450 MILES OF GUERILLA MARKETING

Trailhead roaster muscles café bike through Cycle Oregon
By Dan Leif

Bicycling has been at the heart of Trailhead Coffee Roasters since the company’s inception two years ago. Owner Charlie Wicker pedals pounds of coffee to his accounts around Portland, Ore., and he serves Moka pot brews from his custom-made café cycle at two farmers markets each week. This month, though, Wicker is taking the bike-and-beans combo to a new level: He plans to complete Cycle Oregon, a 450-mile ride that stretches across eight days (and plenty of nasty uphill sections), on his Trailhead cruiser. He’ll be serving coffee to other riders at several designated rest stops along the route—assuming he can get his bulky bike up and over all the mountain passes, that is.

Q: So … are you insane?
A: I might be. I’ve done big rides and absurd long races, but this is more mileage than anything else I’ve done. I may feel fresh for the first few days and then completely crater—it’s definitely a possibility. I’m not afraid of it, but I’m feeling some trepidation for sure.

I’m sure I’ll have plenty of people passing me on their carbon-fiber road bikes, and I’ll just kind of whimper as they go by.

Q: Are you carrying the coffee and brewing equipment through the whole ride?
A: We’re actually organized through Cycle Oregon. I came up with this hair-brained idea, and they were all for it. So all the equipment is being transported on a truck. I’ll just have to worry about the bike—this big, beefy cargo machine. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of people passing me on their carbon-fiber road bikes, and I’ll just kind of whimper as they go by.

Q: What kind of coffee are you serving?
A: I’ll probably be bringing the Guatemala because it’s a crowd favorite, but I might go all Nekisse [a super-premium Ethiopian variety Trailhead has been roasting in small batches]. Yes, it’s expensive, but this is a very special event. It might be time for me to put all the eggs in and go for it.

Q: You’ll be serving Moka pot style out there, like you do at farmers markets. Why do you favor that preparation method?
A: I never had a good Moka pot drink until I did it myself. The only way I think it works is if you have a certain size Moka pot—the one they call six-cup—with relatively high heat, and the brew cycle should be about 90 seconds. You get a nice coffee with a lot of subtlety to it. It’s certainly a compromise when you compare it to a drink made on a La Marzocco, but I’m not dragging a La Marzocco around with me.

The biggest day is 85 miles with 6,500 feet of climbing. That day scares the crap out of me.

Q: Has riding the café bike around Portland been good training?
A: Yeah, my routes don’t add up to that much mileage, but I have a trailer, and both the bike and trailer are fully loaded. I’ve got bags of coffee, four stove-top espresso makers, butane cartridges, a cooler packed with ice, four quarts of milk, two containers of coconut-based milk for people who don’t want dairy, a camp stove and then all the stuff that makes me legal to serve food: trash can, tanks for hand washing. Cycle Oregon at any given moment will be comparably way easier, with the exception of the hills. The biggest day is 85 miles with 6,500 feet of climbing. That day scares the crap out of me.

Q: What will be your secret for maintaining energy?
A: I have a heart rate monitor, and can stay on pace that way. It’s all pretty formulaic. I could sit at 165 beats per minute all day long, but if I got 175 in three hours I’ll be shattered. I just have to be disciplined and make sure I don’t go over.

Q: So just like roasting, it’s all about the numbers?
A: It’s a ride profile. Got to keep the temperature of your legs just right—otherwise they’ll go to second crack.