Cycling Cafes in western Tokyo - the Zebra as Apex Predator

Social rides should ideally include a coffee stop, if morning, or a beer stop, if afternoon. Maybe both, if all day.

The Tokyo Cranks for years ended their Sunday morning rides at the Starbucks at Seijo Gakuen Mae Station. That tradition was suspended with the pandemic, but a Starbucks in Inagi mid-ride with ample outdoor seating effectively has replaced Seijo Gakuen, for those of us who are riding as a smaller group still.  Cross Coffee, an actual "cycling cafe" at Yanokuchi, is another option, though it lacks outdoor seating.

A year or two back, I started to hear Peter W. and others talk about Zebra Coffee & Croissant on the south side of Lake Tsukui, not far from the base of Doshi Michi. It took awhile before I actually stopped there, but the good quality of generously sized baked goods and lunch dishes, plus excellent latte, made me realize why some cyclists seemed to be planning their rides so as to fit in a stop at Zebra. It is in a spacious, high-ceilinged old building, with additional porch and outdoor seating. And bike racks galore. The inside is so big that cyclists can bring their bikes in and lean them along the wall as they eat -- unheard of in Japan!

The coffee is excellent ... but that exists at plenty of other Tokyo area coffee shops. The difference here is the space, the cyclist-friendly atmosphere, AND the delicious, calorie-filled cyclist-restoring food.

Zebra stop at Lake Tsukui Spring 2021

Zebra Stop at Lake Tsukui Spring 2020

Zebra Stop late December 2020 - Festive 500 all day ride

And now, as of the past month, there is a Zebra located on the first climb up Onekansen Doro in Inagi -- only a few hundred meters from where we watched the Olympic road races pass two weeks ago. It is a large, open shop smack in the middle of Inagi Central Park, just off of Onekansen Doro. How did they get a lease there -- fantastic idea for Zebra and for the park users. And what a great location as cyclists head out of town or back, along Onekan.

Jerome and I stopped there yesterday as we wilted in the heat. We were happy to sit at the shaded outdoor tables in front until opening time, 8:30AM. 

I was inspired to look at the Zebra online site ... and discovered that in addition to Lake Tsukui and Inagi Central Park, there are also Zebra coffees in Sagamihara/Hashimoto, Shibuya Koen Dori, and Marine & Walk Yokohama (on the bay just NE of the Red Brick Warehouse area). I look forward to their further expansion. Maybe they could open in Itsukaichi, another in Oume, one along the Arakawa on the north edge of Tokyo, and why not in Gunma, say Annaka on the Nakasendo, just before the climb to Karuizawa?

My only quibble with the Inagi shop is that they really should open earlier, especially in summer months, if they want to serve the crowd of riders heading OUT of town. As it is, they will serve riders doing shorter morning rides--us yesterday--or  heading back INTO town.

(And they should team up with a craft brewery for the afternoon business ... though in Japan one must not drink and ride, so I am not holding my breath.)

Generally, we think of the zebra as prey for lions, cheeetahs, and other meat-eaters of the African savannah. But this Zebra seems more like predator than prey. Stranger things have happened in the world of cycling.