Coffeeneuring 2017 Rides 5-7

Coffeeneuring Ride #5: FCC on Veterans' Day

• Where: Java Shack 2507 Franklin Rd, Arlington, VA and Northside Social 3211 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
• Date: Friday 11/11/17
• Beverage: Decaf skim latte from Northside, maple muffin from Java Shack. 
• Total mileage: 9.5 Miles
• Details: Regular readers know that there are morning coffee meetups around DC pretty much every weekday. I decided to stop by the Friday Coffee Club at Java Shack in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington. It being a holiday, they apparently decided to open later than usual. Another cyclist regular and I got there at 7 to find the door locked. A few minutes later the pastry delivery guy arrived and we followed him inside, where we discovered that they hadn't even started brewing coffee yet - it was going to be a while before we would be served there. The shop owner, feeling bad, gave us each a muffin gratis. We hopped back on our bikes and rode over to Northside Social, which was open as usual. Some of the "cool kids", as my compatriot refers to them, have their own coffee gathering at Northside (these are the elite riders - the folks who pump out 50 miles of hill riding before their 7 AM coffee). There's some sort of bad blood between the guy I was with and someone in the "cool kids", and it was interesting to watch the two of them assiduously ignore each other - not even a "hello" exchanged. Anyway, we were joined by reji, who was heading to Upstate New York for the weekend (not by bicycle). My friend, who was not off from work, went off to his office and I headed home. 
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1269255427

Coffeeneuring Ride #6A: Bonus ride (the same day as ride 6 so it doesn't count)

• Where: Buzz Coffee 818 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA
• Date: Friday 11/17/17
• Beverage: Three shot Americano - two decaf shots, one regular
• Details: Kayak friend Jim had provided great moral support to me in the period following my surgery, but then sort of disappeared. It turns out he's been dealing with complicated eldercare issues. It was nice to finally have a chance to sit and catch up.
• Total mileage: 5.7 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1279021515

Coffeeneuring Ride #6: Accordioneuring/Coffeenuring/CoffeeOutside

• Where: Bon Air Park picnic shelter, Arlington, VA
• Date: Friday 11/17/17
• Beverage: French press coffee
• Details: See the photo essay at https://onefootoutside.blogspot.com/2017/11/coffeeneuringaccordioneuring.html
• Total mileage: 2.3 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1282636125

Coffeeneuring Ride #7: Sleaze Ride to The Italian Store 

• Where: The Italian Store, 5837 Washington Blvd, Arlington, VA
• Date: Sunday 11/19/17
• Beverage: Decaf skim latte
• Details: Dang. It's the afternoon of the last day of Coffeeneuring and I'm one ride short. And it's a yucky kind of windy. Time for a ride to the closest place to get a decent cup of coffee - The Italian Store at Westover. They actually brew a decent cup there. I averted my eyes to avoid being tempted by the pastries. Cannoli are one of my favorite foods in the whole world, but they're definitely a "no no" these days.
• Total mileage: 2.3 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1282636125

Coffeeneuring/Accordioneuring

Someone who saw my Accordioneur patch in a photo in the FB Coffeeneuring group asked whether biking with an accordion was even possible and so I decided to document a combined accordioneuring / coffeeneuring ride.

Here is my full rig. The accordion is in the backback, the french press is in a water bottle cage, and the stove is in the trunk bag. Fingerless gloves are recommended for maximum playing dexterity, though lightweight glove liners can be worn it needed. Many accordionists advise against high visibility clothing since it makes you an easier target, but since there is only infrequently vehicular traffic on the W&OD I figured it was safe to wear the yellow jacket.

Having arrived at my "Coffee Outdoors" location (no coffee shop would allow me in with an accordion), I proceed to heat the water. As an accordionist it is important to handle the flame yourself since your "friends" will tend to light the wrong thing on fire.

Accordionati Rule #8: Bars and accordions shall be carefully matched.

What shall I do while the water is heating? How about a polka?!

Brewing.

What should I do while the coffee is brewing? How about another polka?!

Ahhh, the perfect cup.

Only the best get to wear this patch.

Heading home

Back home and ready for a second cup.

Coffeeneuring 2017 Rides 1-4

Last year I explained that the cycling world has a lot of fun (or gimmicky, depending on your mindset) little challenges, one of which is Coffeeneuring. Promoted by the Chasing Mailboxes cycling blog, is a "relaxed cycling endeavor" requiring you to take seven rides to seven different places to get coffee over the course of about seven weeks. I got jazzed about it last year. Not so much this year. In fact, I thought it was over November 7th, but when I realized the deadline was November 19th, I got a little more motivated and may yet make the seven rides. Here's what I've done so far:

Coffeeneuring Ride #1: Rare Bird, Falls Church

• Where: Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad St., Falls Church, VA
• Date: Saturday 10/14/17
• Beverage: Decaf skim latte
• Details: While the cat is away, the mice will bike rather than drive to the farmers' market. Valerie had things to do so we skipped our usual Saturday morning "date" at the Falls Church Farmer's Market. I was pretty exhausted, having been out late the night before performing with Magnolia Blue at a fund-raiser (I also sat in with the Flying Eyez). It was only when I hopped on my bike to go for a ride I realized how really, really tired I was. Instead of the long ride I had envisioned, I just headed to the farmers' market, then rode the couple of blocks over to Rare Bird. I really could have used some cafffeine, but since my surgery I'm trying to stay clear of that particular demon drug.
• Total mileage: 3.8 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1230025760

Latte at Rare Bird

Coffeeneuring Ride #2: Hump Day Coffee Club 

• Where: Best Buns, 4010 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA
• Date: Wednesday 10/18/17
• Beverage: Mostly decaf with a little regular, bran muffin
• Details: Is it crazy to take a job based on being able to make it to coffee club? I don't think any of my coffee club friends would think so. For readers who don't know, coffee club is a rotating set of early morning cyclist gatherings - mostly bike commuters on their way to work. I started attending them when I was working in Arlington in 2015 and really missed the camaraderie once my job moved to Frederick. Well, I'm back working in Arlington and I'm back going to coffee club! This was day 3 of my new job and was my first day bike commuting to the job. Wednesday is my favorite coffee club because it's at Best Buns, which has awesome baked goods. I can easily skip the food at the other coffee clubs.
• Total mileage: 10.3 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1235969877

Coffee and a muffin at Best Buns

Coffeeneuring Ride #3: Cafe Kindred 

• Where: Cafe Kindred, 450 N. Washington St., Falls Church, VA
• Date: Friday 11/3/17
• Beverage: Decaf skim latte
• Details: So, this was a productive outing. I biked over to Cassatt's Cafe to meet my friend Larry for lunch. Now that I'm back to being a sleazy contractor I need to look for inroads into new business and I pumped him for leads. Oh, and it was nice to see him, too :) From there I went down to Ballston to pick up an EZPass for my wife (props to her for not being overly car-dependent - she's lived without an EZPass for four years now), scouted some locations for a geocache, then went to Kindred for a latte. Actually, I don't really like the vibe at Kindred - it's one of those places where they seem put upon when they have to rouse themselves to fulfill your order. I was going to head for Rare Bird but then realized I needed to avoid duplicates for Coffeeneuring. So, Kindred it was. This was a fortuitous choice as I ran into a local Realtor who has hired one of my bands for events before. I struck up a conversation with her which almost lead to a gig this coming Tuesday, got her to think about hiring us again for her St. Patrick's Day and certainly refreshed her memory of us. Very productive business development :)
• Total mileage: 11.9 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1259679585

Note the Coffeeneuring and Accordioneuring patches on my bike bag

Coffeeneuring Ride #4: The Green Lizard 

• Where: The Green Lizard Cycling, Coffee and Beer, 718 Lynn St., Herndon, VA 
• Date: Saturday 11/5/17
• Beverage: Decaf skim latte
• Details: An early start to the day. I met my friend Denis and Katie's Cars and Coffee in Great Falls at 7:30 AM. He and I strolled and looked at all the exotic and fancy cars. After we parted ways at around 9, I drove down to the W&OD at Reston and went for a 20 mile ride. As I passed the Gren Lizard on my way back I thought, "I should make a coffeeneuring stop." I was a mile and a half from the end of my ride and to tell you the truth, I could have lived without another cup of coffee. But "Cycling, Coffee, and Beer" with a lizard theme is a hard combo to resist. As I rode up another cyclist asked me about my bike - apparently the Lynskey is something of a cult machine, and he was really digging the titanium frame. Anyway, I sat outside and it turned out to be a very pleasant way to wind down from a fast-paced start to the day.
• Total mileage: 20.8 Miles
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1261073863

Outside The Green Lizard