Cycling stops in Santa Barbara

1 place · California, United States

Santa Barbara gives you the whole gradient in one ride. The coast road runs flat along the Pacific; a few kilometres inland the Santa Ynez Mountains stand straight up, and Gibraltar Road climbs that wall from town to ridge in a long, exposed series of switchbacks that the Tour of California used as a summit finish. Old San Marcos and Painted Cave are the other ways up.

Handlebar Coffee Roasters is where the rides leave town from: pro-owned, and the obvious place to meet before you climb.

Cafés

Handlebar Coffee RoastersCafé · Santa BarbaraHandlebar Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roastery and café with two locations in Santa Barbara, founded in 2011 by Aaron Olson and Kim Anderson, both …
CAFE

Handlebar Coffee Roasters

Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara

Handlebar Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roastery and café with two locations in Santa Barbara, founded in 2011 by Aaron Olson and Kim Anderson, both former professional road cyclists. The pair passed through town racing the Amgen Tour of California in 2008 and stayed to open a roastery built around a German machine they named Hercules. For a visiting cyclist, it means coffee roasted in-house by people who spent years racing in the European peloton.

Olson and Anderson met racing bikes professionally in Europe before settling in Santa Barbara: Anderson went on to win the 2009 Route de France Féminine, the women's equivalent of the Tour de France, while Olson spent nearly a decade on the American and European pro circuits. After the 2008 Amgen Tour of California brought them through town, they trained at the American Coffee & Barista School in Portland, Oregon, and opened the café and roastery on East Cañon Perdido Street in November 2011. Riders who stop in are served by people who know exactly what a long day on the bike takes out of you.

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From riders

Worth knowing

Handlebar Coffee Roasters is owned and operated by Aaron Olson, who raced eight professional seasons for teams including Colavita-Bolla Wines, Saunier Duval-Prodir, T-Mobile and Bissell, according to Wikipedia's entry on him and the café's own site.

Practical

Two Santa Barbara locations: the original café and roastery at 128 E. Cañon Perdido St. downtown (opened November 2011) and a second location at 2720 De La Vina St. in Mid-town.

Common questions

Why stop at Handlebar Coffee Roasters on a bike ride?
Handlebar Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee roastery and café with two locations in Santa Barbara, founded in 2011 by Aaron Olson and Kim Anderson, both former professional road cyclists. The pair passed through town racing the Amgen Tour of California in 2008 and stayed to open a roastery built around a German machine they named Hercules. For a visiting cyclist, it means coffee roasted in-house by people who spent years racing in the European peloton.
Where is Handlebar Coffee Roasters?
Handlebar Coffee Roasters is in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara (California, United States).

Checked 26 July 2026

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