Its overcast with a threat of rain, but that hasnt stopped a few cyclists from stopping by on a recent Friday afternoon.
Done up in riding gear, they sip americanos and cappuccinos at the downtown Burrard Street cafés communal tables. There are a few customers not in Spandex, but thats probably just temporary one casually dressed woman has brought her laptop, and its Apple insignia is covered over by a sticker with an illustration of a bike and the words Put the fun between your legs.
Theres certainly no mistaking Musette Caffe (Italian spelling) for anything other than a café established by and for cyclists and cycling enthusiasts.
Jerseys, of both the vintage wool and newer Spandex varieties, dominate most of the wall space. Behind the milk service station, photos of cyclists are pinned in a collage. Memorabilia, from tire pumps to water bottles, from a Lance Armstrong lunchbox to books on cycling, are displayed in glassed-in old shelving units.
Manager Dave Bukets, who has a background in sports nutrition (he owns Performa Nutrition Solutions), says that coffee is a fine boost for a ride. Its pretty common to stop for coffee during a ride. Its part of the culture.
The memorabilia is mostly from Eleizeguis collection, though some of the items have come from customers. The coffee is from 49th Parallel; the treats are from Sweet Naturally and To Die For; and Bukets himself makes the raw energy bars.
In keeping with the cycling theme, even the cafés Marzocco espresso maker has been custom-painted the same famous turquoise, known in the cycling world as Bianchi green, as that of a classic Bianchi bike hanging along a wall.
The café does bring in a fair number of non-cyclists, usually during the week and mainly from surrounding businesses, says Bukets, who has been on board since owner Thomas Eleizegui opened the café three months ago.
Its an almost garage-y kind of feeling, with the communal tables, and so you get a lot of this kind of stuff happening, says the manager. He nods at a table where two men, one in a business suit and the other in cycling gear, chat. The latter, notes Bukets, is an Olympics-level cyclist originally from Colombia.
That for us is the nicest thing, says Bukets. Its one thing to sell coffee and another thing to have a community happening.
But the new, half-hidden hangout (the entrance is in the alley off the east side of Burrard between Drake and Burnaby), which hosts group rides twice weekly, at 7 a.m. Monday and 5:30 p.m. Thursday, is definitely a hit with Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»cyclists needing a caffeine fix.
On weekends, says Bukets, the café is all spandex.
