Coffeeneuring Challenge 2014 Wrap-Up

I completed the 4th Annual Chasing Mailboxes Coffeeneuring Challenge! I made a summary table of my rides below.

A few numbers for my first time ever coffeeneuring: I visited 5 new (to me) coffee shop locations, in 4 different cities (if you count Bethesda separately), and even donated 1 book to a coffee shop exchange/library. In the process I acquired 2 new coffee mugs, knitted a pair of riding mitts and a matching headband/snood, rented a bike in a new city, rode a road bike for the first time (beyond going around the block, anyway), and got a great sense of the riding routes in DC's Northwest quadrant. ETA: I forgot to add--I fell off a bike for the first time too, but not when I was on the road bike, when I was on my Brompton!

The one thing I didn't really do this year, even though I had set it out as a pre-coffeeneuring goal for myself, was use my new camera to practice taking pictures. But I did get one photo I really liked during my rides, even if it was only from my phone:

From my first coffeeneuring ride: the Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge

There's always next year!! Speaking of which, some preliminary goals for 2015's Coffeeneuring Challenge: expand to coffee shops beyond NW DC (though that was mostly accidental on my part); incorporate other routes from Upper NW like Beach Dr., the Capital Crescent Trail all the way around down to Georgetown, or the Georgetown Branch Trail up into Silver Spring. By then my Betty will be built up, so maybe the coffeeneuring rides will also become longer-distance recreational rides as well (though I'll always be a transportation rider at heart!).

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2014 Ride Table

No.	Date	Coffee Shop	City	Total Miles	Photo Verification
1	Sat. 10/4	Tryst Coffee	Washington, DC	6.98
2	Sun. 10/5	Baked & Wired	Washington, DC	8.78
3	Sat. 10/19	Brickyard Coffee & Tea	San Diego, CA	~5.5
4	Sat. 11/1	Peregrine Espresso	Washington, DC	7.1
5	Sun. 11/2	Dolcezza	Bethesda, MD	6.2
6	Tue. 11/11 Veterans Day	61C Cafe	Pittsburgh, PA	3.3
7	Sat. 11/15	Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar	Washington, DC	~4.5

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 7: Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar (14th St. NW location, Washington, DC)

Where: Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar

• Address: 726 20th St. NW, Washington, DC
• Website: http://www.filtercoffeehouse.com
• Bike friendliness: They have a coffee pot- and coffee cup-shaped bike racks! In orange!! 
• Other notable information: Filter is about a block away from Looped Yarn Works; always excited to have a coffee shop and a yarn shop in such close vicinity

Date: Saturday, November 15, 2014

Drink: Cappuccino

Total Mileage: ~4.5 miles total (2.1 miles Home to Filter)

Photo Verification:

I normally wouldn't drink a cappuccino so late in the day,
but it was just too hard to resist

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 6: 61C Cafe (Pittsburgh, PA)

Where: 61C Cafe

• Address: 1839 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, PA
• Website: http://61ccafe.com
• Bike friendliness: Bike racks all along Murray; if you're willing to park on the other side of Forbes, there's a bike corral and squirrel (hill) racks
• Other notable information: 61C is named for the bus route that passes by the cafe. They recently opened a sister cafe, 61B, also named for its accompanying bus route. Both only take cash.

Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 (Veterans Day Rule)

Drink: Hot chocolate

Total Mileage: 3.3 miles overall (1.7 miles Home to 61C)

Photo Verification:

Hot chocolate for me, chamomile for D

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 5: Dolcezza (Bethesda, MD location)

Where: Dolcezza

• Address: 7111 Bethesda Ln., Bethesda, MD
• Website: http://dolcezzagelato.com
• Bike friendliness: Bike racks along Bethesda Row; store is small and crowded, but maybe a table towards the rear would accommodate a folding bike
• Other notable information: Dolcezza has Stumptown Stubby on the menu; I didn't know what it was, but apparently it's bottled cold brew coffee. 

Date: Sunday, November 2, 2014

Drink: Latte

Total Mileage: 6.2 miles overall (3.1 miles Home to Dolcezza)

Photo Verification:

I have a theory that committed Italian gelato and pizza places
by extension should have good coffee

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 4: Peregrine Espresso (14th St. NW location, Washington, DC)

Where: Peregrine Espresso

• Address: 1718 14th St. NW, Washington DC
• Website: http://peregrineespresso.com
• Bike friendliness: Lots of bike racks in nearby and in vicinity; not much seating and very busy, but if you can score one of the tables in the windows there's enough room for a folding bike without people tripping on it.
• Other notable information: The food options are mostly pastry, and what I had was delicious--Earl Grey and cherry scone! Also, they only sell travel mugs, not regular ceramic ones.

Date: Saturday, November 1, 2014

Drink: Mocha 

Total Mileage: 7.1 miles overall (5.3 miles Home to Peregrine Espresso)

Photo Verification:

The mocha formerly had a lovely heart in the foam,
but I couldn't resist a sip before I took the photo

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 3: Brickyard Coffee & Tea (San Diego, CA)

Where: Brickyard Coffee & Tea

• Address: 675 W G St., San Diego, CA
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/Brickyard.Coffee.Tea
• Bike friendliness: Didn't find any nearby bike racks, though the outdoor seating allowed people to keep their bikes with them (as I saw one patron do), and one of the staff kept a bike in the back. I was able to lock up to a lone parking meter.
• Other notable information: Open daily from 6am to 2pm. The 2pm closing time is weird to me, though I remember seeing this in one neighborhood when I was visiting Baltimore. The vast majority of the coffee shops in my life have been open at least until the evening.

Date: Sunday, October 19, 2014

Drink: Latte

Total Mileage: ~5.5 miles overvall (~3.9 meandering miles from The Bike Revolution to Little Italy to Brickyard Coffee & Tea)

Photo Verification:

Also easily accessible by the Green Line. In fact, I found the place
because I saw it while I was passing by on the way to my conference

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 2: Baked & Wired (Washington, DC)

Where: Baked & Wired

• Address: 1052 Thomas Jefferson St. NW, Washington DC
• Website: http://bakedandwired.com
• Bike friendliness: Don't appear to be any racks nearby, but there are some parking meters as well as a fence that people use to lock up their bikes.
• Other notable information: There appears to be a book exchange on one of the shelves toward the rear of the shop. At least I hope it's a book exchange, because I left a paperback there for any takers.

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2014

Drink: Mocha

Total Mileage: 8.78 miles overall (6.54 miles Home to Baked & Wired)

Photo Verification:

I came for the cupcakes, but I stayed for the quiche

Coffeeneuring Ride No. 1: Tryst Coffee (Washington, DC)

Where: Tryst Coffee

• Address: 2459 18th St. NW, Washington DC
• Website: http://www.trystdc.com/
• Bike friendliness: Lots of bike racks in front and near vicinity, indoors crowded but plenty of room on patio for me and my folder
• Other notable information: Across the street from Donburi and its amazing Japanese rice bowls.

Date: Saturday, October 4, 2014

Drink: Mexican Hot Chocolate 

Total Mileage: 6.98 miles overall (4.58 miles Home to Tryst)

Photo Verification:

It came with animal crackers!

Ride Notes: 

• At Yuma St. NW and 36th St. NW, there appears to be some sunken park or garden that isn't marked as a green space in Google Maps. But I noted the intersection today as I rode past so I could look it later, and Google Maps street view has some user-uploaded photos of the area. I plan on going back in the near future to take a closer look.
• I noticed a Neighborhood Slow Zone sign for the first time today! I wonder if they've been up for a while, or if they are recent like the Neighborhood Bikeway signs they just put up near me.
• Today was the first time I've ridden with tights on; I guess it really is October. It was cold enough to also merit some merino clothing (I've recently drunk the merino kool-aid), so I got to wear this great dress for the first time (currently on sale at Nau). It layers really well so it's perfect for fall/spring, but I can see it working even on the cooler days of summer. It's versatile, cute, comfortable, ride-able, and has pockets--basically everything I want in a dress!
• Speaking of cold-weather apparel, after this evening's ride I'm thinking of knitting myself some hand warmers. The trick will be to finish them in time to actually use them.
• All this time I've been riding across the bridge on Calvert St., I never realized it was called the Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge: 

Nice way to close my first coffeeneuring ride

Coffeeneuring Prep

So I think this year I'll actually be able to do the Fourth Annual Chasing Mailboxes Coffeeneuring Challenge for the first time! This is exciting because bikes + caffeine, but also because I have a few goals for myself in the process:

• Finding Good Coffee Shops - I'll actually be doing my riding in two (possibly three) different cities, and I'm always on the lookout for more coffee shops.
• Replacing My Mugs - I've cracked a couple of mugs in the past few months, and I'm not very happy about it.
• Playing with My Camera - While I have no eye for composition, I finally figured out what aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are. Now I have to use this knowledge.

Picture from last year's furloughneuring