Hang up the phone, it's my final Coffeeneuring ride of the challenge! (Number 7, if you are counting.)

It’s the end of Coffeeneuring as we know it for 2013!

After “phoning it in” on Ride 6 last week, I hoped to make the last ride something special. I was planning on making the Sunrise Coffee Club ride to Mount Tabor on Thursday morning (November 21st) my entry for Ride 7, especially since I was supposed to lead it. “Supposed to” is the key words there. The night before I didn’t feel well, head splitting with a headache most likely due to the stress of my life as of late. I didn’t feel like getting up early the next morning, so I bailed. (The ride still went on, and everyone had a lovely time.)

Ok, if I can’t make the ride special, let me make the bike special. I had used three out of my four “daily” bikes for the previous six coffeeneuring adventures. The one I hadn’t pulled out yet was the Bridgestone XO-3, basically since I haven’t been riding it since “winter” has started. I wanted to install fenders but the Resist Nomad 700X45C tires were too big for that. So I picked up some smaller tires and spent the better part of a day attempting to install them. “Attempting to” is the key words there. I realized that the fenders are a bit too small to work, so I should get bigger ones. Normally I’d just run to the bike shop and get them, but as I’m very, very broke right now, I have to wait until the next paycheck. So scrap that. 

Still, it’s dry right now so I could ride fenderless. But first I wanted to install the Brooks Champion Flyer saddle with the Carradice Nelson Longflap saddlebag. I took out the seatpost and realized how short it was. I’d rather get a longer seatpost first, and that’s going to cost money and I’m broke…

So I took “old faithful”, the Raleigh Crested Butte, instead.

Yes, I ride the Crested Butte a hell of a lot, more than any other bike I own right now. But I actually hadn’t ridden a bike in two days,* so when I took it out on Thursday November 21st it felt fresh. Hey, I really like riding this bike, I thought to myself. And what a beautiful day for a ride: sunny, clear, crisp.

I think one thing that aided my enjoyment was new grips. For the past year I had some PDW “Dapper Dan” leather grips on this bike. They looked stylish but they weren’t that ergonomic. And over the past few months, the leather had deteriorated quite a bit. So I took them off and put on a pair of shellacked cork grips, the old standby. Inexpensive ($10-15 for a set), and when they wear down, you shellac ‘em more. When they totally wear out, you get some new ones. Not only do the new grips look nice, but they are a lot more comfortable.

Anyways I took a meandering route through SE, passing over Crystal Springs Creek  in the Reed College campus, then used my “rough stuff” routes through the Woodstock neighborhood. The coffee destination: Space Monkey Coffee on SE 72nd at Harold in the Arleta neighborhood, just across from Mount Scott Park. 

I don’t go to Space Monkey that often, as I don’t find myself in “this neck of the woods” often. Space Monkey is the type of “funky” unpretentious coffee shop that populated Portland when I first moved to town in 2001. This was before the Stumptownization of coffee in Portland (and to an extent, the world) took over the world. Yes, the coffee is better now, I will agree, but many modern coffee shops are pretty sterile. For instance Space Monkey has couches, which is verboten in the Stumptown manual. (I think they aren’t even allowed to sell you beans if they see a couch in your café.**) And Space Monkey has a community message board along with an ancient internet terminal, so 1999! Don’t think I’m ragging on Space Monkey, they are a good place (why would I go there if they weren’t?) and have good coffee roasted by Cellar Door. 

I ordered my standard: drip coffee.  And added soy milk and sugar.

The last coffeenuring ride: not as special as I had intended it to be, but still special.

Total route 5.8 miles. Html widget no worky, so go here to see the route map.

*When you live seven blocks from work, you can walk if you want to.

**And people were having honest-to-goodness conversations on those couches when I was in there!

Coffeeneuring Ride #6: Phoning it in?

With any “challenge” longer than a few weeks, it seems inevitable that enthusiasm will dwindle after those first few weeks. I came out of the gate all fired up, accomplishing four “Coffee Outside” adventures in a row. But now I have less time and more stuff on my plate. It’s getting harder and harder to squeeze in a true Coffeeneuring Ride, at least under the parameters of the rules Mary set up. She was very gracious in granting me an “exception” so I could do a ride after work last week for Coffeeneuring Ride #5, as I had no other real opportunity to do so.

But this past week? It was tough. I had two non-consecutive days off, Wednesday November 13 and Friday November 15. Wednesday was occupied with a day-long Bike Tourism Conference, so Friday would be the day, though that day was filling up with errands and such. I could pull off something, but it would be the bare minimum. It almost would feel like I was phoning it in, which is something I don’t like doing. 

Or could I just stop? Mary created an “Honorable Mention” category for those who started the Coffeeneuring Challenge but couldn’t finish for whatever reason. I thought about this for a moment, but hell, I’m already five weeks in on the seven week challenge. I can see the finish line in the distance. Just do one, Shawn, even if it is “phoning it in”.

So on Friday November 15 I rode my Raleigh Crested Butte from my house off SE Hawthorne three paltry miles to Speedboat Coffee on SE Foster Road. I got the house drip coffee, which was Stumptown’s Guatemala Finca el Injerto. It was good.

Tune in next week for my final coffeeneuring ride of this year’s challenge, where I hopefully won’t phone it in.

Coffeeneuring Report, Week 5: A Three Speed Tweedneuring Ride

I have been dutifully completing one Coffeeneuring ride each week since this whole business started in October. And pursuant to Mary's rule, I've been completing each ride on my "weekend". Now I haven't done a ride on an actual weekend, but because I have a non-standard schedule (meaning not Monday through Friday), I can use any of my days off as a "weekend" day per the rules.

But this past week was different. My "weekend" was supposed to be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I had planned on doing my ride either Thursday or Friday, as Wednesday was an errand day. Then early on Wednesday my boss called me and asked me to work both Thursday and Friday because of some work issues. While this is great from a paycheck perspective, it sucked for Coffeeneuring. And my Wednesday was already too busy to Coffeeneur.* So I asked Mary if she would make an exception in my case so I could complete my ride after work instead on Friday November 8. And she graciously agreed to it, but added the caveat: Make it good.

So how would I "make it good?" I decided to make it slightly more challenging and different by using a three speed. And I would do it while wearing tweed.

Now to those of you who know me well enough (or live vicariously through this blog), you know me riding a three speed while wearing tweed is "standard operating procedure" at the Urban Adventure League. But if you look at many of the photos of the other randonneurs, you'll see a lot of jerseys and bright lime green vests and jackets. So yep, different.

I rode from my work over to the Bipartisan Cafe in Montavilla. There's this hill called Mount Tabor** between my work and Montavilla. Now most people would go around Tabor rather than over it, but not me, even on the Raleigh Wayfarer. Yes, I grunted for a bit as I took one of the steepest ways up, via SE Yamhill, which has grades up to 10%. And yes, there was a little rough stuff, which meant I got off and walked for a little bit. But I love Mount Tabor, and have ridden over it many a time on a three speed. And the view is great, too.

I quickly descended the "mountain" and pulled up to the ample bike parking outside the Bipartisan.

Inside I helped myself to the self-serve Stumptown coffee. Yeah, brewed coffee. Not as fancy as a latte or something (meaning no espresso porn for you, my dear reader), but that's what I like!

3.5 miles total ride. More photos are over here.

*Well, I did do a ride that involved a coffee stop. A long one too, 22 miles out and back to the dentist, and in the pouring rain too. But it was hardly fun.
**It's an extinct volcano!

Coffeeneuring Report, Week 4, 30 Oct 2013

Hello folks! It's yet another installment to my Coffeeneuring Challenge series! And yep, this one is another "coffee shop without walls". (But don't you worry, now that the weather is crap, I'll be going inside to drink coffee!)

This one happened during my Stub Stewart camping trip, Oct 29-30. You can read the whole story of the trip over here. This time I decided to bring the Esbit coffemaker out again. Thankfully the wind was quite low so I didn't have to go through most of a pack of matches to get it lit.

The coffee this time? Nothing to write home about. I picked up one of those small bags of pre-ground Millstone coffee at the Banks Thriftway. Millstone, pretty much the low end of the totem pole for "quality" grocery store coffee. The brewed coffee itself was serviceable, but as I said, nothing to write home about.*

Alright, that's that! Next time I hope to have something a little more "exciting".

DETAILS IN BRIEF:
Miles ridden: 22
Bicycle used: Surly Long Haul Trucker
Coffee used: Millstone
Coffee prepared by: Esbit coffee maker

*But apparently something to write a blog entry about.

Coffeeneuring Report, Week 3: 22 Oct 2013 (and Sunrise Coffee Club, too!)

Heya all, back with another one of these Coffeeneuring type reports. Yes, it’s another “coffee shop without walls” entry, but this one has yet another added twist, as it is not only a Coffeeneuring ride, but a Sunrise Coffee Club ride!

What the heck is that, you may ask? Well, it’s a new “club” devised by our own Christopher Chen. The premise is simple: ride somewhere to watch the sun rise, make coffee at destination. He’s been doing them for a few weeks, but Sunrise Ride #4 was the first one I managed to make.*

On Tuesday October 22 I awoke about 6 am, packed my stuff, and rode a couple miles down to Salmon Street Springs on the SW waterfront at Waterfront Park. At 6:45 Chris met those assembled which included myself, Zack, and a few other cats whose names I have already forgot. 

From there we hustled through the thick of the early-morn commute and up SW Terwilliger. The destination was the parklet on Terwilliger at SW Hamilton. On the way up this east view was awe-inspiring.

At the parklet, Andy and Kelley had already arrived. I got to work setting up “the kit”. Because I am just like that, I decided to use an even different setup than the previous two Coffeeneuring rides. I brought my “big” Trangia kit, the 27. This is one of the two “stormcooker” sets Trangia provides. And it does live up to that name, as I used it on windy nights in the Gorge on my May tour. The 27 kit has two pots and a frying pan, but since I am just like that I got the additional kettle. (Did I mention it all nests together like one of those Russian dolls?)

To make coffee, I pulled out my travel French Press, a GSI number one can purchase at the REI-type stores of the world.

As for coffee, I had some Trader Joes “Joe” beans that I ground with the Hario Slim Mill. (Yes, I frequently buy my coffee at Trader Joes.) The coffee was served with some sugar and cream.

After I boiled the water, I put the Trangia to work, making an egg, veggie sausage, green bell pepper, onion, and cheddar scramble. Yes, the Trangia works well for this. Yes, it was delicious.

The sun rose at 7:37 am. We were ready. My Crested Butte was ready.

After the coffee was consumed, we all went our separate ways, knowing we’d back at sunrise some future date.

QUICK FACTS:

Miles ridden: 2.7

Bike taken: 1984 Raleigh USA Crested Butte

Coffee: Trader Joes “Joe Dark Roast”

Coffee prepared via: French Press

*This is Coffeeneuring Ride #3 for those counting.

Journal Comix, Week Two of October 2013

Coffeeneuring Report, Week 2: Wed 17 October

Last week, you may have seen the report about my first Coffeeneuring Ride for this year's Coffeeneuring Challenge. And I ain't stoppin' yet!

For week two, I decided to do another "Coffee Shop Without Walls". Yes yes yes, Portland has loads of great coffee shops (and plenty of mediocre-to-sucky ones, too, don't get me wrong.) But the weather has been too good here to go indoors to drink coffee. And what better time to do this than on my most recent Bike Overnight to Willamette Mission State Park? (I'm not going to repeat the details of the ride, since you can just read all about it in exquisite detail here.)

The coffee making happened in the morning (naturally) around 8 am, after waking up and before making pancakes. The coffee setup is different than Coffeeneuring Week One, as I was trying to travel as lightweight as possible on this camping excursion and didn't feel like carrying the Esbit with me in addition to a "regular" stove setup.

So I used my versatile little Trangia backpacker's stove kit (28) for boiling of water. I love this kit, and I feel that it's the best bang for buck and the most versatile small kit. (No other kit I know of this size has a frying pan, for instance.) Sure, the alcohol burner doesn't boil as fast as a Jet Boil, but so what?

The coffee "maker" would be my GSI H2Joe coffee infuser. I used this on the Big Tour in 2011, and it still reports for duty every once in awhile. The idea of the infuser is simple: it screws into a Nalgene bottle, or in my case, a Klean Kanteen insulated mug. The coffee making works by agitation: screw the top onto the whole shebang, gently (and very gently) shake the thing for a few minutes. Three minutes later, coffee is ready. The finished coffee tastes similar to a French Press.

The coffee used this time was pre-ground Trader Joe's French Roast. And I like cream and sugar in my coffee, so that went in. The coffee itself: okay. Nothing super-great, but not swill, either.

And this coffee helped fuel me for the 50 miles of riding back home.

Alright, let's see where Week Three will bring me...

QUICK FACTS:
Miles ridden: 52
Bike used: Surly Long Haul Trucker
Coffee: Trader Joe's French Roast
Coffee prepared by: Infusion method

(Three Speed) Coffeneuring Report: Wed 9 Oct

Have you heard about Coffeeneuring? You haven't? Well, it's an annual challenge put on by Mary over at Chasing Mailboxes D.C. Basically, to participate, one needs to ride a "coffee run" once a week for seven weeks consecutive. This coffee ride must be at least 2 miles in length, and you can't hit up the same coffee shop twice. There's some more rules in there, so you should just go check out the 411 here.

This is the first year I'm participating. Normally you have to do the coffee ride on a weekend, but since I have a non-traditional schedule, I can do it on one of my days off during the week. And normally one would have to ride to a brick-and-mortar cafe, but Mary created a "Cafe Without Walls" category aimed at those who might do their coffee ride on a camping trip or such. Or, just ride to somewhere outdoors and make coffee there. Now as you probably know Portland has no shortage of coffee shops (there are literally several dozen within a two mile radius of my house), and I will definitely hit up some of those during this challenge. But while the weather is still nice, why not coffeeneur outdoors?

That's what I ended up doing on Wednesday, October 9th, one of my days off. But it was almost a disaster...

Wednesday was a nice day, but a busy day for me, with some projects that needed completion. Still I readied up my trusty Raleigh Wayfarer three-speed for a journey down by the river, as not only would this be a Coffeeneuring Ride, but a Three-Speed Coffeeneuring Ride! (I thought I'd be the first one to do it, but apparently I am not.) It was a nice easy ride down to the Springwater Corridor. But then things got less easy.

I hoped to ride down to the waterfront in Sellwood, but this barrier greeted me a mile in. I had forgotten about this construction project, alas. (It would have been nice if they put a more prominent "Trail Closed One Mile Ahead" sign at the main portal rather than the small-print "Project Details" sign that is currently there, but you sort of expect these things as a bicyclist.) I turned around and looked for another spot that I could set up.

I found one atop the small knoll beside the path, one supposedly named "Dinosaur Rock". Atop the rock sat a smaller, flat rock, one that would be suitable as a platform for my operation.

I immediately got to work, pulling out the components of the kit: a baggie of coffee beans (Trader Joe's whatever roast), a small vial of soy creamer, a couple packets of sugar, a Hario Slim Mill coffee grinder, and my Esbit coffee maker, which always wins with cool/cute points. (I doubt there will be another coffeeneur who will use this obscure contraption, so I probably win in this department.)

While grinding the coffee, this was the view that greeted me.

The glass tower development on the other side of the Willamette has been colloquially dubbed, "Little Dubai".

After grinding, I realized that there may be some more issues that I didn't plan on. For one thing, it was a bit windier than I expected, and I had forgotten to take a windscreen. I fashioned one with the other Esbit stove and some aluminum foil from the slice of leftover pizza I was going to consume for lunch.

But a larger problem arose. Every match I lit fizzled out in a fraction of a second. Every. Match. Was this a bad batch of matches, the wind, or both? Whatever it was, I lit match after match, as I didn't bring any other source of flame, determined not to give up until I tried every damn match. Finally after what was probably the twentieth match, one lit up and ignited the fuel tablet.

The coffee making took longer than normal, most likely due to the wind. I had to stoke the flame with some additional fuel tablets. But after half an eternity, black gold spouted from the spout. I had coffee. Success.

So there you go, my first of seven coffeeneuring adventures. 3.75 miles total. Maybe you'll attempt one of your own? Maybe on a three speed?