Coffeeneuring Ride 6, Cup 6

There have been some coffee challenges for me in this coffeeneuring challenge, and so before starting this write-up of rides 6 and (I thought) 7 I reviewed the rules.

But first, the personal challenge: my town has a population of about 550, an area of about 39 square miles, and a population density of about 14 people per square mile. This makes for some very good cycling. But there is not a coffee shop in town. Not a cafe in town. For that matter, there is not a store, gas station, post office, fire station or public school in town. The surrounding towns have some of these things, and all have general stores or convenience stores. One even has a gas station. Not a coffee shop to be found though. We do drink coffee hereabouts, but in our homes, or in our friends homes. Where to go, to find a cup of java to enjoy?

My memory of the rules led me to expect that I would be out of bounds on some of them. Clearly, my rides included a coffee, tea or cider beverage. But were they utility rides? They weren't organized rides, or brevets or centuries. They were pleasure rides that included coffee. The purpose was coffee only because this is such a fun challenge. It's not as if I would ever, otherwise, get on my bike to ride to spend money on a cup of coffee not as good as I get at home. And also, was there a rule that I had to actually enjoy each individual cup of coffee, or just drink it?


And all of my rides involved driving, though I didn't remember any rule forbidding that, it does seem somewhat outside the spirit of the challenge. The gravelled dirt road that leads up the hill to my dirt driveway is far too steep, the gravel too loose for me to ride ... I virtually always drive the 2 miles off the hill before I get on the bicycle. Once I drove to VT, to ride with a friend. More driving than riding, that day, though it was a legitimate coffee shop. Hmmm. So I took a new look at the rules.

Immediately, I saw that I had misremembered rule one. Twice (the second ride was yesterday) I had ridden to an organic market a few towns distant. It is on one of my favorite rides, is a great resource for good fruits and veggies, and provides the closest decent cup of coffee, though the second time I drank excellent hot cider. But,  only chains can be visited twice (and only at different locations.) Yesterday's ride is ruled out. But no matter, that can be remedied: a ride tomorrow, Veteran's Day is permitted. It's a bonus, and a happy one.

Today's ride, Number 6: 19.6 miles, black coffee, at the Becket General Store. A lovely, easy ride, under blue skies, warm temperatures and the barest of breezes. The ice is melting off the swamp, and for a few moments in the morning the water was alive with twinkles, the ice turning to slush behind it. Wood ducks use the boxes in the summertime.

Tomorrow I will take my bike to work with me, and leave after lunchtime for a short ride to get a cup of coffee, a good cup of coffee, that I will enjoy, at an actual coffee shop ... what a concept! The ride that might not have happened may turn into the ride most in the spirit of coffeeneuring. And take me out of work on what promises to be the most beautiful day of the autumn. Glad I looked at the rules.

Coffeeneuring Ride 5, Cup 5

Today's was the 5th coffeeneuring ride: last weekend was an unappealing combination of cold, grey, and windy, with the big storm Sandy making itself felt as early as Saturday afternoon. Not as a storm, but early preview winds were here. So I skipped my rides.

Happily this morning started off sunny, if chilly. Sunny is good. 36F less good, but doable and I was intent on a ride. Partly because I wanted one more descent of  Blue Hill Road before the temperatures really drop. Plus, the Monterey General Store has recently reopened, now owned by a friend who previously had a cafe in West Stockbridge. I wanted to try coffee (and lunch) at his new place. Better still, a friend lives nearby and she agreed to meet me.


It was a plan.

We had a good meal, which turned out to be noontime brunch. Intentionally erroneously believing that since I had ridden my bike there I could eat whatever I wanted, I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and roasted potatos. All delicious. The coffee was good, a lighter roast than I usually drink, but not too acid, and flavorful.


We skipped the pies, though the photo makes me sorry.


Returning outside, the sky had darkened and the wind picked up. Nonetheless, the descent down Blue Hill Road was delightful. Curious, but the hills seem to have shrunk a bit while I was gone, the downhills not so steep, and barely curving at all. Less amusing, a month of barely riding has taken its toll and I am again much slower than I would like.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and next weekend will bring two coffeeneuring rides.

Coffeeneuring: Ride 4, Cup 4

Today's ride was fun, down the hill to Pittsfield where I stopped at Berkshire Organics for a cup of coffee and a cookie. The coffee was pretty good, black and hot. I don't much eat cookies. The ride took me back up Washington Mountain Road, my first real climb since returning from the land of climbing. 

Disliking whining, I will tell you nothing about the weather, the shortening of daylight or how little riding I've been doing since returning home. It is now autumn in New England.

But that color in the sky certainly is good to see.

Coffeeneuring Rides 2 & 3, Cups 2 & 3

Two weekends, two coffeeneuring rides.

 1. Lee-Stockbridge-Lenox. Oh yes, somehow I forgot. It is Columbus Day Weekend, fall foliage season. A billion visitors. Crowded roads. Crowded towns. Crowded lunch spot. Mercifully, not crowded coffee shop.

 

2. Bennington,VT. This, the next, weekend. A very fun, very short (10 mile) ride with my friend Abby. A good cup of Joe at the sidewalk table. A good time catching up after my trip.

Coffeeneuring Ride 1, Cup 1

Back from France for exactly a week today, and out for the first ride since returning. It was a rainy week, the only sunny non-work day dedicated to catching up on tasks in my neglected and overgrown garden. Today dawned grey, a chilly 42F, with the forecast promising rain.

Coffeeneuring is the month's cycling challenge and it requires 7 weekend rides, all including a stop for a cup of coffee, tea, or chocolate, all completed before Nov. 11. This holiday weekend is the only weekend permitting 2 rides. Simple arithmetic tells me that in order not to fail before starting, I need two successful rides right now, one today, one tomorrow. Today I rode to my nearest coffee shop, in the nearby town of Dalton, about 11 miles north. (There are some general stores closer by that will count in a pinch, since they will sell me a cuppa.)

Sometime while I was in sunny southern France, summer departed the chilly, northern, Berkshires. Trees lost their leaves, summer flowers disappeared, the sun lost much of its warmth and the days are short. Apple season is here, and the roadsides are loaded with fallen fruit. This young porcupine wasn't the least disturbed by me or my bike. If you look carefully, you'll see the remains of its apple on the ground.

The Canada geese are still here, and will be until the ponds and lakes freeze solid. They are handsome dignified birds on water ... until they tip down to browse for food, when they have something comical about them.

This is the flattest ride possible from home, and after riding in the Pyrenees it did seem very flat, without hills altogether. One day while riding near Arrens-Marsous, on terrain I thought flat, I noticed that without touching a pedal I was moving forward at just over 15mph. That doesn't happen here. Guess it wasn't so flat as imagined, but it did provide a good commentary on how geography can influence perspective and understanding.


Friends who visited Amsterdam not too long ago regaled me with stories of bicycles in that city, stories which I suppose have helped to open my eyes to other bikes here. I usually notice loaded bikes, since there are relatively few of them. Stopping to take a look at this one, there were a few surprises: little wheels that I associate with Bike Friday, pedals out in front like a recumbent, a seat midway between a recumbent and a road bike, four water bottles, and a drive train like none I've seen. And very loaded. This bike has a story to tell, but it was keeping its secrets.

Dalton did provide a cup of coffee, so the day's goal was met. The town is the home of Crane and Company, a paper mill that uses cotton to manufacture paper for US currency, along with that of several other nations. Crane is a good player in the Berkshires: with 200+ years here, it continues to support its local community's environmental, education, recreation, and other social needs, as well as provide jobs. 

Observing details missed when travelling by cars is a joy from a bike seat, though photos do require multiple stops. When people's hands and heads are paying attention, they can transform details from the mundane into the beautiful. This footbridge and terraced petite waterfalls link two houses. Unnecessary, and beautiful.

The visual world here is returning to somber shades of grey, dark green, browns. Soon snowfalls and ice will dominate the palette with whites. In the meantime sumac, an invasive species, lights up roadsides with its leaves looking like prayer flags in the breeze, or perhaps color studies for some design.

And turning a corner, these berries, in front of a blown-out cattail in the swamp, did their bit to add color.

Tomorrow hopefully will bring another coffee-inspired ride. Number one of seven was a good excuse to get out and riding again.

Coffeeneuring

This is the first time I've reblogged someone else's post in its entirety. Please do read MG's post: it is such a fun idea, and at least here in chilly New England, the time of year is just right. When I read it earlier this week, shortly after returning from France, it was clear that this is the perfect sized challenge for me just now. There isn't a coffee shop within probably 10 or 20 miles of my house, so out for a cuppa and back will keep me moving. Now if the rain would only let up some I could actually participate.
 
Have fun reading, take a look at her site and its comments if you have any questions; there are lots already answered there.You will find MG and this post at chasing mailboxes d.c.

Her blog is a good read since she "plays" in so many kinds of cycling, not limiting her world to one cycling ethic. Yes, right, I may be prejudiced in these Philadelphia-Washington metropolitan area blogs that I read since I grew up in that area.

  

2nd Annual Coffeeneuring Challenge: 7 Cups, 6 Weekends

That’s right, people. Coffeeneuring Challenge time. Another six weeks of rule-based biking and imbibing is here! Yeah!

Some of you may recall that coffeeneuring is based on an idea developed by Joe Platzner, a member of the Seattle Randonneurs, as he discussed life after last year’s Paris-Brest-Paris. He noted:

A bunch of us have trained pretty hard for PBP. After PBP, I’m probably going to lobby RUSA for an official “Coffee Shop Run” medal. To earn it, you need to ride your bike slowly to a nearby coffee shop and enjoy a fine beverage. I think this would be a big seller in September.

I wholeheartedly agreed and the Coffeeneuring Challenge was born!
The Coffeeneuring Challenge is a relaxed weekend cycling endeavor for cyclists everywhere. If you like riding a bike and enjoy drinking coffee or tea (or even hot chocolate), you should consider giving the challenge a go.
In a loving nod to the French, the Coffeeneuring Challenge has its share of rules. Don’t let them intimidate you, though. As the 12 people who successfully completed the challenge last year will attest, they are all manageable.

Coffeeneuring, in France!

Rules are slightly updated from last year, based on the Coffeenering Challenge After Action Report some consultants put together for me. Here’s what you have to do to play.

1. Ride your bike to 7 different local coffee shops from now through Sunday, November 11.
2. Only Saturday and Sunday rides qualify. Weekday rides are ineligible, unless one of the following applies to you:  a. You have a job that does not have a Monday through Friday tour of duty. In that case, your days off are considered your weekend; or b. You are retired, in which case you may choose the two days that you consider to be your weekend days for the sake of the challenge and stick to them for the duration.
3. Only 1 coffee shop per day counts and a maximum of two rides per weekend. If you visit 7 coffee shops in one day, you may choose only one as a qualifying ride.
4. You must do a short write-up of your experience that includes: 1. where you went (address and website, if possible), 2. the date you went there, 3. what you drank, 4. a detail or two about your coffeeneuring ride, and 5. total mileage.
5. You must also take a photo during your ride, caption it, and submit it as verification that you actually went to the coffee shop and drank a beverage there.
6. Hot chocolate qualifies, as do tea beverages.
7. You may not combine your coffeeneuring ride with any other ride such as an organized century, populaire, or brevet. You may, however, combine your coffeeneuring ride with a grocery run, ride to the gym, or other transportation/utility-oriented ride. (If you do an organized ride, you may do another, separate coffeeneuring ride on the same day, e.g., a post-event ride to get a latte after your organized ride.)
8. Your ride must be at least two miles total, but there is no maximum so yes, you could ride 100 miles for a cup of coffee.
9. There are no geographic limitations to the Coffeeneuring Challenge.
10. You have to go to 7 different coffee shops, although you may ride to multiple locations of a chain, if necessary.
11. Deadline for submission for the Coffeeneuring Challenge is whenever the clock strikes midnight in your area on November 16, 2012.
12. Send submissions to me at gersemalina “at” gmail.com. Submissions may be in the form of links to blog writeups, on-line photo galleries with accompanying narrative, Word documents with attached or embedded photos, or e-mail writeups and submissions with photos attached.
13. Submit all qualifying rides at the same time. That is, send me all 7 together, NOT ride 1, ride 2, etc.
14. There will be a small prize for those who successfully finish the challenge (though don’t quit your day job, as it is not a mountain of money), and you will be featured on this blog.
15. During Columbus Day weekend (October 6-8), you have three days to accomplish two qualifying coffeeneuring rides. (This is the Tara Rule.)

That’s all! 15 rules for the 7-ride Coffeeneuring Challenge. Seven shops in six weekends. Are you up for it?? I hope so, and if you have any questions, feel free to put them in the comments section.

Have fun, everybody. I look forward to following your progress and maybe I’ll see you coffeeneuring!