Winter 2024

Biking in Style Mad Dogs & Englishmen, a Dog and Coffee Lover’s Bicycle Shop B Y M I CHA E L CHAT F I E LD Photo: Jeff Bushnell T rue to its bohemian roots, Carmel-by-the-Sea is a town that hosts countless numbers of unique and eclectic retail establishments. Earning a well-deserved place of honor near the top of that list is Mad Dogs & Englishmen Bike Shop. Optimally situated on two floors at Ocean Avenue and Mission Street, the shop has earned a spot among Carmel’s most beloved retailers—especially among dog lovers—and now is carving out a niche among aficionados of fine coffee. Owners Jennifer Blevins and Martin Watson moved to Pebble Beach in 2013 partially because the area is so dog friendly. “We are dog people first, and bicyclists second,” Blevins says. “Now, we’ve become dog people who happen to own a bicycle shop.” Appropriately, the idea for Mad Dogs & Englishmen was partly born on a visit to Carmel’s La Bicyclette Restaurant. “We had a romantic notion of riding our pedal bikes into Carmel for dinner and shop- ping, but found the hills difficult to navigate.That wasn’t a great expe- rience.We parked our bikes when we returned home and never got them out again.” Avid travelers, the couple rented electric bicycles while in Europe and,“a light bulb lit up,” Blevins recalls.“We realized that pedal assist bikes could flatten our hills.That was a game changer. I said,‘I’m going to be part of making Carmel a bicycle friendly town using pedal assist bikes.’” Mad Dogs’ flagship Carmel store opened in the down- stairs location in 2018, followed by locations on Monterey’s Cannery Row and in Montecito in Santa Barbara County. Carmel’s upstairs portion debuted in 2021. Carmel’s newest gourmet coffee shop has opened in the village’s only bicycle shop. Highly rated coffees are custom blended by a highly respected Guatemalan roasting company. The shop’s owners envision it as a gathering spot. 152 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4