Coffeeneuring 2017, Part One

Drink coffee, ride bikes. Pretty simple, and pretty perfect.

Like any other -neuring, there are rules, but they are easy to follow. By telling the story of each visit, the rules are covered. The story, the spirit of coffeeneuring is pure. Spend some time for yourself, ride your bike, drink something tasty and warm – and be happy. There are days when a cold wind makes you rethink a zip around the block, but then you get some sun on your face, some rosy on your cheeks and you know it was worth it.

Ride #1 was a double shot of early morning meetings at one of my favorite places, Fortezza. I often laugh that it’s ‘my office’ with as many meetings as I seem to have there. The first meeting was to help plan upcoming bike education classes (!!!) with a mentor, fellow advocate and friend. 

The second meeting was about volunteering, and life, and our city, and making things cool and talking about everything that pops. This was about as perfect a morning as I could create.

 

Date: Opening Day, Friday October 13th.

What I Drank: meeting #1 – latte, meeting #2 – black coffee

Mileage: 8.7

Plenty of bike parking, bike lanes on both side streets

 

Ride #2 was a quick stop at another favorite cafe, Old Crown. The coffee shop is named for a brewery that was popular in our city from 1862 – 1973,  they do the old name proud. I was meeting Mona for a sip before we headed out for a morning of exploring. We wanted to see a couple of things. One stretch of trail had some repairs that had been recently completed, a brand new stretch of trail was just finished,  connecting a park with the rest of our greenway trail system – and a brand new trail in progress.

But first, coffee. Ah.

We rode all over, chatting about this and that, enjoying the expansion of our  trail system. We found the new Pufferbelly Trail in progress. It’s been cleared, and some gravel has been laid out. We found some ‘adventure’ too….

So, that sign is a warning that an ‘aggressive coyote’ had been reported in the area. This is part of the brand new trail in progress, it should be complete soon and will connect downtown to northern suburbs.

Date: Saturday, October 14

What I Drank: a breve with four shots – hey, I had to keep up with Mona!

19 miles

2/10 bike parking at Old Crown. I tried locking up to a fence rail, but it was quite challenging. The parking lot is small, but a bike rack would be much appreciated by the neighborhood.

Ride #3 I didn’t really have a destination in mind, I just headed out in a direction, hoping to find something and enjoy the warm fall morning. Rolling downtown, I saw groups of people heading toward the baseball stadium. I followed, and found a party! It was a fundraiser for cancer research, so the parking lot was full of food trucks, music, vendors and supporters. I took the opportunity to try a new coffee truck, Amanda Lee Coffee  and an old favorite for pastries, Hetty Arts.

Date: Saturday, October 21

What I Drank: Americano, with a perfect almond croissant.

Mileage: 5

no real bike parking – but this was a walk/run event. I could have found bike parking closer to the stadium,

 

Ride #4 was by far the coldest. The wind was very sharp, but this pumpkin pie chai was exactly what I needed. It’s pretty famous in these parts, and for good reason. ahhh, I need another……Firefly Coffee is right in the neighborhood.

Date: Saturday, October 29th

What I Drank: pumpkin pie chai, hands down my favorite drink of the fall season

2.7 Miles

6/10 bike parking – they normally have a rack up, but the tubing has a really wide circumference and my ulock doesn’t fit. In the winter, they take the rack down for more car spaces.

 

Halfway through the challenge, keep a lookout for part two!