Courtesy of Bike Stop Café
As the temperatures moderate this week, consider renting a bike at Bike Stop Café's new Chesterfield location and riding the Monarch Levee. Afterwards, you can grab a bite—or a brew—back at the café.
Bike Stop Café, located in the Taubman Prestige Outlets, officially opened to the public last week. Today they celebrated their grand opening with a DJ, Boulevard beer samples, and samples of café pastries, says Jodi Devonshire, who co-owns Bike Stop Café with husband Tony Caruso.
The new location, larger than the flagship Bike Stop Café in St. Charles, maintains the same "come as you are" atmosphere as the original. "It's more modern, but we still have been able to bring that very cozy, home-y feel here," she says. "You can come in your cycling jersey, or you can come in your suit and tie and you will feel comfortable in either."
Devonshire says she and her husband were "passively" looking for another location when the managers at Taubman Prestige Outlets said they had space available with a full kitchen. "Of course, Bike Stop can't be just anywhere; it needs to be by a trail," Devonshire says. With the recent connector built between the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee and the Katy Trail, the outlets were an ideal location. "As it stands, there is now a trail from one bike shop to the other, so that was very appealing to us."
At the Chesterfield location, customers can rent bikes and utilize a "mini self-service" area with loaner tools and pumps. Customers can also enjoy "made from scratch" items, from tabbouleh to peanut butter balls—a recipe Devonshire is frequently asked to share, but never has. "They're our number one seller," she says. "We literally sell thousands of them."
Avid cyclists Devonshire and Caruso always enjoyed the social aspect of cycling, but it often led to unhealthy eating after a rigorous ride. "We would find ourselves at restaurants eating nachos and fried mozzarella sticks, and that just doesn't settle well after a hard ride," Devonshire says.
But restaurants with healthier options weren't necessarily bike-friendly. "You couldn't park your bike anywhere, and there really wasn't an atmosphere of openness to cycling," Devonshire says. "We wanted to create a space where cyclists felt welcome, and they felt like they could get a good meal."
Seven years after creating that first space in St. Charles, the couple continues to encourage biking as a culture. Devonshire and Caruso are highly involved in the cycling community, and have contributed in efforts to bring biking to at-risk populations, Devonshire says. "When I started biking with Tony many, many years ago, often I was the only girl on the trail," she says. "Over the past ten-plus years, I have really seen women and minorities out on bikes more and comfortable with bikes, and it just thrills me to see that."
Devonshire says parks and trails are being put on the back burner in our current political climate. "We would not be here in Chesterfield if it weren't for the Monarch Levee, which is funded through the GRG [Great Rivers Greenway] and cared for by the Chesterfield Parks Department," she says. "These things bring monetary value to our community, and I think it's important to note that businesses can be built around these types of public-funded entities."
Bike Stop Cafe - Chesterfield is located is at 17057 N Outer 40 Road. The hours are Mon-Wed 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Thu-Sat 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Sun 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.. The phone is 636-735-4422. See Website and Facebook for more details.
