SEQUIM — Because his life depends on it, this delivery man drinks heavily through the day — water, that is.
Ryan Elmer, 30, peddles sandwiches, vegetables, applesauce, oatmeal cookies and bottled water to Sequim’s working population — while pedaling wheels from Mike’s Bikes.
He starts the day at 7 a.m. in the Sequim Family Farms kitchen off Cays Road, prepping and packing lunches made with local goods: Bell Street Bakery bread, Mount Townsend Creamery cheese, the Farms’ own sugar-free applesauce and cookies.
Then he drives to Mike’s Bikes on West Sequim Bay Road, mounts a borrowed bike and sets out, cooler in tow, to feed hungry hairstylists, medical-office workers and shopkeepers.
“I’m expanding every day,” Elmer said Tuesday while stopping by the Peninsula Daily News’ Sequim bureau.
He means his route, not his girth.
Elmer is a self-powered, self-contained cruiser of the byways around Washington Street, westward from Mike’s to Fifth Avenue. Each day he hands out fliers to more people on more streets, hoping to pedal back the next day with their sandwich orders.
Twenty-four sandwiches plus accompanying cookies and snacks fit in his cooler, which rides on a trailer, also from Mike’s Bikes.
For now, while Elmer spreads the word about his lunches — made fresh each day — he’s carrying more fliers than food.
Exchange
Sequim Family Farms co-owner John Junell came up with the idea of delivering lunches on two wheels and went to Mike’s Bikes owner Mike Wanner, who quickly agreed to supply equipment in exchange for lunch each weekday.
The concept is “awesome,” Wanner said. He predicted that down the road Junell will need another delivery person and said he’d probably supply a second bike to facilitate that.
In a sense, Junell and Elmer’s lunches could be called light. Junell, a diabetic, has developed recipes without refined sugar at Sequim Family Farms and markets applesauces at QFC stores.
He varies the bicycle-based menu by the day: Thursday is for turkey sandwiches, for example, and Fridays bring salmon and cream cheese.
Elmer, for his part, said he’s downing about a gallon and a half of water during his rounds. Hydration, of course, is key to his survival in this job.
When moisture starts falling from the sky on a regular basis, Elmer said, he’ll continue plying Sequim’s roads. His bike is equipped with fenders, and there are rain pants for sale out there.
“This is a year-round business,” Elmer said. “Sequim has been a fun, friendly town to work in.”
Cycling around here has been better than motoring around Monroe, he said, where he delivered pizzas while attending Whatcom Community College.
“Traffic is a growing concern in Sequim,” added Elmer, who grew up in Port Angeles. “I’m taking one more car off the road,” and during the lunchtime crunch, “I can get down the road faster than the cars.”
Bicycled lunches from Sequim Family Farms are available between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
To order, phone 360-681-0635, fax 360-681-0442 or visit www.SequimFamilyFarms.net.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
