Candy Cranks

My Coffee Bike “CharRie’s Café” debuted in Berlin last month. It was very quick! only after a few weeks I moved to Berlin. It was the perfect timing I arrived here. I got a chance to carry out my coffee-bike at VELOBerlin, one of the biggest bicycle exhibition in Berlin. Thanks a lot to Keirin Cycle Culture Café, they made my day and put me up with my coffee-bike at their booth for 2 days. I really enjoyed making lots of  my fresh hand brewed coffee on my bike café. I was very happy to see so many people LOVED my coffee. I was also selling a bag with Japanese flag design for donations to be sent to Japan. A lot of people donated. Thank you ♥ The exhibition was fun as well. Lots of cool bikes and live music set up played by bicycles.

Photo by: Maria Therese Laub

I served free coffee with my homemade greentea + chocolate cookies ♥

Keirin Cycle Culture Café booth

The bike parts were filled with rice. (We made sushi after the show)

CharRie’s Café Interviewed on the biggest newspaper in Berlin ♥ Dankeschön ♥

+ I was interviewed for an article for a full page about cyclist outside of Japan. Find me in this magazine, BiCYCLE CLUB ５月号. ( ´艸｀) ♥ hehe.

More photos HERE.

Thanks Gesine! Taken outside the lovely Remy and Lee’s cafe

Barista extraordinaire  Remy (Jeremy).

The lovely Lee

Remy and Lees is a super cafe in Surry Hills, Sydney. They have superb coffee, pies, cakes, home made treats, and a really friendly vibe, it’s a great place to hang on a sunny afternoon. The cafe features local artists, photographers and alike so there’s lots of interesting things to check out while you wait for a brew, including our very own Candy Cranks display. Thanks Guys!

Check em out.

I had a Burnout Syndrome… I finally got up myself to write about my bike journey to Europe. Sorry,this is kind of old stuff and already passed a few months but I still want to post & share this now otherwise I never will. Europe just melted my heart too bad XD I got a burnout…

I love traveling with my bicycle. I took my coffee bike and went to Leeds and Budapest in May. This was my 1st time being to Europe and there were some big reasons I went there.

♥Reason 1: Meeting my best friend Monika in Leeds. It’s been years to see her; I first met her in Kyoto, Japan and became best friend through the bicycle.

Here are some photos I developed of my trip to Leeds. I was there for only 3 days but had a good time to ride around the city with some friends. Thanks to Monika + Marek and fixed gear leeds crew!

♥Reason 2: Meeting Linda – Candy Cranks author from Budapest. Wowww! Candy Cranks is the great tool to make cool bike friends all over the globe!! I’d never met Linda but we are now really good friends!! Viva Candy Cranks!!

Thanks a lot to Linda to make my trip so much fun, helped me out, put me up and showe me an awesome time!! Hungarian people are so nice and kind. I love Budapest!! (and Gosser Lemon beer!)

♥Reason 3: ECMC (European Cycle Messenger Championships) in Budapest. I am not a messenger but I like to hangout with them and watching the messenger race. They are pretty tough and hardcore cyclist. I love their life style and crazy parties.

Hi cheeeeez! (Japanese photo peace sign, yaaay! )

I spread Love Wheels Nagoya Calendars. ♥Thank you♥

Bicycle Fashion Show.

Bike Polo Final.

♥Reason 4: CharRie’s Café (my bike café).
I brought my original coffee beans and all my coffee bike stuff in huge freight baggage backpack from Japan. (It was super heavy to bring them all! ) I was a bit nervous to doing my coffee bike at ECMC for 3 days by myself because I had no friend, only a few Japanese around this event. I knew only Linda and Sinya (organizer of ECMC) and I wasn’t sure if European would love my Japanese coffee… but I had a confidence to make people to love my coffee so Linda was in love♥ yay!

… was sexy ; ) ♥Thanks everyone!

Many people stopped by my bike café, having my coffee and happy talks…♥ It inspired me a lot!! I didn’t charge for my coffee but everyone tipped me good. Thank you!

♥Reason 5: Cheering my messenger friend Izuru from Naogya. He came with his wife and 2 years old son. It was their late honeymoon as they said. Sweet♥

♥Reason 6: Sightseeing in Budapest. We had a group riding all day long. Riding and hanging out the city by bicycle is the best way to see, feel and smell the local. Too many beautiful castles in Budapest!! I felt like I was in Disneyland!

LANGOS tastes sooo good! (especially when you get drunk at midnight like mexican burrito)

Needless to say, traveling with a bike and meeting some bike friends across the ocean are always great. Even if we don’t see each other, we can still have a good friendship through the bicycle. Bicycle unites people all over the world.

It took a lot of courage for me to do my coffee bike in my 1st time being in Europe and 1st time doing my coffee bike out of Japan. The bigger try is, the more worth it has.

Thanks for sharing this.
More pics HERE.

Portland’s Rapha has opened a pop-up shop in NYC at 352 Bowery for a few months.

I managed to squeeze in a visit during an action-packed one-week trip to the Big Apple. Though it’s definitely dude-centric, there was a (very) small selection of ladies cycling-wear to check out and lots of cycling eye candy. Rapha aims to build a community while they’re in NYC, and even though daily live screenings of the Tour de France are over, there are rides, movie nights and a cafe to help foster the Rapha love.

Small, but excellent women’s cycling-wear collection

Portland transplants can get their caffeine fix at Rapha’s coffee bar that serves up Stumptown coffee.

Uber-cool indoor bike parking

All Tour de France, all the time

Menswear – nice jerseys!

Vintage Tour de France van used for picking up stragglers

So the messenger competition to shut down… It was a great time in Budapest, many messenger arrived not only from Europe. You know as well that Rie too from Nagoya with her coffee bike!!! (I have to tell You guys I never drink coffee, I don’t like it, but this is something different, so delicious… love it)

This 3 days past so fast, we had many program in the daytime: bike polo, foot down, sprint in Velodrome after we had a nice group ride in the city to the next place, what is an interesting old socialist factory. First night we had a fashion show and concert and we tried hungarian drinks!

The next two days was pretty hard, everybody ride hard and the rout was not easy. The main race, the skid, and everything was very exciting, we had girls as well too. One of the best race was the Gold Sprint, where Sarah from Britain was the fastest!
The factory was a good choose, because only we was there and it was so free feeling, like in a festival and we don’t had to worried about the bikes, it was such a nice landscape… everywhere bicycles!!!
So the Finals on Monday was really exciting, in the foot down finals Sabrina from Poland was the only girl Here You can check the results
We had there the youngest messenger too, Izuru&Izumi from Nagoya took the 2 years old baby, He is already riding… and You can see his messenger bag… ) so cute

Miss me so much this days… we had so much funs, everybody was so cool and nice, we had nice parties and now all around the world knows a bit about Hungary and Palinka (shot) …
Tuesday we had a sightseeing group ride with the Guide Kole from Canada who was a guide/messenger here in Budapest, I think it’s a beautiful city!
And thanks Rie, we had so great time together !!!

more pictures here

*Happy Valentine’s Day everybody*

I always wished to make people happy with my hand brewed coffee on bike. My dream has come true on Valentine’s Day!

Charinco (Bicycle) + Rie = CharRie’s

HAHA… I’ve been studying hand brewed coffee techniques at a local café and tought it would be cool to serve to my friends and customers at Circles which is my favorite bike shop in Nagoya and has a big influence on my life. The owner of Circles let me use a little space for setting up my bike café as a Valentine’s special event.  I always make miracles at Circles so I did it! I sold out 100 cups of coffee at the 1st day, yaaaaay!

Rum Ball & Gateau Chocolat made by Izumi & Rie

*Thank you for coming*

￥300 with chocolate treats (￥200 for a Refill)

Hand made milk caps.

Wrapping cube sugar.

CharRie's bike café totally matching the colors with Circles.

Circles offered me to do this every Sunday starting on March 7th *Thank You*.  I have a crazy friend “Crankee“, he invented his BBQ SURLY, we will put our bike kitchen toghether next time!

 I have a confidence with my coffee, it is actually soo GOOD!! Please stop by Circles in Nagoya and say hello to my coffee bike when you ever get a chance to visit Japan.

Thanks a lot to Circles and everyone who stopped by and had my coffee, to all my great friends who supported to put me up and had awesome happy time together.

*Have a happy coffee*

More pics → HERE!

Hello mate! I went to travel around Sydney & Melbourne with my best friend Nikon & NISHIKI for my holidays. It is summer time there, Gotta Go now!

My biggest reason to come out to Sydney was…

Meg and Tarn

“MEET THE MEG!”

Tarn, Rie and Meg

As you can expect through the Candy Cranks blog, Meg is one of the greatest and nicest people you ever meet! I met Meg at CMWC Tokyo and became great friends. I didn’t know anyone in Sydney but thanks Meg! Candy Cranks screwed up my courage to make a lot of new friends in Sydney and all over the globe!

Meg and her partner are so kind and took me a lot of cool places. They’ve got their own work space for bikes hidden the back stage of the Sydney Theater Company, looks soo sick! I was riding my bike on the stage as an actress in front of NO audience, hehe… (Rie in Sydney by Meg)

Cross Sydney Harbor Bridge by bike

on Sydney Harbor Bridge

Emily and Rie

★Emily's Candy Cranks★

Sydney Sunday Nite Crew

Group Riding

Emily & J just found this warehouse, so D O P E...

Sydney Sunday Nite Crew

Great to see messengers working in the city!

Ausie burger is HUGE!!

I like riding in the city to explore bikes and coffee. It is the best way to feel the local culture, I think★

I am a big fan of her blog btw…

Traveling with bicycle is really amazing… 

Bicycle leads me to meet great people. I like Japanese proverb;

一期一会(Ichigo-Ichie)： Treasure every encounter, for it will never recur.

I was so impressed that people in Australia are so nice and friendly. Also Wine, Beer and Coffee are absolutely my type of taste. I will definitely move in this year!

Thanks to Meg, Tarn, Emily, J, Sydney Sunday Crew and messengers. It was great to meet u all! Awesome time. Cheers Sydney!

More pics HERE!

Cars R Coffins & Cykel Garage
3346 LYNDALE AVENUE SOUTH.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55408

612-822-4130

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