I've got a new cycling challenge: Coffeeneuring 2020. "Challenge" is rather severe sounding, though, because this is primarily fun while working toward an easy goal. The basic structure is to ride once a week for seven weeks (October 10 through November 23), going at least two miles and drinking coffee or a coffeeneuring approved beverage along the way. You have to go to seven different locations.
I'm one of those rare people who doesn't like coffee, but I love tea, which is coffeeneuring approved. All my rides will be to coffee shops without walls, meaning that I'll stop at a scenic location along my route to drink my tea (good for pandemic times). I'm also doing the Theme Within a Theme option. My theme is to ride on dirt roads each time; therefore, I'm calling it Let's Get Dirt Tea. I'll drink a different type of tea on each ride.
Most of my rides will be 50K, also counting toward the Virtual Brevet Post-Season Play challenge that I'm doing with Hudson Valley Randonneurs (HVR). In fact, I learned about coffeeneuring from George Swain, coordinator of the HVR virtual brevet series. Sunday afternoon dirt road rides have come to be a nice habit the past few months; tea makes them even better.
Last Sunday I did my first Coffeeneuring/Let's Get Dirt Tea ride (32.7 miles). I brewed some Earl Grey tea at home before heading out.
Robert has this nice thermos that works well for coffeeneuring. I wrapped it in a dishtowel to make it fit more securely in my bike's water bottle holder. That didn't work as well as I hoped. When I posted on the Coffeeneuring Facebook page, a fellow coffeeneur helpfully suggested cutting the top off of a large water bottle to better hold the thermos in my water bottle holder. (All serious cyclists have beaucoup water bottles.) I look forward to trying this system on my next cofeeneuring ride.
My ride was in the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge. Robert rode with me, which was a treat. You'd think he and I would ride together more than we do, but our schedules usually don't coincide.
The first part of the ride had some places that were muddier than I expected. Given the somewhat cyclocross conditions, I joked with Robert that instead of tea, I should have brought a nice Belgian Tripel.
I stopped to drink my tea at a particularly scenic spot called Natural Rock Crossing. I always walk my bike across here because it can be slippery.
My route had two other creek crossings. I tried to ride through the first one but didn't have enough speed. I toppled over and banged up my shin a bit. It bled some but wasn't serious - just enough to make it a true adventure.
I got to ride in my favorite place with my favorite tea and my favorite person. Even with the dirt and blood, it was still a lot of fun. Kind of like life.
