And just like the mechanic at your LBS, you probably are on a first-name basis with your barista.”

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What’s your best coffee-making tip? “The age of your coffee beans affects your brew rate and how you grind the coffee,” says Kelse Kwaiser at Motofish Coffee. “The older the beans, the finer the grind should be—to slow down the brew process.”