Coffeeneuring Challenge 2020 – Nova Coffee 7

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  • Date: 11-02-2020
  • Location: Little Lion
  • Coffee: Nova: Cortado with oat milk.
  • Miles: 26
  • Bike:
  • Details: Nova’s final coffee of the challenge. I’ve already finished the challenge so I went along just for the ride… and the coffee. We rode into the big city to Little Lion which was new to us. The shop is in an old gas station and is surrounded by, and shares a patio area with, a shipping container mall. In addition to coffee they have ice cream and a small food menu. As we were locking our bikes to the rack in front our barista came outside and advised us to bring the bikes around back to the patio area as she had witnessed locked bikes being stolen from the rack. We consumed our coffee outside in the patio area. Nova’s coffee being an espresso drink was pretty petite and she finished it quickly so I shared some of my Americano with her.
  • We were advised not to use the bike rack in front and bring the bikes around back.
  • Fire pit was nice on this chilly morning.
  • Nova’s Cortado and me and my Americano.
  • Fence at back of property.
  • Sharing the bike lane with this fellow.
  • Poking around the garage of an abandoned house.

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2020 – My Coffee 7

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  • Date: 10-30-2020
  • Location: Janes Landing
  • Coffee: Randy: Cold brew with hemp milk. Nova: Dirty Chai with hemp milk.
  • Miles: 37
  • Bike: Specialized hybrid
  • Details: My final coffee of the challenge. We rode to a neighboring town via paved and gravel roads. The gravel still pretty wet in places from the recent snow and rain.
    Both our coffees were good.
    We decided to make a loop out of the ride so after coffee we rode to another neighboring town for lunch and then into the big city for a c-store coffee before returning home.
    While eating our lunch on the porch of a vacant building a former co-worker pulled into the parking lot. I hadn’t seen him since I retired over 8 years ago. We had a really nice visit. Encounters like this are even more special during these times where we’re mostly keeping to ourselves.

Coffeeneuring is something we normally do multiple times a week so it’s not so much of a challenge for us like it might be for others who have to find time for it between work and family etc… This year I challenged myself to go to places we hadn’t been before. I only did so-so at that. We went to 2 new coffee shops and 1 new coffee outside location. Next year I think I’ll be more picky about where I go. If I were to do this year’s over again I probably wouldn’t have included the c-store or Starbucks.
Another challenge I gave myself was to ride a different bike each time which I’ve done in the past. I did manage to do that.
At 3 of the 4 coffee shops we visited we consumed our beverages inside. This was our first time drinking or dining in anywhere since the pandemic begin. None of the shops were busy and we felt comfortable being inside. All of the shops served our coffee in a to-go cup. I don’t know if that’s because of the virus. The one shop we have visited before previously served our drink in a ceramic mug.
So another great Coffeeneuring challenge in the books for me. There will be one more post for Nova’s final coffee and I’m also putting together a video of this year’s challenge so be watching for that too.

Riding Errands On First Snow

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We woke up to a light layer of snow atop ice. This is the first snow of the season and maybe even the year. I don’t recall getting any snow that stuck at the first of the year. We went out briefly for errands here in town mostly sticking to the bike path. We rode the old Trek and GT MTBs.
The snow here never sticks around long enough for me to justify buying studded tires or modifying a pair myself. We chose these bikes because of their fat and somewhat knobby tires. I’ve haven’t ridden in the snow enough to experiment to see which bikes and tires works best.

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2020 – Coffee 6

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  • Date: 10-25-2020
  • Location: Pond
  • Coffee: Afternoon Delight half calf from Drop In Coffee
  • Miles: 10
  • Bike: Aluminum Klunker
  • Details: It was just me this afternoon. Nova wasn’t in the mood for any more of the 39 degree temp and 16 mph wind. We both had already been out in the morning to ride to my parents for breakfast. I was antsy and wanted to get outside so I rode to a forested area near a pond and used our new Aeropress coffee maker for the first time.

Cold, Slug Bike and Guardian Vehicles

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A few pics while out this morning. Temp was in the mid 30s. As I sat outside at our destination drinking an iced cold brew I decided it was time to start paying more attention to dressing for the weather. My feet and fingers were slightly cold. If it were much colder I’d probably need to wear a layer under my pants.
The bike I rode is quite a slug. Not sure if it’s the weight, gearing or tires. I should try and remedy that. I like the bike otherwise. Luckily today we didn’t have the 30mph wind we’ve had as of late.
In the last pic that’s a Ford Flex in the background. Earlier this year for whatever reason we noticed we seemed to be spotting Ford Flexes on every ride and I thought it was odd. I deemed the Flex our guardian vehicle and now we’re always on the lookout for one when we ride. Apparently they just aren’t as obscure as I thought they were.