Hackensack is coming to life as new businesses begin to open for summer, starting with Soul Shine Cyclery: Bikes. Coffee. Adventure. Its location is on Highway 371 across from Charng Thai Restaurant.

Owner Jesse Amo wanted to bring his passion for bikes and cycling to Hackensack after falling in love with the lifestyle in college at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

"When I was going to college, I started volunteering at a bicycle co-op. And that's kind of where that got going," Amo said. "I have a personality type of habitual entrepreneur. I tend to get very passionate about the things that I love, and go seek out the best people to learn from. And so from the bicycle workshop, that was really the proving grounds for me, where I actually learned a lot."

Coffee is yet another thing he has always loved, so having a shop in Hackensack offered him the chance to combine those two interests.

"It's a lot more than just a bike shop or coffee shop, but really an experience," Amo said. "So the business is really focused on giving people a place to let their soul shine and find what makes their soul shine. So that's the whole thing behind the name."

Amo said he put great effort into the quality of his business' offerings, including learning how to maintain bikes from some of the most well-known names in the industry, buying some of the most local but best brands he could find, working with a quality roaster and sourcing high quality coffee.

The shop will include not only sales and repair of bikes, but also outfitting, route recommendations and shuttling of up to seven cyclists.

"If they want to ride 50 miles a day we can accommodate that by either dropping them off or picking them up at the end of the route so they can cover new ground the whole way," Amo said.

Amo will largely be promoting bike trips on the Paul Bunyan and Heartland trail systems and the Chippewa National Forest as well as trips to Itasca State Park. Interested parties can contact the shop to arrange shuttles and to get recommendations for hotel stays, campgrounds and more.

The business also offers to help cyclists to travel lighter.

"If people want to bring a small suitcase and have us get that to their next destination for them, they can bike and they don't have to carry anything except for their little bag and their own water," Amo said.

Amo plans to build fat tire routes on Birch Lake once winter rolls in and the lake freezes. In the meantime, his business rents paddleboards.

Amo is proud of his fair trade, organic coffees that he will offer at the shop.

"I'm going to be doing all single origin coffee from all over the world," he said. "And the full gamut of espresso drinks, brewed coffee, some interesting options with cold brew and nitro. And then tea as well. Also a few light bites kind of grab-and-go stuff like bakery stuff."

Travis Grimler is a staff writer for the Pineandlakes Echo Journal weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/Pine River. He may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com.